Aurelia Butler

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    Zohran Mamdani Reflects on His NYC Mayoral Run So Far in Post-Primary Interview

    The foundation for Zohran Mamdani’s upstart bid to become a democratic socialist mayor of New York City began, oddly, with his borrowing a campaign strategy from President Trump.In November, Mr. Mamdani set out for parts of the city that had supported Mr. Trump to find out why. The answer was affordability. Mr. Trump had promised to deliver it, and for many New Yorkers, that was enough.Mr. Mamdani said he learned a lesson. He committed to a promise to make the city more affordable, adopting a campaign vow that he said Mr. Trump has shown no interest in keeping.“Both Donald Trump and our campaign can see the disillusionment in politics, the inability for so many to celebrate crumbs that cannot feed themselves and their families,” Mr. Mamdani said in an interview on Wednesday after he became the likely winner of the Democratic primary.“The difference is that Trump seeks to exploit this sentiment with no actual desire to address it,” he added.In Mr. Mamdani’s meteoric rise from unknown state lawmaker to potential mayor, he managed to maintain his message discipline on affordability. Make buses free, freeze the rent, offer free universal child care.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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    A Look at Zohran Mamdani’s Stances on Key Issues

    The state assemblyman ran a campaign tightly focused on issues related to affordability. Here is a look at where he stands on those issues and others.In a crowded Democratic primary for mayor of New York City that featured a former governor, seasoned candidates from past mayoral elections and an alumnus of the Obama White House, Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani set himself apart early despite his lack of name recognition.He did it largely by connecting with younger voters, producing sleek, engaging campaign ads on social media and beating the drum about the need to make life in New York more affordable. This narrow focus on a single, salient issue drove Mr. Mamdani’s campaign, which his main rival, former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, described as “highly impactful” as he conceded the race on Tuesday night.In his victory speech, Mr. Mamdani hammered home his message one last time, attributing his success to New Yorkers who had voted for “a city where they can do more than just struggle.”As Mr. Mamdani looks poised to secure the Democratic nomination and attention turns to the general election, here’s what to know about where he stands on key issues.Affordability“Every politician says New York is the greatest city on the globe,” Mr. Mamdani said in his first campaign ad, released eight months ago. “But what good is that if no one can afford to live here?”So began a campaign tightly focused on the cost-of-living crisis plaguing the city. His platform, detailed on his campaign website, was simple: “New York is too expensive. Zohran will lower costs and make life easier.”We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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    Is Mamdani Really a Gift to Trump and the G.O.P.?

    Republicans have gleefully seized on Zohran Mamdani, a democratic socialist, as a fresh boogeyman. The reality could be more complicated.The votes were still being tallied last night when Representative Elise Stefanik, the New York Republican, sought to blame a potential political rival for Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani’s all-but-official upset victory in the Democratic primary for mayor of New York City.“Make no mistake, it is BECAUSE OF Kathy Hochul and the NY Democrat Party’s inept weakness and sheer incompetence that this has happened,” Stefanik wrote on X, referring to Gov. Kathy Hochul of New York.Never mind that Hochul didn’t so much as endorse Mamdani. Stefanik, who is contemplating a run for governor next year after President Trump pulled her nomination to be his United Nations ambassador, saw an obvious target.So has much of her party.In the hours since Mamdani, a 33-year-old democratic socialist, opened up a healthy lead over former Gov. Andrew Cuomo in the first round of the city’s ranked-choice voting, Republicans have gleefully seized on a fresh new boogeyman for 2025. They’ve denigrated Mamdani’s age, his criticism of Israel and its treatment of Palestinians, and his progressive politics. Some on the right have directly vilified his Muslim faith.“We’ve had Radical Lefties before, but this is getting a little ridiculous,” the president wrote on his social media site a few hours into his flight from Amsterdam to Washington today, adding that Mamdani “looks TERRIBLE.”Representative Mike Lawler, a moderate Republican from the Hudson Valley, said New York Democrats would “pay the price for this insanity.” The National Republican Congressional Committee called Mamdani “proudly antisemitic” — a charge he has forcefully rejected — and demanded that moderate Democrats like Representatives Tom Suozzi and Laura Gillen of New York say whether or not they support him.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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    Young Muslim Voters in NYC Loved Zohran Mamdani. Their Parents Listened.

    Many Muslim Americans in New York City were impressed by Mr. Mamdani’s campaign and thrilled at being able to see themselves reflected in a mayoral candidate.It was late in the afternoon on Tuesday, and Bilquees Akhtar was still at work as an assistant to the principal of EPIC High School North in Richmond Hill, Queens. Suddenly her phone exploded with text messages and DMs on Instagram and TikTok from her five adult children. Each of them had already cast a vote for Zohran Mamdani in New York City’s Democratic mayoral primary.“MOM, WHY ARE YOU STILL AT WORK?” Ms. Akhtar’s 24-year-old son, Humza Mehfuz, wrote to her. “YOU HAVE TO VOTE!”While Ms. Akhtar had previously supported Mr. Mamdani’s main opponent, Andrew M. Cuomo, when he ran for governor and, years before that, had voted for his father, former Gov. Mario Cuomo, she told her children to calm down. After their relentless campaign of showing her TikTok videos of Mr. Mamdani — “This kid is brilliant,” she had to admit, “and so friendly!” — she had made her decision.“All of Cuomo’s ads tried to make Mamdani look like a terrorist,” said Ms. Akhtar, 56. “But he’s a New Yorker like me.”Bilquees Akhtar lives in Richmond Hill, a neighborhood in Queens that went heavily for Zohran Mamdani.Donavon Smallwood for The New York TimesBy Wednesday, Mr. Mamdani, a state assemblyman from Queens, had won 43 percent of votes counted, all but clinching perhaps the greatest political upset in New York City politics in a generation. (The final tally is not expected to be completed until next week, but Mr. Cuomo conceded the race on Tuesday night.) If Mr. Mamdani were to win the general election this fall, he would be the first Muslim mayor in the history of New York, and also the first mayor of South Asian descent.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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    Polls Underestimated Mamdani. Here’s Why It’s So Hard to Poll Primaries.

    Accurately gauging support in primaries can be notoriously difficult. Pollsters face multiple challenges.Polls largely underestimated Zohran Mamdani’s support in the Democratic primary for the New York City mayor, illustrating once again just how difficult it can be to accurately poll primary elections.When polling general elections, pollsters are helped by the fact that increasing polarization has led Americans to sort neatly into their political camps, with more than 90 percent of partisans supporting their party’s candidate. But in primary elections, partisanship no longer factors into voters’ decisions in the same way. Voters’ preferences are more fluid in partisan primaries and more difficult to track over time.Primaries also tend to be much more volatile than general elections, making the timeliness of a poll more relevant. In the run-up to the 2016 presidential election, nearly every Republican contender in the field took a turn as the front-runner in the polls before Donald J. Trump ultimately pulled ahead. And in the 2020 Democratic primary, Elizabeth Warren, Joseph R. Biden Jr., and Bernie Sanders ping-ponged in the polls.The New York City mayoral primary presents an additional challenge because of its use of ranked-choice voting. Pollsters took different approaches to try to mirror the process, but it is challenging to accurately simulate what voters actually experience at the ballot box.While most polls did not show Mr. Mamdani leading in the first round of balloting, they did appear to show him gaining support in the final weeks of the campaign.Polls in March and April of this year showed former Governor Andrew Cuomo ahead by 20 to 30 percentage points. Surveys conducted in May and June showed Mr. Mamdani cutting that lead down, often to single digits. And an Emerson College poll taken within a week of the election found Mr. Mamdani neck and neck in the first round and winning in the final round of voting. More

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    How NYC Neighborhoods Voted in the 2025 Mayoral Primary: Map

    <!–> [–> <!–> [–> Zohran Mamdani 43.5% Andrew Cuomo 36.4% <!–> –> <!–> [–> <!–>StatenIsland–> <!–> –> <!–> –> <!–> –><!–> [–><!–>Zohran Mamdani, an upstart state assemblyman from Queens, was on the brink of winning Tuesday’s Democratic primary for mayor of New York City. While results were not yet final, Mr. Mamdani leaped ahead of […] More

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    Rama Duwaji, Mamdani’s Wife, Is Thrust Into the Spotlight

    Rama Duwaji, a 27-year-old animator and illustrator, married the presumptive Democratic nominee for New York City mayor this winter.Zohran Mamdani stood before a cheering crowd late Tuesday night at a Long Island City bar, his victory in the Democratic primary for mayor of New York City all but guaranteed. His wife, Rama Duwaji, stood at his side, smiling, as he concluded his speech.Many already knew Ms. Duwaji, 27, from the wedding photos that Mr. Mamdani posted to Instagram last month, showing the couple holding hands on the subway and in the streets of downtown Manhattan.Ms. Duwaji is an animator and illustrator whose designs have appeared in The New Yorker, the BBC and The Washington Post, according to her portfolio website. She is ethnically Syrian and was born in Texas, a campaign spokeswoman said, and she holds a master’s degree in illustration from the School of Visual Arts in New York.Mr. Mamdani, 33, a state assemblyman from Queens, charmed younger New Yorkers throughout his campaign with his videos on social media, in which he speaks Spanish over a plate of sweet plantains, breaks down “halal-flation” while eating chicken over rice at a food cart and poses with celebrities like Emily Ratajkowski and Laverne Cox.Ms. Duwaji has an active social media presence, too, showcasing her work on Instagram to more than 70,000 followers (a number that has grown since Mr. Mamdani surged ahead in the primary). Many of her designs portray Middle Eastern life and champion social justice issues. Like her husband, she is a critic of Israel’s war in Gaza.Ms. Duwaji was not seen publicly throughout much of Mr. Mamdani’s mayoral campaign, prompting his critics to ask on X if he was “hiding” his wife. Mr. Mamdani pushed back in the May Instagram post showing off their wedding photos, declaring that he and Ms. Duwaji had married three months before.“Rama isn’t just my wife; she’s an incredible artist who deserves to be known on her own terms,” Mr. Mamdani said.The couple married in a civil ceremony at the New York City Clerk’s Office. Kara McCurdy“Omg she’s real,” Ms. Duwaji joked in a comment on the post.Theirs was a Hinge success story. Speaking last week on a podcast from The Bulwark, Mr. Mamdani said there was “still hope in those dating apps.”The couple married this winter in a civil ceremony at the New York City Clerk’s Office. Separately, they held an engagement party and a Muslim wedding ceremony known as a nikkah in Dubai, where Ms. Duwaji’s family lives.Early on Tuesday, before the election results had come in and while her husband was still canvassing across the city, Ms. Duwaji posted a carousel of images on Instagram that included a black-and-white photo strip of the two of them, a voter registration form tucked into a heart-shaped box of chocolates and a picture of Mr. Mamdani as a child.“Couldn’t possibly be prouder,” she captioned the post. More

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    Mamdani Wins Nadler’s Endorsement as He Seeks to Unify Democrats

    Jerrold Nadler, who represents parts of Manhattan in Congress, had previously endorsed one of Zohran Mamdani’s opponents, Scott Stringer, in the Democratic mayoral primary.On the day after Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani emerged as the likely Democratic nominee for mayor of New York City, Representative Jerrold Nadler endorsed him in November’s general election, giving Mr. Mamdani a key measure of support from one of the city’s most prominent Jewish leaders.Mr. Nadler, a Democrat, said Wednesday that Mr. Mamdani’s apparent victory was a “seismic election for the Democratic Party that I can only compare to Barack Obama’s in 2008.”“Voters in New York City demanded change and, with Zohran’s triumph, we have a direct repudiation of Donald Trump’s politics of tax cuts and authoritarianism,” he said.During the primary, Mr. Nadler had endorsed another candidate, Scott Stringer, a former city comptroller who appeared on track to finish toward the bottom of the pack.On Wednesday, Mr. Nadler described Mr. Mamdani as “someone who will be a partner with me in Washington to take on Donald Trump.”Mr. Mamdani is an outspoken critic of Israel’s government and its war in Gaza, and was denounced by his main rival, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, and some Jewish voters over his stances.Mr. Mamdani, who would be the city’s first Muslim mayor, has firmly rejected accusations of antisemitism and has responded to the criticism by saying that he would protect Jewish New Yorkers as mayor and would increase funding to address hate crimes.A survey from the Marist Institute for Public Opinion released last week showed that Mr. Cuomo was the first choice of 40 percent of likely Jewish primary voters, while Mr. Mamdani was second, with about 20 percent.Mr. Nadler’s endorsement could help draw more Jewish voters into Mr. Mamdani’s coalition ahead of the general election, especially those on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, which Mr. Nadler has long represented in Congress.“I’ve spoken to him today about his commitment to fighting antisemitism, and we’ll work with all New Yorkers to fight against all bigotry and hate,” Mr. Nadler said of Mr. Mamdani.Mr. Mamdani welcomed the endorsement in a statement, saying the congressman had “charted a course of principled progressivism for decades.”“I’m grateful for his support as we build a broad coalition of all New Yorkers and eager to work in partnership over the months to come,” he said.On Wednesday, Mr. Mamdani was taking a flood of calls from Democratic leaders, and many who had supported other candidates or stayed out of the race expressed admiration for him.One leading New York City Democrat, Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn, the chairwoman of the Brooklyn Democratic Party who has supported both Mr. Cuomo and Mayor Eric Adams, also said that she planned to support Mr. Mamdani in the general election. More