Indian-origin lawmaker Zohran Kwame Mamdani stunned in the Democratic primary race for New York City mayor, upsetting former governor Andrew Cuomo.
Mamdani, a state assemblyman from Queens and the son of Indian filmmaker Mira Nair and Mahmood Mamdani, declared victory in the Democratic mayoral primary Tuesday night.
“In the words of Nelson Mandela: it always seems impossible until it’s done. My friends, it is done. And you are the ones who did it. I am honoured to be your Democratic nominee for the Mayor of New York City,” Mamdani said in a post on X.
US Senator Bernie Sanders congratulated Mamdani and his thousands of grassroots supporters for their “extraordinary campaign”.
“You took on the political, economic and media Establishment - and you beat them. Now it’s on to victory in the general election.” “My friends, we have done it. I will be your Democratic nominee for mayor of New York City. We have won from Harlem to Bay Ridge,” a report in the New York Times quoted Mamdani as saying at a victory party in Queens.
As Cuomo conceded the race, he said: “Tonight was not our night. Tonight is his night. He deserved it. He won.” Mamdani, a democratic socialist running for Mayor, was born in Uganda and raised in New York City.
His website says he fought for the working class in and outside the legislature and his efforts include hunger striking alongside taxi drivers to achieve more than USD 450 million in transformative debt relief, winning over USD 100 million in the state budget for increased subway service and a successful fare-free bus pilot, and organising New Yorkers to defeat a proposed dirty power plant.
“The cost of living is crushing working people, but Zohran believes that government can lower costs and make life easier in our city — he’ll use every tool available to bring down the rent, create world-class public transit, and make it easier to raise a family,” his website said.
Mamdani has vowed that as Mayor, he will immediately freeze the rent for all stabilised tenants, and use every available resource to build the housing New Yorkers need and bring down the rent.
Promising fast, fare-free buses, his campaign said that as Mayor, he’ll permanently eliminate the fare on every city bus – and make them faster by rapidly building priority lanes, expanding bus queue jump signals, and dedicated loading zones to keep double parkers out of the way.
Mamdani would also implement free childcare for every New Yorker aged 6 weeks to 5 years, ensuring high-quality programming for all families.
With food prices out of control, his campaign also promised that as Mayor, he would create a network of city-owned grocery stores focused on keeping prices low, not making a profit.
Mandani has a plan to bring down the cost-of-living through city-owned grocery stores, universal childcare, and other bold proposals, and he knows exactly how to pay for it, too, the campaign said.
His “revenue plan will raise the corporate tax rate to match New Jersey’s 11.5 per cent, bringing in USD 5 billion. And he will tax the wealthiest 1 per cent of New Yorkers — those earning above USD 1 million annually — a flat 2 per cent tax (right now city income tax rates are essentially the same whether you make USD 50,000 or USD 50 million)”, it said adding that he will also implement common-sense procurement reform, end senseless no-bid contracts, hire more tax auditors, and crack down on fine collection from corrupt landlords to raise an additional USD 1 billion.
“New York is too expensive. Zohran will lower costs and make life easier,” his platform said.