…Of hope, affordability, and may be, just may be a world where social democracy is more prevalent
A resounding victory
The 2025 New York City (NYC) mayoral elections came to a resounding end when a 34-year-old democratic socialist candidate, Zohran Mamdani, won the election to become the city’s next mayor. Mamdani won by defeating independent candidate Andrew Cuomo and Republican Curtis Silwa. He is set to succeed democrat Eric Adams and take office on Jan 1, 2026.
Mamdani’s victory is truly something to go down in history given that he is not only the first Muslim, first South Asian, and first immigrant born to hold office but also the youngest NYC mayor since 1892. Naturally, a lot of people around the world found something that they could relate to in him. His victory was celebrated widely as social media exploded with congratulatory posts. It was rather amusing to see non-New Yorkers claim that they are “spiritually a New-Yorker” so long as Mamdani is the mayor. Others expressed the desire to move to New York. Some even called NYC “the city of utopia.” Whether that is true or not, time will tell.
On a personal note, was I untouched by this fascination with a promising young politician who vows to work toward equity, affordability, and taxing the rich? Absolutely not! I had been following and admiring his campaign for weeks but genuinely didn’t think he would win. He is a young person of colour in a country with a conservative central government; the odds were stacked against him. Reports of millionaires pouring money to defeat his campaign came out. The President of the country even threatened to cut NYC’s federal funding should Mamdani win. Sure, he can go out on the streets and talk to the people and run a brilliant campaign but would that be enough? My heart didn’t want to hope. And then, he won! And I just about jumped in the air. I was happy; I was thrilled!
Why Mamdani?
Now that the intensity of immediate post-victory celebrations has somewhat faded, I had time to give the whole situation some thought. Why was the campaign so successful? What is it that the people of NYC saw in this new young leader to have voted for him despite being strongly discouraged from doing so? Well, I have some theories.
The number one reason for his victory for me is the offer of hope through his campaign. To support that argument, allow me to present some stats to you. According to the most recent data by Payscale, a U.S-based compensation analysis company, cost of living in New York is 132 per cent higher than the national average. Now let’s add a closer to home perspective to that. Data from Numbeo, a Belgrade-based company that runs a crowdsourced global database of prices and quality-of-life indicators, suggests that the cost of living in New-York is 64.1 per cent higher than Regina excluding the rent. The rent alone in New-York is 306.3 per cent higher than in Regina! I will exclude the data that outlines the cost of health care and education for the sake of mine and everyone’s mental sanity. It is only understandable that the average New-Yorker, the young, the student, the middle class, the not ultra-rich, was exhausted and frustrated.
Even though Mamdani comes from a fairly rich parental background, he positions himself with the working class and does not have much personal assets to show. So when a young person who identifies with the working class centred his campaign around affordability, I am sure the average New-Yorker felt hope. They saw someone who understands the struggles for survival not from a far-out third person perspective but as someone going through the same struggles pushing for an affordable life.
What stands out to me is that Mamdani is not offering something bizarre or outlandish. His promises of affordable housing, free public transportation, universal childcare, accessible and affordable education, better public services and social infrastructure, tax revenues et cetera are the basics that people in a democratic state CAN and SHOULD get. It is but a sorry state of affairs that the world in which we live in right now, basic is privilege – but I digress.
I can only imagine what a refreshing change it must have been to see a public servant (yes, that is what a politician is supposed to be in a democracy) step out of TV screens beyond the security of curated ivory towers and heavily guarded vehicles and walk with the people.” – Shivangi Sharma
The power of effective outreach
The genius of Mamdani’s campaign, however, was not just the sensible changes that he offered, but more so how those promises were delivered. He went out on the streets, to local restaurants, night clubs, religious places which were different from his faith. Not only did he speak for the people, but he spoke TO them. Directly, in person. I can only imagine what a refreshing change it must have been to see a public servant (yes, that is what a politician is supposed to be in a democracy) step out of TV screens beyond the security of curated ivory towers and heavily guarded vehicles and walk with the people. My heart hopes for a day when I get to experience that.
His skills at debating and his flair with words made him stand out even further. Asking for a representative who can speak without the aid of pre-written speeches and responses should not be too much to ask for!
The excellent use of social media and making videos that were not just engaging but also had humor and light-heartedness in them was another big plus. It played a major role in attracting the attention of New York’s young adult population which makes up some 23.5 per cent of it.
The added benefit of being who he is
In addition to a brilliant outreach plan, just being a multilingual person of colour helped him in gaining access to the communities where, let’s face it, the other candidates would have had to work twice as hard, if not more, to appear relatable. 67.5 per cent of NYC’s population is made up of Black, Hispanic, Asian, and multiracial groups. Even if a fraction of eligible voters in this group supported him, that’s a lot of support!
As a person from a South-Asian descent, all the Bollywood references in his campaign made my heart happy. Especially when he ended his victory speech with the “Dhoom Machale” song which literally translates to “raise a ruckus”. I think I might have cried a little out of happiness. We do love being a little extra. Additionally, I don’t think words can accurately express what a relief it is that a South-Asian man is going globally viral for the right reasons, for once!
In conclusion, I will say that Mamdani’s winning has very little to do with his race, ethnicity, religion, or age. He is a representative who stood out as a relatable leader with strong moral grounds and promised to address the real-life struggles of an average New-Yorker. He is certainly more than just a charming smile. It seems that even President Trump can’t help but be smitten by him!
