More than two million New Yorkers turned out to cast their ballots Tuesday, shattering decades of mounting apathy to support Zohran Mamdani, a 34-year-old Muslim candidate who won more than 50 percent of the vote and became the city’s youngest mayor since 1892.
Critics—from the right and within the Democratic establishment—spent months attacking Mamdani’s progressive platform and his ear-to-the-ground approach to city politics. Attack ads fixated on his religion, his ethnic identity, and his immigration status as a Ugandan-born New Yorker. The press wasn’t much nicer. Even publications that have historically been friendly toward Democratic candidates were weird and hostile toward Mamdani.
None of that managed to deflate the contagious energy of Mamdani’s campaign. By the end, it had become clear that New York had fallen for the cheery-eyed underdog. In the final days of the race, Saturday Night Live framed Mamdani as a heartthrob, while West Village girls donned “Hot Girls for Zohran” tees. But it wasn’t his charm that won him the election. His secret sauce was simple: a message of hope, a platform with a vision, and a willingness to listen to the needs of everyday New Yorkers.
The New Republic got a street-level look at how Mamdani pulled it off: We assigned New York City–based photojournalist Ron Haviv to follow him across the city over the last two weeks, culminating in Election Day.
