Zohran Mamdani elected New York as Mayor
INTERNATIONAL – USA
6 NOVEMBER 2025
- Zohran Mamdani made history by becoming New York City’s first Muslim and South Asian-origin Mayor-elect, and its youngest since 1917, topping off a stunning grassroots campaign led by the message of affordability and upending a political class dominated by wealthy donors.
- In his victory speech, quoting from Jawaharlal Nehru’s “Tryst with Destiny” speech, Mr. Mamdani said: “Standing before you, I remember the words of Jawaharlal Nehru. A moment comes, which comes but rarely in history, when we step out from the old to the new, when an age ends, and when the soul of a nation, long suppressed, finds utterance.”
- He defeated both a Republican challenger, Curtis Sliwa, and former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, who was backed by a coalition of billionaires who spent millions to block Mr. Mamdani’s rise.
- Over two million New Yorkers voted, the highest turnout for a mayoral contest in more than 50 years, according to the New York Board of Elections.
- Mr. Mamdani won 50.4% of the votes, while Mr. Cuomo, running as independent, won 41.6%. Mr. Sliwa won 7.1%.
- During his speech, Mr. Mamdani addressed U.S. President Donald Trump, who had repeatedly threatened to cut federal funding to New York if he won.
- he was later joined by his wife, Rama Duwaji; mother, filmmaker Mira Nair; and father, political theorist Mahmood Mamdani.
- Mr. Mamdani said: “New York will remain a city of immigrants, a city built by immigrants, powered by immigrants and as of tonight, led by an immigrant.”
- Mr. Mamdani said his candidacy challenged conventional wisdom, adding: “I am young, despite my best efforts to grow older. I am Muslim. I am a democratic socialist. And most damning of all, I refuse to apologise for any of this.”
