Zohran Kwame Mamdani is an American politician and the mayor-elect of New York City. A member of the Democratic Party and the Democratic Socialists of America, he has served as a member of the New York State Assembly for the 36th district since 2021, representing the Queens neighborhood of Astoria.
Mamdani was born in Kampala, Uganda, to academic Mahmood Mamdani and filmmaker Mira Nair, both of whom are of Indian descent. After spending three years in Cape Town, South Africa, when Mamdani was five to seven years old, the family moved to the United States, settling in New York. Mamdani graduated from the Bronx High School of Science before receiving a bachelor's degree with a major in Africana studies from Bowdoin College in 2014.
After working as a housing counselor and musician, Mamdani entered local New York City politics as a campaign manager for Khader El-Yateem and Ross Barkan. He was first elected to the New York State Assembly in 2020, defeating five-term incumbent Aravella Simotas in the Democratic primary. Representing Astoria, Queens, he was reelected without opposition in 2022 and 2024.
In October 2024, Mamdani announced his candidacy for mayor of New York City in the 2025 election. He campaigned on an affordability-focused platform in support of fare-free city buses, universal public child care, city-owned grocery stores, a rent freeze on rent-stabilized units, additional affordable housing units, and a $30 minimum wage by 2030. He also expressed support for LGBTQ rights, comprehensive public safety reform, and tax increases on corporations and those earning above $1 million annually. He won the Democratic primary in June 2025, defeating former governor Andrew Cuomo in an upset, and was elected mayor in the November general election. He is set to become the city's first Muslim and Indian-Ugandan mayor.
