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The Catholic Herald• June 25, 2025
A young Muslim “democratic socialist” has declared victory in the Democratic Party’s primary for the mayorship of New York City, defeating a far more established and senior politician who comes from a Catholic political dynasty.
In what is being heralded as a stunning victory, 33-year-old Zohran Mamdani defeated political veteran Andrew Cuomo who previously served as state governor, reports the BBC.
Cuomo’s father, Mario Cuomo, was a Catholic politician who served as the 56th governor of New York from 1983 to 1994; Cuomo senior was a prominent figure in the Democratic Party who was known for his progressive policies and powerful oratory skills.
“Tonight we made history,” Mamdani said in his victory speech. If elected, the BBC notes, he would be the first Muslim and Indian American to lead the US’s largest city.
The broadcaster notes that the primary in staunchly liberal New York is likely to determine who becomes mayor in this November’s election. Cuomo was seen as a moderate and the “establishment favourite”.
The contest was also being watched as a litmus test for the Democratic Party as it seeks to “hone its messaging” after losing the 2024 US election to Donald Trump, with the Republicans winning the White House and both chambers in Congress, the BBC notes.
Results on election night of Tuesday, 24 June, showed Mamdani with a commanding lead, though falling short of the 50 per cent threshold needed to win outright.
Cuomo, 67, was attempting to pull off a comeback after resigning from office in 2021 over a sexual harassment scandal. Despite Mamdani not securing the 50 per cent threshold, Cuomo conceded and congratulated his opponent for a “really smart and great campaign”.
The former governor’s loss marks the “biggest upset in modern NYC history,” Trip Yang, a political strategist, told the BBC.
“A massive win for Zohran Mamdani that shows that when Donald Trump is president, New York Democrats want to see their leaders fight with enthusiasm and courage, and that’s what Zohran showed voters,” Yang said.
Mamdani overcame not only his opponent’s political name recognition throughout the city but also $25 million in Super PAC money, the largest bankroll in New York City mayoral campaign history, reports The American Conservative (TAC).
A 2021 article in the National Catholic Register was headlined “Andrew Cuomo Sacrificed His Catholic Faith for Political Power”. It described how the younger Cuomo “represented a new generation of the liberal Catholic politician”, while Mario Cuomo “practiced his faith and took the public consequences of that faith seriously”.
Mamdani is a millennial outsider who was fairly unknown until recently. Born in Uganda, his family moved to New York City when he was seven. During his campaign, he posted one campaign video entirely in Urdu and mixed in Bollywood film clips. In another campaign video, he spoke Spanish.
Mamdani’s strong support of Palestinians and criticism of Israel has put him at odds with much of the Democratic establishment, the BBC says.
It adds that campaign videos in which Mamdani talked to New York voters who swung for Trump in the November election went viral; Mamdani asked those voters what issues led them to cast their ballots for the Republican candidate and what it would take for them to swing Democrat.
Mamdani’s platform includes free public buses, universal childcare, freezing rent in subsidised units, and city-run grocery stores, with such services being financed by new taxes on the rich.
“This is a city where one in four of its people are living in poverty, a city where 500,000 kids go to sleep hungry every night,” he told the BBC at a recent event. “And ultimately, it’s a city that is in danger of losing that which it makes it so special.”
Mamdani will square off in November’s mayoral election against current New York Mayor Eric Adams, who is running as an independent, and against Republican Curtis Sliwa, who failed to break 30 per cent against Adams in the 2021 mayoral election at the height of the Covid pandemic, TAC notes.
Photo: New York mayoral candidate State Rep. Zohran Mamdani (Democrat-New York) during an election night gathering in the Queens borough of New York City, New York, USA. (Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images.)