Zohran Mamdani wins Black and youth vote to make history as New York City’s next mayor

Mamdani’s victory is a strong endorsement of his campaign platform, which aims to raise taxes on the wealthy to address the city’s affordability crisis.

Democrat Zohran Mamdani was elected the next mayor of New York City, making history as the Big Apple’s first Muslim mayor and the youngest in more than a century.

Tuesday marked the highest voter turnout in New York City in more than three decades, with more than two million voters, according to early vote counts. Mamdani’s victory is a strong endorsement of his campaign platform, which aims to raise taxes on the wealthy to address the city’s affordability crisis, including the high cost of housing, child care and groceries.

President Donald Trump has repeatedly targeted Mamdani over his populist agenda and called him a “communist.” The president endorsed Mamdani’s opponent, former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, and threatened to withhold federal funding from New York City if voters elected Mamdani.

The 34-year-old two-term state assemblyman’s victory could be seen as a direct response to Trump’s second term in the White House, which has included massive cuts to the federal workforce, mass immigration enforcement, military deployments, and attacks on DEI.

Mamdani’s economic agenda was a clear winning message for the new mayor-elect, who assembled a diverse coalition of voters to secure Tuesday’s win. According to early exit polling data, Mamdani overwhelmingly won the youth vote, garnering 77% of 18-24-year-olds and 74% of 25-29-year-olds.

Mamdani also won a majority of the Black vote (52%), increasing his support from Black New Yorkers in the primary election by more than 20%. In the final weeks of the campaign, the Ugandan immigrant of South Asian descent campaigned in Black churches, barbershops, and even nightclubs.

LaTosha Brown, co-founder of Black Voters Matter, applauded Mamdani’s successful campaign, noting his “intentional outreach” to the Black communities to “talk about the issues that they’re concerned about.”

“What they’re concerned about is how am I going to keep more money in my pocket, how am I going to put food on my table, and how can…make [New Yorkers] more affordable and more accessible to all?” Brown told theGrio. “I think we’re seeing his rise because he has stayed on message and not really gotten wavered. Even when there have been attacks on him, he’s stayed true to that message.”

Minutes after being declared New York City’s next mayor, Mamdani posted a short video clip on social media. “Next stop and last stop is: City Hall” says an intercom voice from inside a New York City subway train.

As Democrats and Republicans work to win the political narrative heading into the 2026 midterm elections, Brown of Black Voters Matter cautioned that the economic crisis signals “people are beyond, kind of, the partisan bickering.”

“Folks don’t care about that right now. People really are concerned about…who is going to fight for me, and who’s going to acknowledge what is happening to me,” she told theGrio.

“This evening’s election outcomes should be attributed to the power of everyday working people who showed up to say our democracy will not be bought,” said Portia Allen-Kyle, interim executive director of Color Of Change.

“Across the country voters stood up and rejected billionaires who have no interest in our freedoms and a White House regime trying to consolidate power at the expense of our communities. Black political power proved once again that when we organize, we win—and no amount of money can outspend our will to build a future we deserve.”