Flashback: Inside the political movement that put a socialist in charge of New York City

Zohran Mamdani is poised to be sworn in as New York City’s next mayor on Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026 — the culmination of a political campaign that propelled a socialist to power in the economic epicenter of the United States.

In a race that was widely considered a fight for the city’s future, Mamdani defeated former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo in a contentious Election Day battle on Nov. 4, 2025. As Mamdani prepares to advance his socialist agenda from City Hall, here’s a look back at the campaign that brought him to this moment.

The 34-year-old Ugandan-born state assemblyman from Queens triggered a political earthquake when he declared victory in New York City’s Democratic mayoral primary in June, pulling an upset over a former governor who was widely expected to win the party’s nomination.

His primary success catapulted Mamdani onto the national stage, as he teamed up with progressive power duo Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., to rally New York City voters for his affordability agenda, which included ambitious campaign promises like rent freezes, fast and free buses, city-run grocery stores and free childcare.

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It’s a race that President Donald Trump himself watched closely, labeling Mamdani a “100% Communist Lunatic” and “My little communist” — monikers Mamdani rejected.

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On the eve of Election Day, Trump endorsed Cuomo and floated cutting federal funds to New York City if Mamdani won. In the days leading up to the election, Mamdani vowed to use the “bully pulpit” and the judicial system to fight back against Trump’s “threats.”

“Donald Trump may speak as if it is his decision, but this is money that this city is owed. This is money that we will expect to collect,” Mamdani said Monday.

As the Democratic Socialists of America-backed Mamdani stepped on stage at the Brooklyn Paramount to declare victory on election night, he appealed to Trump — a native New Yorker — directly.

“New York will remain a city of immigrants, a city built by immigrants, powered by immigrants, and as of tonight, led by an immigrant,” Mamdani said. “So hear me, President Trump, when I say this: To get any of us, you will have to get through all of us.”

But for all the barbs Trump and Mamdani exchanged on the campaign trail, they shared a cordial meeting at the White House last month, finding unlikely common ground on their commitments to affordability in New York City.

Mamdani’s primary success in June exposed a divide within the Democratic Party, after suffering big losses up and down the ballot last year and struggling to present a united front against the Trump administration without clear party leadership.

“The conventional wisdom would tell you that I am far from the perfect candidate,” Mamdani said during his election night party. “I am young, despite my best efforts to grow older. I am Muslim. I am a democratic socialist. And most damning of all, I refuse to apologize for any of this. And yet, if tonight teaches us anything, it is that convention has held us back.”

Cuomo resigned from office in 2021 in the face of multiple controversies, including several sexual harassment claims, which he has denied. After losing the primary he was expected to win, Cuomo challenged Mamdani as an Independent candidate in the general election, and began accusing Mamdani of being more a socialist than a Democrat.

“The truth is, there’s a quiet civil war going on in the Democratic Party right now,” Cuomo told Fox News ahead of Election Day. “You have an extreme left. Radical left. Bernie Sanders, AOC — Mamdani is just the banner carrier for that movement — versus the mainstream moderate Democrats. They now call me moderate. They used to call me liberal. Now, I’m a moderate because the whole party shifted.”

After the race was called for Mamdani, the former governor addressed his supporters as those watching the broadcast from Mamdani’s election night party booed a muted Cuomo delivering his concession speech. 

“This campaign was necessary to make that point — a caution flag that we are heading down a dangerous, dangerous road,” Cuomo said. “Well, we made that point, and they heard us, and we will hold them to it.”

New York Democrats were reluctant to endorse Mamdani’s mayoral campaign after he secured the Democratic nomination.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., refused to endorse Mamdani, despite telling reporters that he has a “good relationship with him” and that they are “continuing to talk.” Mamdani was arrested while protesting the war in Gaza and calling for a ceasefire outside Schumer’s home in Brooklyn in 2023.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., gave an 11th-hour endorsement for Mamdani after months of equivocating. The announcement came the day before early voting began.

Gov. Kathy Hochul, D-N.Y., endorsed Mamdani’s campaign in September and later joined him on the campaign trail. When pressed about whether Mamdani would endorse Hochul, he refused to affirm his support for the sitting governor.

Hochul is essential to Mamdani’s plan to raise taxes on corporations and the top 1% of New Yorkers to pay for his radical campaign agenda, as a tax hike would require state approval.

The governor has maintained that she will not raise taxes, which earned her some heckling at an October Queens rally, when Mamdani’s supporters shouted, “Tax the rich!”

Mamdani’s rise was marked by palpable tension with New York City’s Jewish population. Jewish leaders and voters consistently voiced concerns about Mamdani in light of his long-standing criticism of Israel and his rhetoric surrounding the war in Gaza.

Mamdani has repeatedly described Israel’s military campaign in Gaza as a “genocide” and refused to recognize Israel as a Jewish state, saying he “would not recognize any state’s right to exist with a system of hierarchy on the basis of race, of religion.”

He refused during the Democratic primary to condemn the phrase “globalize the intifada,” a slogan widely viewed by Jewish groups as a call to violence. While he later said he would discourage others from using the phrase, critics argued the response fell short as antisemitic incidents surged nationwide.

After a mass shooting in Sydney, Australia, during Hanukkah — which police described as a targeted attack on the Jewish community — Mamdani condemned the violence, but stopped short of changing his stance on the “globalize the intifada” phrase, drawing renewed criticism from Jewish leaders in New York. 

Weeks before Election Day, a group of prominent New York City rabbis joined more than 650 rabbis nationwide in signing a letter that criticized Mamdani, titled “A Rabbinic Call to Action: Defending the Jewish Future,” warning that Jewish Americans “cannot remain silent” amid what they described as growing hostility and exclusion. 

Cuomo and Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa, the founder and CEO of the Guardian Angels, said Mamdani would not do enough to protect Jewish New Yorkers as mayor.

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When asked during the final mayoral debate if Mamdani had any regrets about his “long-standing” anti-Israel views, he affirmed his commitment to protecting Jewish New Yorkers, as he did throughout the campaign.

Mamdani has a long record of supporting the pro-Palestinian movement, including at Bowdoin College, where he founded the Students for Justice in Palestine chapter.

With weeks until Election Day, Mamdani accused his opponents and Mayor Eric Adams, who ultimately suspended his re-election campaign after staying out of the Democratic primary to run as an Independent, of Islamophobia.

Mamdani, who is of Indian descent, will be the first South Asian and first Muslim mayor of New York City.

Mamdani also faced criticism for his past comments about the New York City Police Department, including those comparing the NYPD to the Israel Defense Forces and calling the NYPD “racist, anti‑queer & a major threat to public safety” in 2020, among other insults.

“I’ll apologize to police officers right here, because this is the apology that I’ve been sharing with many rank-and-file officers, and I apologize because of the fact that I’m looking to work with these officers, and I know that these officers, these men and women who serve in the NYPD, they put their lives on the line every single day,” Mamdani said on Fox News.

As New York City voters began heading to the polls for early voting, billionaires, including Red Apple Media CEO John Catsimatidis and hedge fund CEO Bill Ackman, urged Sliwa to drop out of the race to consolidate support for Cuomo, but the Republican nominee refused.

Similar pressure mounted following the primary for either Cuomo or Adams to drop out to boost the anti-Mamdani vote. After Adams suspended his campaign, he ultimately endorsed Cuomo. Trump’s Justice Department dropped bribery, wire fraud and conspiracy charges against Adams earlier this year.

Mamdani will also be the first millennial mayor of the nation’s largest city.

Such was clear from the early days of Mamdani’s campaign, as he made strategic use of social media, including TikTok, to build a recognizable brand and motivate a swath of low-propensity voters.

His campaign played into the hands of an evolving — and chronically online — New York City electorate.

Scrolling through Mamdani’s social media, his TikTok and Instagram pages resemble that of a New York City influencer. From the film-like filters and consistent fonts on his vertical videos to the cameos from celebrities, including model Emily Ratajkowski and comedian Bowen Yang, Mamdani’s videos regularly amass millions of views.

During the general election, Mamdani’s campaign collaborated with content creators, inviting New York City’s micro-influencers to a “New Media” briefing, which is typically reserved for legacy media, and continuing to walk through the revolving door of podcast appearances, akin to such efforts by Trump in 2024.

Also similar to Trump in 2024, Mamdani centered his mayoral campaign on affordability, vowing to deliver a New York City that voters could actually afford to live in.

Mamdani told Fox News in the final days of his campaign that he learned of a woman wearing a “MAGA for Zohran” hat at his Queens rally, eliciting Trump’s renowned “Make America Great Again” slogan.

“It tells me that no matter what your politics are, you’re feeling the same crisis, and this is a movement that looks to address that crisis [of affordability],” Mamdani said. “No matter who you are, no matter where you live.”

After his victory, Mamdani quickly assembled a transition team and began selecting his City Hall leadership. With Adams’ tenure ending Thursday and Mamdani preparing to move into Gracie Mansion, New York City is on the verge of a political turning point.

Whether Mamdani’s campaign promises take shape as policy remains to be seen. But with a socialist about to govern America’s economic capital, one thing is clear: Trump will be watching.