In Tuesday’s mayoral election, Zohran Mamdani captured more than one million votes across New York’s diverse electorate. Most notably, the democratic socialist made huge inroads with black and Hispanic voters in the Bronx and Queens.
These two groups backed Andrew Cuomo heavily in the Democratic primary but swung to Mamdani in the general election. Once wary of him — particularly older voters and union households who doubted his promises on housing and transit — they ultimately decided to give him a chance.
Mamdani achieved this by winning them over to his affordability agenda, mobilising an army of union-aligned canvassers across outer-borough neighbourhoods, and delivering his message in multiple languages. Early in the campaign, he took the unusual step for a non-Latino candidate of releasing a full Spanish-language ad — speaking less than fluently, but with the conviction of someone who cared enough to try. This culturally fluent approach paid dividends. He won clear majorities of both Latino and black voters, especially in the working-class enclaves of the Bronx and Queens.
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Santiago Vidal Calvo is a Cities policy analyst at the Manhattan Institute.
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