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Zohran Mamdani’s win over former New York governor Andrew Cuomo represents a victory for the new guard, progressive wing of the Democratic Party, but his record in public service could leave much to be desired by Democrats who were hoping to see someone with substantial experience, like Cuomo, win the Democratic primary for New York City mayor.
“You have to know how to make government work, and if you have no experience whatsoever in making government work, if you have never really had a job, you are a two-time assembly person who has passed three bills — most assembly people pass three bills by mistake,” Cuomo said of Mamdani’s resume while speaking to reporters before he lost Tuesday night’s primary race. “You’ve missed more days at work in two weeks than I missed in 11 years [as governor]. You’ve never dealt with the City Council; you’ve never dealt with the Congress; you’ve never dealt with Donald Trump, but now you’re going to run New York City?”
After graduating from Bowdoin College in Maine with a bachelor’s degree in Africana Studies, where Mamdani helped launch the school’s first Students for Justice in Palestine chapter, his resume, which was shared with the New York Times, shows “a patchwork of jobs” Mamdani worked for before joining the state assembly.
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In 2014, Mamdani did a four-month stint as an organizer for the left-wing advocacy group MoveOn in Seattle. He subsequently spent two months organizing with another group out of Houston called TexPIRG, while working an ongoing tutoring gig as well.
In 2015, Mamdani began his post-grad foray into political campaign work, but it is unclear if these were paid jobs or simply volunteer opportunities. He first knocked on doors for City Council candidate Ali Najmi and also did campaign field work for Khader El-Yateem’s City Council campaign. Mamdani reportedly spent some time as a field organizer for Tiffany Caban’s District Attorney campaign around 2019 as well.
While committing time to these campaigns, Mamdani also reportedly worked as a music supervisor and “third assistant director” on a Disney film about an Indian chess prodigy that was directed by his mother, Mira Nair, an Oscar-nominated filmmaker. He was also given an on-screen cameo role in the film.
“I actually created a playlist for Mira, who also happens to be my mother—you know, nepotism and hard work goes a long way,” Mamdani quipped during a radio interview in 2016, around the time of the movie’s release.
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At that time, Mamdani was also reportedly pursuing a rap career, going by the moniker “Mr. Cardamom” and “Young Cardamom.” One of his songs was eventually featured on his mom’s movie.
Mamdani continued his rap aspirations until at least 2017, but according to the mayoral candidate’s recent tax returns that were reviewed by the New York Post, he still rakes in a minor amount of royalties on his music. As a member of the New York state Assembly, Mamdani earned a salary of around $131,000, while his royalties amounted to around $1,200 last year, the Post found.
Mamdani’s campaign work got more serious when he became campaign manager for Ross Barkan’s losing State Senate bid in 2018. Mamdani also spent time that year working at a foreclosure prevention community group called Chhaya, where he worked as a counselor for South Asian and Caribbean families facing potential foreclosure of their homes. Mamdani reportedly left after about a year to run for the New York State Assembly seat in Astoria, New York.
Mamdani’s experience in the state assembly has not escaped criticism either.
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He reportedly missed 50% of the assembly’s votes in 2025 while focusing on his mayoral campaign, according to the New York Post. Meanwhile, during his entire three years in the New York State Assembly, Mamdani reportedly only ushered in three bills that eventually got passed into law, according to the New York Times.
While Mamdani’s public service experience may be lacking, according to critics, he has been praised for his ability to market himself digitally across social media and other online platforms, with the New York Times dubbing him “a TikTok savant” during a profile piece they did on him in March.
During a debate earlier this month among all the Democratic Party candidates running to be New York City’s next mayor, the candidates were asked if they had any regrets during their time working in politics.
“I regret not running for mayor in 2021,” State Sen. Jessica Ramos responded. “I thought I needed more experience. But turns out you just need to make good videos.”
If Mamdani wins the general election, he would be the city’s youngest leader since 1917 at 34-years-of-age.
Fox News Digital reached out to the Mamdani campaign repeatedly for comment on this story but never received a response.
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