On November 4, 2023, 34-year-old democratic socialist Zohran Kwame Mamdani won the election for the mayor of New York City. He defeated former governor Andrew Cuomo and Republican Curtis Sliwa.
Zohran became New York’s first Muslim mayor, and his political views and life experience were formed in a multicultural environment. Zohran was born on October 18, 1991 in Kampala, the capital of Uganda.
His name "Kwame" is in honor of Kwame Nkrumah, leader of Ghana’s independence movement and its first prime minister. At the age of 5, his family moved to Cape Town, South Africa, and two years later they began living in New York.
He obtained US citizenship in 2018 and is a Shiite Muslim. Before entering politics, Zohran worked as a social counselor in Queens.
He helped people at risk of losing their homes and worked to prevent evictions. This experience inspired him to fight for social justice.
At the same time, he was interested in music and performed under the stage names "Young Cardamom" and "Mr. Cardamom".
His rap music focused on migration, inequality, and social issues as main themes. Zohran began his education at St. George’s school in South Africa.
After moving to New York, he attended the Bank Street School for Children and the Bronx High School of Science. In 2014, he received a bachelor’s degree in African studies from Bowdoin College (Maine).
During his student years, he founded the "Students for Justice in Palestine" movement in defense of Palestinian rights. Zohran’s family played a significant role in shaping his worldview and cultural values.
His father, Mahmood Mamdani, is a prominent scholar and professor at Columbia University, while his mother, Mira Nair, is an internationally awarded film director. According to Zohran, his parents’ influence and multicultural environment shaped his political and social outlook.
In 2025, he married Syrian-American artist Rama Duwaji. They currently live in the Astoria district of Queens.
Zohran entered politics in 2015 through work in local communities. In 2020, he was elected to the New York State legislature.
In 2025, he won the Democratic Party primaries and became a candidate for New York’s mayor. During the campaign, Zohran promoted the slogan "New York is too expensive.
Zohran will cut costs and make life easier." He managed to cancel $450 million in debts for taxi drivers, assisted in allocating $100 million for subway development, and helped make buses free of charge.
Additionally, he opposed the construction of a gas power plant that could harm the environment. Zohran won the election through initiatives like affordable housing, supporting families with children, increasing wages for daycare workers, and free public transportation.
With this, he made history as New York’s first Muslim and African mayor.
