Zohran Mamdani, the son of a Muslim father and a Hindu mother, was born in Kampala, Uganda, and raised in New York. He identifies as a democratic socialist and has refused to downplay his identity despite facing Islamophobic attacks during his campaign. In his victory speech on Tuesday night at the Paramount Theatre in Brooklyn, he declared: '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's campaign was marked by a surge in Islamophobic comments online, according to a report by the Center for Study of Organized Hate. A Super PAC supporting Andrew Cuomo ran an ad depicting Mamdani in front of the Twin Towers on 9/11, and another flyer artificially thickened his beard to make him appear more menacing. In response, Mamdani gave an emotional speech in the Bronx, vowing: 'I will no longer be in the shadows.'
Minhaj Khan of the Indian American Muslim Council said Mamdani's boldness resonates with the community. 'He took a pretty bold stand against the ill that is spoken about Islam and Muslims in this country,' Khan said. Alina Shen of CAAAV Voice added that Mamdani's refusal to change who he is made him stand out as a candidate.
Mamdani began his victory speech by quoting socialist Eugene Debs and borrowed from Jawaharlal Nehru's famous address on Indian independence: 'A moment comes, but rarely in history, when we step out from the old to the new.' Khan noted that Nehru was a secular leader who brought people together, and Mamdani's campaign has similarly united Jews, Muslims, Hindus, and Christians.
Mamdani's father, Mahmood Mamdani, is a scholar of colonialism and a professor at Columbia University. He was born to Gujarati Muslim parents in Mumbai, grew up in Kampala, and was expelled from Uganda during Idi Amin's expulsion of the Indian diaspora. He later ended up at a refugee shelter in London.
