Zohran Mamdani wants to be New York’s mayor – who is the man?

There is also the first time in such a various city as New Yok City. Zohran Mamdani – 33 years old, left Democrat, socialist – could become the city’s first Muslim mayor. Mamdani won the party internal primaries for the mayoral election in November on Tuesday evening. He calls himself “Donald Trump’s greatest fright”.

The surveys actually indicated that a well -known person for the Democrats would go into the race: Andrew Cuomo. He resigned four years ago as governor of the state of New York. Joe Biden, then US President, had called him personally because Cuomo had been accused of sexual harassment by eleven women. But surprisingly, he was clearly defeated by 36.4 percent. 43.5 percent voted for Mamdani as future candidates.

Its election campaign revolves around so -called “Kitchen Table Issues” – topics that families talk about at the kitchen table. In his case, this means: economy, high rents and public transport. The 33-year-old seems to have drawn his teachings from the election campaign by US President Donald Trump, whom the Americans had attributed more economic competence than the democratic challenger Kamala Harris.

Economy, yes, but in terms of content, Mamdanis goes in a completely different direction. He still represents the district of Queens as a member of the Lower House of the state of New York. But as a candidate for mayor, he calls for a rental cover,, Free buses, cheaper childcare and nationalized supermarkets. Possibly justifiable in Germany, in the United States he assigns himself to the socialists. How exactly he wants to implement these ideas, especially in the financial metropolis of New York, is at least questionable. But the plans obviously got caught on the democratic basis.

Criticism had brought his position to the Middle East conflict in advance. Mamdani sharply criticizes Israel’s procedure in the Gaza Strip and in this context spoke of a “genocide”. If the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu opened in New York, he would have his own statements arrested. And in a podcast, Mamdani did not want to condemn the expression “globalization of the intifada”. Palestinians and their supporters understand the term as a battle cry for the liberation, but many Jews see this as a call for violence.

The 33-year-old presents himself in a large area on social media. He turns emphasized citizen -based videos and also jumps into the ice -cold Atlantic to underline the freezing of rents for New Yorkers. The believing Muslim can be filmed how he breaks fasting in Ramadan with a burrito in the subway. Citizens buy it one of the most expensive cities in the world that he wants to reduce the cost of living. More than a quarter of New York lives below the poverty border.

With these points of view, Mamdani primarily attracts progressive voters. Left sizes such as Bernie Sanders or Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez called, for example, to choose his choice. But the party elite is likely to prepare the result of a headache. Because the Republicans will use the election of Mamdanis to discredit the Democrats at the moderate electoral people: as a party that criticizes Israel and wants to regulate the free market.

November 4, 2025 will decide on the immediate future of Mamdanis. Then the mayoral election takes place in New York City – a choice that will pay attention to millions of inhabitants across the country. Because the next US intermediate elections are then within sight.