Zohran Mamdani

Zohran Mamdani

Zohran Kwame Mamdani (born October 18, 1991) is an American politician. He became the 112th mayor of New York City in January 2026. He belongs to the Democratic Party and the Democratic Socialists of America.

Before becoming mayor, Mamdani served from 2021 to 2025 in the New York State Assembly for the 36th district, representing Astoria, Queens.

Mamdani was born in Kampala. His parents are Mahmood Mamdani, an academic from Uganda, and Mira Nair, a filmmaker from India. When he was seven, his family moved to New York City after living in Cape Town. He studied at the Bronx High School of Science and later earned a bachelor's degree in Africana studies from Bowdoin College in 2014.

Before entering politics, Mamdani worked as a housing counselor. He also tried being a rapper. He began his political career by helping run campaigns for other candidates like Khader El-Yateem and Ross Barkan. In 2020, he was elected to the New York State Assembly, winning against a long-time incumbent. He was re-elected twice without any opponents.

In October 2024, Mamdani announced he would run for mayor of New York City in the 2025 election. As a democratic socialist, he focused on helping working families. His ideas included making city buses free, providing universal child care, building more affordable homes, and raising the minimum wage to $30 by 2030. He also supported fair treatment for the LGBTQ community, safer streets, and asking big companies and very wealthy people to pay more taxes. Mamdani surprised many when he won the Democratic primary in June 2025, beating former governor Andrew Cuomo. He then won the November general election and made history as New York City's first Asian American and first Muslim mayor.

Early life

Zohran Kwame Mamdani was born on October 18, 1991, in Kampala, Uganda. He is the only child of academic Mahmood Mamdani and filmmaker Mira Nair. His middle name, Kwame, was chosen to honor Kwame Nkrumah, the first president of Ghana. Both of his parents have Indian descent.

Mamdani lived in Kampala until he was five years old. Then, his family moved to Cape Town, South Africa when his father became head of African studies at the University of Cape Town. He went to St. George's Grammar School in Mowbray for a few years. Later, when he was seven, his family moved to the United States and settled in Morningside Heights, a neighborhood in New York City. He grew up there and often visited his mother's film sets.

Education

Zohran Mamdani went to the Bank Street School for Children in Upper West Side, Manhattan. There, he joined a middle school mock election and talked about fair rights and spending money on schools instead of the military.

Later, he studied at the Bronx High School of Science in Kingsbridge Heights, Bronx. He helped start the school’s first cricket team and played soccer too.

He then went to Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine. At Bowdoin, he helped begin a group called Students for Justice in Palestine and wrote for the school newspaper, The Bowdoin Orient. He finished his studies in 2014 with a degree in Africana studies.

Early career

Mamdani likes hip-hop music and has made, performed, and produced rap songs. He performed under the name Young Cardamom with his friend, HAB, a rapper from South Sudan. Their first song was about chapati, a type of Indian flatbread. They performed at festivals and used different languages in their music to show the culture of Uganda.

Mamdani got involved in politics in New York City. He started by helping a friend’s campaign and later joined a group called the Democratic Socialists of America. He helped many people keep their homes. In 2019, he decided to run for a position in the New York State Assembly. He won and worked on important issues, like making sure everyone could afford to take the bus for free. He worked hard to help people and make laws to improve life for everyone.

Mayor of New York City

2025 campaign

Main articles: 2025 New York City Democratic mayoral primary and 2025 New York City mayoral election

In October 2024, Zohran Mamdani said he wanted to be the mayor of New York City. He shared ideas to help people, like making bus rides free and stopping rent from rising too fast. He also wanted to build new homes people could afford and offer free childcare to families. He aimed to make sure everyone earned enough money and improve city services.

Mamdani ran against another person, Andrew Cuomo. Many thought Cuomo would win, but Mamdani won because voters chose him when they ranked their favorite candidates. After winning, some people said unfair things about him, but many young people and immigrants liked his ideas.

Mayor-elect and transition

After winning the election in November 2025, Mamdani began preparing his team to help him work as mayor. He picked some important people to assist him, but one person had to leave because she said something hurtful about others. Mamdani met with the president to discuss making the city safer and more affordable.

Mamdani's mayoralty was expected to be the city's 111th, but a review of city archives in December 2025 found that the list of New York City mayors had missed Matthias Nicoll's second term. This means Mamdani would be the city's 112th mayor.

Tenure

Main article: Mayoralty of Zohran Mamdani

Mamdani became mayor on January 1, 2026. He promised to improve the city quickly. One of his first actions was to cancel some rules the old mayor had made. He also worked on plans to make childcare easier for families and to build stores that sell food at lower prices.

One of his first big challenges was helping the city during a large snowstorm in January 2026. He also chose a place in Manhattan to build one of the new city-run grocery stores, planning to spend a lot of money to make it happen. These stores aim to make food more affordable for everyone.

Political positions

Main article: Political positions of Zohran Mamdani

Zohran Mamdani is a democratic socialist and a member of the Democratic Socialists of America. He supports fair wages, helping people who rent homes, and building affordable places to live. He wants to raise the minimum wage in New York City. He wants to use money from big businesses and wealthy people to pay for free education and child care.

Mamdani believes in treating everyone fairly. He supports laws that protect people and wants to create a system that helps people. He speaks out against unfair treatments in other countries. He wants New York to be a place where everyone is welcome and has chances to succeed. He also cares about the environment and wants schools to use clean energy and have green spaces.

Personal life

Zohran Mamdani is a citizen of both Uganda and the United States. He became a U.S. citizen in 2018. He follows the Twelver branch of Shia Islam.

In 2021, he met animator Rama Duwaji through an online dating app. They got engaged in October 2024 and had a private ceremony two months later in Dubai. They married in February 2025 at New York City Hall. They also had a ceremony in Uganda later that year. They lived in Astoria, Queens before moving to Gracie Mansion.

Mamdani speaks several languages besides English, including Hindi, Swahili, Luganda, Spanish, and Arabic. He enjoys watching English football and basketball, and he supports the teams Arsenal and the New York Knicks. He also follows cricket and professional wrestling. He owns a small part of a Spanish soccer team called Real Oviedo.

Gracie Mansion bombing attempt

Main article: 2026 New York City bombing attempt

On March 7, 2026, during a protest outside Mamdani's home, Gracie Mansion, someone threw an explosive device. The police treated it as a terrorist act. Two people were arrested and faced serious charges. Mamdani spoke out against the protest, calling it unfair and full of prejudice against Muslims. He said that everyone has the right to peaceful protests, even if others disagree with them.

In popular culture

Mamdani was the top “People” search on Google in 2025. His Wikipedia article was one of the ten most-read that year.

In the 51st season of Saturday Night Live, Ramy Youssef played Mamdani in a sketch about the second debate of the 2025 New York City mayoral election.