"Ana minkum wa alaikum" declared Zohran Mamdani, the mayor-elect of New York City in his victory speech on November 4, 2025. The phrase translates to "I am from you and  and I am with you".  "New York will remain a city of immigrants, a city built by immigrants, powered by immigrants and, as of tonight, led by an immigrant", he added. Mamdani is the first Muslim and first immigrant of South Asian descent. At 34, he is not only the youngest but also the first mayor of the Big Apple who was born in Africa. 

Zohran Mamdani Speaking Outside the Bronx Islamic Center

With his landslide victory in the mayoral race, Mandani will join London Mayor Sadiq Khan to become the second Muslim mayor of a major western city.  Mamdani became the first New York mayoral candidate to win over a million votes since the 1960s — more than Rudy Giuliani or Mike Bloomberg ever received. Mamdani has received 50.4% of the votes counted so far. Cuomo is at 41.6%. Republican Curtis Sliwa is at 7.1%. Mayor Sadiq Khan is serving his third term as the mayor of London. He is of Pakistani descent, as are mayors of several other major British cities. 

Zohran Mamdani beat former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo twice, first in the primary and then in the general election, to win on Tuesday. He won in spite of the fact that many prominent Democrats, including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, the New York senator, refused to endorse him. Mamdani was also vastly outspent by Cuomo, who was backed by a group of Zionist billionaires. President Trump endorsed Cuomo and repeatedly threatened to cut off federal funds to New York if Mamdani won.

Mandani received strong support from Muslims in Silicon Valley and elsewhere. Muhammad Javed of AppLovin tech firm donated $251,500 to New Yorkers for Lower Costs, a super-PAC backing Zohran Mamdani. Omer Hasan gave $250,000 to this super PAC. Other Mamdani super PAC donors include Liz Simons, Philanthropist, and daughter of hedge-fund billionaire Jim Simons, who gave $250,000 and Unity & Justice Fund, the political arm of the Council on American-Islamic Relations CAIR, that gave $100,000. But the biggest support has come from small donors to the Mamdani campaign. It has received a lot more money from small-dollar donors.  In August 2025, Mamdani's campaign had raised over $1 million from more than 8,600 private donors, with half of the individual donations being less than $25. His campaign also got millions in public matching funds due to this strong small-dollar donor support. 

Mamdani was attacked by his opponents for his Muslim faith. In one appearance, Cuomo agreed with a racist radio host who suggested a Muslim elected official would ‘cheer’ another 9/11. In response, Mamdani made an emotional speech outside a mosque in which he said:  "I will not change who I am. I will not change how I eat. I will not change the faith that I am proud to belong to. But there is one thing I will change: I will no longer look for myself in the shadows".

Among the most vocal opponents of Mamdani are Zionist and Hindutva groups in America. This opposition is based on his strong criticism of Indian Prime Minister Modi and Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu.  He has called Modi a "war criminal," drawing parallels between him and Netanyahu. He has repeatedly vowed that, if elected mayor, he would order the New York Police Department (NYPD) to arrest Netanyahu should the Israeli Prime Minister travel to New York. 

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