Zohran Mamdani
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Born in Kampala, Uganda, Zohran Kwame Mamdani, an American politician, has been a member of the New York State Assembly since 2021, representing the 36th district in Queens. A proud member of the Democratic Party and the Democratic Socialists of America, he is now the Democratic nominee for Mayor of New York City in the 2025 election.
His journey began in Uganda, where he was born into an academic family, his father Mahmood Mamdani a renowned academic, and his mother Mira Nair, a celebrated filmmaker. At five, his family moved to South Africa, and by seven, they had settled in New York City. Mamdani’s education led him to the Bronx High School of Science and then to Bowdoin College, where he earned a degree in Africana Studies.
Before entering public service, Mamdani worked as a housing counselor, helping those facing eviction, and also as a hip-hop musician. His passion for community and justice propelled him into local politics, managing campaigns for Khader El-Yateem and Ross Barkan. In 2020, he made his mark by winning a seat in the New York State Assembly, unseating a four-term incumbent. He was reelected twice without opposition, a testament to his growing influence.
In October 2024, Mamdani announced his bid for Mayor of New York City. His ambitious platform champions fare-free city buses, accessible public childcare, city-owned grocery stores, a rent freeze on stabilized units, and a significant increase in affordable housing. He also advocates for comprehensive public safety reform and a $30 minimum wage by 2030, along with tax increases on corporations and high earners.
His campaign gained significant momentum with endorsements from progressive leaders like Bernie Sanders, Ilhan Omar, and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. On June 24, 2025, Mamdani achieved a major victory, defeating former governor Andrew Cuomo and nine other candidates to secure the Democratic nomination.
Born in Kampala, Uganda, on October 18, 1991, Zohran Kwame Mamdani is the only child of filmmaker Mira Nair and postcolonialism academic Mahmood Mamdani. His middle name, Kwame, was a tribute from his father to Ghana's first President, Kwame Nkrumah. With Indian heritage, his mother is a Punjabi Hindu and his father a Gujarati Muslim, their family roots extending to the Indian diaspora in Southeast Africa. His maternal grandmother was a social worker and founder of the Salaam Baalak Trust.
Mamdani lived in Kampala until he was five, when his family relocated to Cape Town, South Africa. He attended St. George's Grammar School while his father taught African studies at the University of Cape Town. The family then moved to New York City when Mamdani was seven, where he was raised in Morningside Heights. He describes his upbringing as "privileged," noting that while he never lacked, he was acutely aware of the reality for most New Yorkers.
His early education included the Bank Street School for Children, where he successfully ran for student body vice president on a platform of "equal rights, anti-war." A year in Kampala during his father's sabbatical exposed him to his paternal grandparents and aunt. He graduated from the Bronx High School of Science, where he co-founded the school's first cricket team. At Bowdoin College, he co-founded the Students for Justice in Palestine chapter, graduating in 2014 with a bachelor's degree in Africana Studies.
Before his political career, Mamdani worked as a foreclosure prevention and housing counselor, assisting lower-income homeowners in Queens. This experience ignited his desire to address the housing and affordability crisis through public office.
A fan of hip-hop, Mamdani has also produced rap music. Under the moniker Young Cardamom, he released an EP titled "Sidda Mukyaalo" with Ugandan rapper HAB, exploring themes that challenge societal expectations. Their music, a blend of English and Luganda, was a statement against rigid ethnic classifications. He also credits Ugandan producer Hannz Tactiq for his contributions. In 2019, as Mr. Cardamom, he released a single, "Nani," an homage to his grandmother, featuring cookbook author Madhur Jaffrey in the music video. Mamdani also curated and produced the soundtrack for his mother’s film, "Queen of Katwe," earning a nomination for a Guild of Music Supervisors Award.
Mamdani's political journey began as a volunteer for Ali Najmi's City Council campaign in 2015. He joined the New York City chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America in 2017 and managed Khader El-Yateem's campaign. He also served as campaign manager for Ross Barkan's State Senate bid and was a field organizer for Tiffany Cabán's District Attorney campaign.
In October 2019, Mamdani announced his candidacy for New York's 36th State Assembly district, advocating for housing and police reform, and public ownership of utilities. His primary victory over incumbent Aravella Simotas in June 2020 was hard-fought, and he secured the general election win unopposed. He was reelected without opposition in 2022 and 2024. Mamdani is part of the DSA's "State Socialists in Office" bloc and the Muslim Democratic Club of New York. He has served on numerous Assembly committees, including Aging, Cities, Election Law, and Energy. He has been a primary sponsor of 20 bills, three of which became law, and a co-sponsor of 238 bills. As of March 2025, he was the only state legislator in the mayoral race not to miss a session. As an assemblymember, he helped launch a successful fare-free bus pilot program and participated in a hunger strike with taxi drivers.
On October 23, 2024, Mamdani declared his candidacy for Mayor of New York City. His platform includes support for free city buses, a rent freeze on stabilized housing, and city-operated grocery stores. He advocates for universal childcare and 200,000 new affordable housing units, alongside public safety reform and a $30 minimum wage by 2030. His economic proposals include tax increases on corporations and those earning over $1 million annually. For much of the campaign, he trailed Andrew Cuomo, but a surge in polling shortly before the primary saw him catch up. Mamdani secured a major upset victory in the Democratic primary, with the Associated Press announcing his win after ranked-choice tabulation. In August 2025, his campaign organized a "Zcavenger" scavenger hunt across New York, testing participants' knowledge of the city's political history and transit routes.
Mamdani identifies as a democratic socialist and a progressive, a member of the Democratic Socialists of America. His parents greatly influenced his political outlook, fostering discussions on politics and world affairs. Bernie Sanders' 2016 presidential campaign inspired his embrace of democratic socialism. He also draws influence from historical figures like Milwaukee Mayor Daniel Hoan, Congressman Victor L. Berger, and New York City Mayor Fiorello La Guardia. During his mayoral campaign, he cited Boston Mayor Michelle Wu and Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott as leaders he admires, particularly praising Wu's fare-free public transit initiatives.
He supports a universal pre-kindergarten childcare system and proposed "baby baskets" for new families. Mamdani also introduced a bill to eliminate property tax exemptions for NYU and Columbia, redirecting funds to the City University of New York. He has expressed a desire to protect Hasidic yeshivas, stating he will listen to their leaders and work to safeguard their way of life.
Mamdani argues that increased policing and incarceration are ineffective in preventing harm, advocating instead for "dignified work, economic stability, and well-resourced neighborhoods." He promotes a community-based approach, focusing on homeless outreach and anti-violence programs, and believes police are over-reliant on to fix societal problems. He has proposed a Department of Community Safety for expanded mental health outreach. In a 2020 tweet, Mamdani called for defunding the NYPD, but during his mayoral campaign, he stated he would work with the police, emphasizing their role in dealing with violent crime and the importance of social workers and mental health professionals. He later said he would apologize for describing the NYPD as racist and condemned political violence.
Economically, Mamdani advocates for debt relief for taxi medallion owners, rent control, and stronger tenant protections. He aims to build 200,000 new affordable housing units and double spending on public housing rehabilitation. He supports increasing density around transit hubs and upzoning wealthier neighborhoods, citing examples from Jersey City and Tokyo. Mamdani proposes raising New York City's minimum wage to $30 per hour by 2030 and piloting city-operated grocery stores. He supports increasing corporate taxes in New York State and a new 2% income tax for city residents earning over $1 million annually, to fund tuition-free CUNY/SUNY, universal childcare, a subway fare freeze, free MTA buses, and tenant protections. He has stated, "I don't think we should have billionaires." Mamdani also pledged to reduce taxes on outer borough homeowners while increasing taxes on homes in wealthier neighborhoods, aiming to address inequities in property tax laws.
Mamdani views climate action as crucial for social justice. He lobbied against the expansion of a gas-fired power plant in Astoria and backed the All-Electric Buildings Act. He supports congestion pricing in Manhattan and proposed a comprehensive decarbonization plan for New York City schools, including solar arrays, upgraded HVAC systems, and green schoolyards.
He supports the New York Health Act for single-payer healthcare and appeared in an advertisement for the Campaign for New York Health.
Mamdani is critical of Israel, condemning Israeli apartheid and supporting the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement. He introduced a bill to prohibit charities from donating to organizations involved in Israel's West Bank settlements and alleged war crimes in Gaza. Following the October 7th attacks, he mourned the loss of life on both sides and called for an end to occupation and apartheid. He was arrested at a pro-Palestinian ceasefire demonstration and has stated he believes Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, calling for the arrest of Benjamin Netanyahu. Mamdani condemned US airstrikes on Iranian nuclear sites during the Iran-Israel war. He has also refused to appear with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, calling him a "war criminal" and comparing him to Netanyahu.
He supported Proposal 1, a constitutional amendment prohibiting discrimination based on various factors including ethnicity, national origin, age, disability, and gender identity. Mamdani supports New York's sanctuary laws and advocates for legal representation for all immigrants in detention proceedings. He confronted former ICE acting director Tom Homan about ICE's arrest of a student activist.
Mamdani champions LGBTQ+ rights, aiming to make NYC an LGBTQ+ sanctuary city and establish an Office of LGBTQIA+ Affairs. He supports expanding and protecting gender-affirming care and proposed significant investment in public providers for medical treatments.
He advocates for permanently eliminating bus fares, citing a successful pilot program that increased ridership and reduced assaults. Mamdani introduced bills to fix the MTA, proposing free bus travel and fare freezes. He also co-introduced a bill for a weight-based vehicle registration fee and supports congestion pricing.
Zohran Kwame Mamdani is a dual citizen of Uganda and the United States, naturalized in 2018. He is Shia Muslim, identifying with the Twelver branch. In February 2025, he married Syrian-American animator Rama Duwaji. They reside in Astoria, Queens. Mamdani is a fan of the New York Mets, New York Giants, and Arsenal Football Club, as well as All Elite Wrestling. He speaks Hindi-Urdu, Bengali, and Spanish.
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Zohran Kwame Mamdani (born October 18, 1991) is an American politician who has served since 2021 as a member of the New York State Assembly from the 36th district, based in Queens. A member of the Democratic Party and the Democratic Socialists of America, he is the Democratic nominee for mayor of New York City in the 2025 election.
Mamdani was born in Kampala, Uganda, into an Indian family, to academic Mahmood Mamdani and filmmaker Mira Nair. The family immigrated to South Africa when he was five years old and then to the United States when he was seven, settling in New York City. Mamdani graduated from the Bronx High School of Science and earned a bachelor's degree in Africana studies from Bowdoin College.
After working as a housing counselor and hip-hop musician, he entered local politics as a campaign manager for Khader El-Yateem and Ross Barkan. Mamdani was first elected to the New York State Assembly in 2020, defeating four-term incumbent Aravella Simotas in the Democratic primary. He was reelected without opposition in 2022 and 2024.
In October 2024, Mamdani announced his candidacy for mayor of New York City in the 2025 election. His campaign platform includes support for fare-free city buses; public child care; city-owned grocery stores; a rent freeze on rent-stabilized units; additional affordable housing units; comprehensive public safety reform; and a $30 minimum wage by 2030. Mamdani also supports tax increases on corporations and those earning above $1 million annually.
During the Democratic primaries, Mamdani was endorsed by prominent progressive politicians, including Bernie Sanders, Ilhan Omar, and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. On June 24, 2025, Mamdani defeated former governor Andrew Cuomo and nine other candidates to become the Democratic nominee.
== Early life and education ==
Mamdani was born on October 18, 1991, in Kampala, Uganda, the only child of filmmaker Mira Nair and postcolonialism academic Mahmood Mamdani. He was given his middle name, Kwame, by his father in honor of Kwame Nkrumah, the first President of Ghana. Both his parents are of Indian descent; his mother is a Punjabi Hindu who was born in Rourkela and raised in Bhubaneswar, and his father is a Gujarati Muslim who was born in Bombay and grew up primarily in Uganda. His paternal grandparents were born in present-day Tanzania and his father's family was part of the Indian diaspora in Southeast Africa. His maternal grandmother was a social worker and founder of the Salaam Baalak Trust.
Mamdani lived in Kampala until he was five, when his family moved to Cape Town, in South Africa's Western Cape province. He attended St. George's Grammar School in Mowbray while his father taught African studies at the University of Cape Town. The family then moved to America, settling in New York City when Mamdani was seven, and he was raised in Morningside Heights. He has described his upbringing as "privileged", saying, "I never had to want for something, and yet I knew that was not in any way the reality for most New Yorkers."
Mamdani attended the Bank Street School for Children on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, where he successfully ran as the independent candidate in a middle school mock election, adopting a platform of "equal rights, anti-war [policy] that proposed spending money on education rather than the military". In 2003, he returned to Kampala for a year and attended school during his father's sabbatical there; his paternal grandparents and aunt still live there and helped take care of him while his father was working on the book Good Muslim, Bad Muslim.
Mamdani graduated from the Bronx High School of Science in Kingsbridge Heights, where he co-founded the school's first cricket team and unsuccessfully ran for student body vice president. He also played soccer with the West Side Soccer League. Mamdani then attended Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine, where he co-founded the school's chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine. He graduated in 2014 with a bachelor's degree in Africana studies.
== Career ==
Before running for office, Mamdani worked as a foreclosure prevention and housing counselor. There, he assisted lower-income non-white homeowners in Queens with eviction notices and efforts to remain in their homes. He said the experience motivated him to run for office to address the housing and affordability crisis.
=== Music career ===
Mamdani is a fan of hip-hop and has composed and produced rap music. In 2016, under the moniker Young Cardamom, he collaborated with Ugandan rapper HAB on an EP titled Sidda Mukyaalo, which is Luganda for "No going back to the village". The duo performed at that year's Nyege Nyege festival in Jinja, Uganda. They first started working together in 2015, and their first song was Kanda [Chap Chap], about chapati, an Indian food that has been adopted as a Ugandan staple. Both rap in English and Luganda (and HAB also raps in Nubi and Swahili), and Mamdani said the "lyrics and choice of language are rebuttals of what Ugandan society expects of us—that someone with some South Sudanese roots is forever 'Nubi' and that Indian Ugandans are actually just Indians in Uganda". Mamdani also credits Ugandan producer Hannz Tactiq, who provided the beat and would "record, mix & master" for them, and in whose studio they worked until late at night. In 2019, Mamdani released a single titled "Nani" under the moniker Mr. Cardamom, an homage to his maternal grandmother, whom he described as "a source of joy, wisdom, and love". Cookbook author and actress Madhur Jaffrey is featured in the single's music video, playing his grandmother.
Mamdani curated and produced the soundtrack for his mother Mira Nair's 2016 film Queen of Katwe. As the film's music supervisor, he was nominated in the 2017 Guild of Music Supervisors Awards.
=== Early political involvement ===
Mamdani entered New York City politics as a volunteer for Ali Najmi's campaign in the 2015 special election for the 23rd district of the City Council. In 2017, Mamdani joined the New York City chapter of Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) and worked for the campaign of New York City Council candidate Khader El-Yateem, a Palestinian Lutheran minister and democratic socialist from Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. Mamdani served as the campaign manager for Ross Barkan's 2018 bid for the New York State Senate and was also a field organizer for fellow democratic socialist Tiffany Cabán's 2019 campaign for Queens County District Attorney.
=== New York State Assembly (2020–present) ===
In October 2019, Mamdani announced his campaign to represent New York's 36th State Assembly district, which encompasses Astoria and Long Island City in Queens. He was endorsed by the DSA, running on a platform of housing reform, police and prison reform, and public ownership of utilities. Mamdani's June 2020 primary victory over four-term Democratic incumbent Aravella Simotas took almost a month to call, and he won the general election with no Republican opposition in November. Mamdani was reelected without opposition in 2022 and 2024.
Mamdani is a member of the DSA's nine-member "State Socialists in Office" bloc in New York and a member of the Muslim Democratic Club of New York. Mamdani was the keynote speaker at the 2023 DSA convention, saying, "We are special as DSA electeds not because of ourselves; we are special because of our organization".
As of January 2025, Mamdani was a member of nine Assembly committees: the Committee on Aging; the Committee on Cities; the Committee on Election Law; the Committee on Energy; the Committee on Real Property Taxation; the Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic & Asian Legislative Caucus; the Puerto Rican/Hispanic Task Force; the Asian Pacific American Task Force; and the Task Force on New Americans.
Mamdani had been the primary sponsor of 20 bills in the Assembly—three of which became law—and the co-sponsor of 238 bills as of May 2025. As of March 2025, he was the only state legislator in the mayoral race not to miss a session in Albany in 2025.
As a member of the Assembly, Mamdani helped to launch a successful fare-free bus pilot program and participated in a hunger strike alongside taxi drivers.
=== 2025 New York City mayoral campaign ===
On October 23, 2024, Mamdani announced his candidacy for mayor of New York City in 2025. His platform includes support for free city buses and a rent freeze in rent-stabilized housing. Mamdani also wants the city government to operate five grocery stores—one in each borough—to drive down grocery prices. Mamdani's platform includes support for universal child care and for the construction of 200,000 new affordable housing units. He also supports public safety reform and a $30 minimum wage by 2030. His platform calls for tax increases on corporations and those earning above $1 million annually.
For most of the campaign, Mamdani trailed Cuomo in polling. While he and Cuomo raised similar amounts of money, his donor base was considerably larger than Cuomo's. A poll taken shortly before the June 24 primary election showed that Mamdani had caught up to Cuomo. First-choice results on election night showed Mamdani had a large lead over Cuomo, who conceded the race that evening. On July 1, after the New York City Board of Elections released its ranked-choice ballot tabulation, the Associated Press announced Mamdani had won the Democratic primary. It was considered a major upset.
On August 23, the Mamdani campaign released a video teaser for an August 24 "Zcavenger" scavenger hunt across New York, an opportunity to test people's familiarity with the city's political history and knowledge of bus and subway routes. The campaign had 500 printed participant cards, but more people turned out to participate.
== Political positions ==
Mamdani identifies as a democratic socialist. He is a member of the Democratic Socialists of America. Mamdani has also been described as a progressive.
=== Influences ===
Mamdani has credited his parents for both fostering his interest in politics and world affairs and shaping his outlook on them. He has noted that, when he was growing up, his household frequently discussed these subjects. He has credited Bernie Sanders's 2016 presidential campaign for inspiring him to become a democratic socialist. Mamdani is also influenced by 20th-century American "sewer socialists" such as Milwaukee Mayor Daniel Hoan and Congressman Victor L. Berger, as well as the populist New York City mayor Fiorello La Guardia.
During his mayoral campaign, Mamdani has cited Boston mayor Michelle Wu and Baltimore mayor Brandon Scott as two mayors whose leadership he will seek to emulate if elected. He has frequently pointed to Wu, whom he has called the most effective current Democratic politician in the U.S., as a role model for both her performance as mayor and prior work as a city councilor. Mamdani has specifically cited Wu's fare free-public bus transit pilot programs as inspiring his similar plans for New York City. Wu is a progressive but, unlike Mamdani, does not identify as a socialist.
=== Childcare and education ===
Mamdani supports a universal pre-kindergarten childcare system. He has proposed giving all new New York City families "baby baskets" containing products such as diapers and nursing supplies. Mamdani introduced a bill to eliminate New York University's and Columbia University's state property tax exemption and direct those funds to the City University of New York system, which has historically struggled with funding.
==== Protection of Hasidic yeshivas ====
In an June 2025 interview with Der Blatt, a newspaper associated with the Hasidic movement of Judaism, Mamdani expressed a desire to defend Hasidic yeshivas (institutions for Torah study) from accusations of failing to meet state educational standards. He stated that "I will listen to your leaders" on education and "I will work to protect you from anyone who wants to disturb your way of life".
=== Crime and policing ===
Mamdani has argued that increasing policing and incarceration does little to prevent harm and that "dignified work, economic stability, and well-resourced neighborhoods" can more effectively keep the public safe. He has advocated a more community-based approach to reducing crime, focusing on homeless outreach and anti-violence programs. He contends that there is too much reliance on police to fix societal problems, saying, "Police have a critical role to play, but right now we are relying on them to deal with the failures of the social safety net of reliance that is preventing them from doing their actual jobs." He has proposed a Department of Community Safety to expand mental health outreach. This proposed civilian-led department would deploy mental health teams to respond to 911 calls and expand street-level programs intended to stop the cycle of violence, as well as focusing on programs "that are proven to create long-term stability and promote recovery."
In a June 2020 tweet, Mamdani wrote, "We don't need an investigation to know that the NYPD is racist, anti-queer & a major threat to public safety. What we need is to #DefundTheNYPD." During the 2025 mayoral race, he said he would work with the police rather than defund them, emphasizing their importance in dealing with violent crime and the role of social workers and mental health professionals in addressing underlying causes and prevention. In September 2025, Mamdani said he would apologize for describing the NYPD as racist.
He condemned the assassination of Charlie Kirk in September 2025, saying that political violence has no place in the United States.
=== Economic policy ===
Mamdani advocates for debt relief among taxi medallion owners.
Mamdani has advocated rent control, strengthening tenant protections, and creating a Social Housing Development Agency that would build publicly owned affordable housing. He wants to build 200,000 new units of affordable, rent-stabilized homes over the next 10 years and double the amount of spending to rehabilitate homes for the city's 400,000 public housing tenants. He also wants to "increase density around mass transit hubs" and "upzone wealthier neighborhoods", citing housing policies in Jersey City and Tokyo as examples.
Mamdani supports raising New York City's minimum wage to $30 per hour by 2030. He advocates a pilot program in which the city government would operate one grocery store in each borough to drive down prices.
Mamdani supports an increase in corporate taxes in New York State from 7.25% to 11.5%, to match those of New Jersey. He also supports a new 2% increase for income tax on city residents who earn more than $1 million a year, to raise $20 billion to fund tuition-free CUNY and SUNY schools, statewide universal childcare, a subway fare freeze, free MTA buses, and tenant protections. In June 2025, Mamdani said, "I don't think we should have billionaires."
Mamdani made a mayoral campaign pledge to reduce taxes on "overtaxed homeowners in the outer boroughs" of New York City, while advocating to increase taxes on "more expensive homes in richer and whiter neighborhoods." His intention with this policy was to tackle a 1981 property tax law that essentially taxes owners of expensive homes based on the homes' potential rental price rather than their market value, which could lead to the owners paying much less property tax than owners of cheap homes.
=== Environment ===
Mamdani views climate action as essential to achieving social justice in New York City. In 2021, he organized volunteers and lobbied Governor Kathy Hochul to prevent the expansion of a gas-fired peaker power plant in Astoria, citing environmental concerns for low-income nonwhite communities. Mamdani has also backed statewide measures such as the All-Electric Buildings Act, which prohibits installing fossil-fuel equipment (e.g., gas stoves) in new buildings, and supported introducing congestion pricing in Manhattan to reduce traffic-related emissions.
As a mayoral candidate, Mamdani proposed a comprehensive decarbonization and resilience agenda. His "Green Schools for a Healthier New York City" blueprint would retrofit 500 public school buildings with rooftop solar arrays and upgraded HVAC systems; build 500 green schoolyards; transform heat-absorbing asphalt into green space serving students and community residents; convert 50 schools into year-round resilience hubs to offer shelter and resources during extreme heat, storms, or flooding; and extend tax incentives such as J-51 benefits to support building owners' compliance with Local Law 97.
=== Healthcare ===
Mamdani supports the New York Health Act, which would establish single-payer healthcare in New York State. He portrayed a firefighter in a 2021 advertisement for the Campaign for New York Health.
=== Foreign policy ===
==== Israeli–Palestinian conflict ====
Mamdani is deeply critical of Israel, condemning Israeli apartheid in 2023.
He supports the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement, and in 2023 introduced a state assembly bill to prohibit registered charities from donating to organizations involved in Israel's illegal West Bank settlements; a later iteration of the bill added organizations lending support to alleged war crimes in Gaza.
The day after the Hamas-led October 7 attacks on Israel, Mamdani issued a statement to "mourn the hundreds of people killed across Israel and Palestine" and saying that the end of "occupation" and "apartheid" was the only path to peace. He later condemned the Hamas attacks as a "horrific war crime". The next week, Mamdani was arrested during a pro-Palestinian ceasefire demonstration. In 2025, Mamdani said he believed Israel was committing genocide in Gaza, and that if Benjamin Netanyahu travels to New York City, he should be arrested in accordance with the International Criminal Court's warrant for his arrest.
==== Iran–Israel war ====
Mamdani condemned US airstrikes on Iranian nuclear sites during the Iran–Israel war, describing them as unconstitutional and destabilizing.
==== India ====
Mamdani has said he would refuse to appear with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi if Modi visited New York, as he considers Modi a "war criminal", accusing him of "orchestrat[ing] a mass slaughter of Muslims in Gujarat" during 2002 riots in which 790 Muslims and 254 Hindus died. He compared Modi to Israel's Netanyahu. Mamdani said that in the aftermath of these events, few Muslims remain in Gujarat, and that most people believe Gujarati Muslims do not exist today, a claim Indian leaders disputed.
=== Social issues ===
Mamdani supported Proposal 1, a 2024 amendment to the Constitution of New York that made it unconstitutional to engage in discrimination based on ethnicity, national origin, age, disability, sex (including sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression), pregnancy and pregnancy-related outcomes, and reproductive healthcare and autonomy.
==== Immigration ====
Mamdani supports enforcement of New York's sanctuary laws, which bar Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) from entering schools, hospitals, and city property without a judicial warrant, and has advocated for stronger sanctuary laws. He has also proposed creating a commission to ensure compliance by city agencies and contractors. He has pledged that if he is elected mayor, the city will provide legal representation for all immigrants in detention proceedings.
On March 12, 2025, Mamdani confronted former United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) acting director Tom Homan in Albany about ICE's recent arrest of student activist Mahmoud Khalil. Mamdani yelled, "Do you believe in the First Amendment?"
==== LGBTQ+ rights ====
Mamdani supports LGBTQ+ rights. He aims to establish NYC as an LGBTQ+ sanctuary city and establish the Office of LGBTQIA+ Affairs to "expand and centralize the services, programs, and support that LGBTQIA+ New Yorkers need across housing, employment, and more." Mamdani says LGBTQ+ people who became homeless due to their identity would benefit from his cost-of-living policies.
Mamdani appeared at a February 2025 rally in Union Square to protest an executive order signed by President Trump that threatened to "withhold federal funding from hospitals that provide gender-affirming treatments to trans youth". As part of his platform, he supports expanding and protecting gender-affirming care citywide. He proposed an immediate investment of $65 million in public providers to ensure funding for medical treatments that lose Medicaid coverage and promised to ensure hospital accountability.
=== Transportation ===
Mamdani supports permanently eliminating bus fares. He advocated for a fare-free pilot program on MTA buses, which was launched on the Q4, B60, Bx18, M116 and S46/96 routes in September 2023. The program saw a 30% increase in ridership on weekdays, predominantly from people earning less than $28,000 a year. Across the five routes made free, assaults on bus operators dropped by 38.9%. The fare-free program ended in August 2024 after state lawmakers did not reauthorize it. In response, Mamdani said, "the MTA was opposed to this program ... because they were saying that now is not the time to create any kind of confusion around fare collection." He estimates that it would cost New York City $650 million per year to eliminate bus fares.
In December 2022, Mamdani introduced a series of bills for the 2023 session called "Fix the MTA". He proposed free bus travel over the next four years across the Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens, and then Manhattan and Staten Island. The Formula Three Act would fill the $2.5 billion shortfall of the MTA with another plank freezing fares at $2.75. Another plank would have set aside further money for more frequency, such as six-minute headways for trains and the 100 most-used bus routes, then using any additional funds to increase service by 20%.
In 2023, Mamdani co-introduced a bill to enact a weight-based vehicle-registration fee to dissuade people from owning heavier vehicles in an effort to make streets safer. Mamdani supports congestion pricing in New York City and drafted a bill with New York state senator Michael Gianaris titled "Get Congestion Pricing Right" to increase bus service frequency and increase the number of fare-free buses.
== Personal life ==
Mamdani is a dual citizen of Uganda and the United States; he was naturalized in the latter country in 2018. He is Shia Muslim and identifies with the Twelver branch. In February 2025, Mamdani married Syrian-American animator Rama Duwaji in a civil ceremony at New York City Hall. The couple met years earlier on the dating application Hinge, and held a private nikah ceremony in December 2024. Mamdani and Duwaji reside in Astoria, Queens.
Mamdani is a fan of the New York Mets and the New York Giants. He also supports the English football club Arsenal. Additionally, he is a fan of All Elite Wrestling, attending its inaugural Grand Slam pay-per-view. Besides English, Mamdani has spoken other languages during his mayoral campaign, showing different degrees of proficiency in Hindi–Urdu, Bengali, and Spanish.
== Electoral history ==
=== New York State Assembly elections ===
=== New York City mayoral elections ===
== Notes ==
== See also ==
Indian Americans in the New York metropolitan area
Indians in Uganda
Ugandan Americans
== References ==
== External links ==
Campaign website
Appearances on C-SPAN
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Languages