Walking with Zohran Mamdani can feel like an extreme sport. During a mid-September stroll on Seventh Avenue, along the six blocks from his Manhattan campaign office to a favorite breakfast spot, he caused a noticeable amount of commotion, even in a city full of it. There was a selfie-seeking fan, then a campaign volunteer. A chance meeting with an old friend. Even a first-time encounter with the South African comedian Trevor Noah. He greeted Mamdani, who holds dual American and Ugandan citizenship, like the regional cousin he is. (After they embraced, Noah told the candidate he wanted him on his podcast.)
Amid the hubbub, I asked Mamdani, the Democratic nominee for mayor, why he decided to run. By the time he could answer in full, we were waiting to be seated at Johny’s Luncheonette, a testament to the obstacle course of interruptions that is currently his life. Mamdani favors the hole-in-the-wall Chelsea diner for its comfort food and low profile. Here, he can focus — over his usual order of four scrambled eggs piled on toast with a single pancake on the side.
“There was never going to be a poll that said, ‘The time is now for Zohran Mamdani and a campaign on affordability,’ ” he said, flashing his trademark full-face grin. “I would often be asked this question: ‘Are you running to win or running to run?’ I would say that you can be doing both. You can be serious and determined and ruthless in your dedication to winning the race. And then, also, you can develop it.”
The result has been historic. Mamdani, a 33-year-old Democratic Socialist backbench state assemblyman who before this year had almost no name recognition in New York City, is now the general-election favorite against a former governor and member of one of the most famous families in state politics. He has already shamed the incumbent mayor, who was running a distant fourth, into an early exit from the race.
In the June primary, Mamdani didn’t just beat the odds; he blew the door off the hinges, reshaping the electorate and taking advantage of ranked-choice voting to claim a commanding 12.8-point victory that reverberated through the country’s politics.
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