A guide to the writers, thinkers, and politicians Mamdani referenced in his victory speech

• Democratic candidate Zohran Mamdani took a sweeping victory in the New York City mayoral election.
• In a rousing victory speech, Mamdani said he and his supporters have “toppled a political dynasty.”
• Mamdani made several references to famous political figures from the past. Read about them below.

Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic candidate, swept to victory in the New York City mayoral election on Tuesday.

Beating out former Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa, Mamdani told supporters at a Brooklyn victory party that they had “toppled a political dynasty” and promised to build a “shining city for all.”

Mamdani, a New York State representative for the Astoria neighborhood of Queens, has enjoyed a meteoric rise, going from a relative unknown to mayor of one of the world’s most important cities in a remarkably short time.

After the election was called in his favor, Mamdani delivered a rousing, 22-minute-long speech that made several allusions to famous political figures and thinkers from the past. Here’s a breakdown of the big names he referenced.

Eugene Debs, trade unionist and socialist presidential candidate

Thank you, my friends. The sun may have set over our city this evening, but as Eugene Debs once said, ‘I can see the dawn of a better day for humanity.’

Mamdani opened his speech by quoting Eugene Debs, a prominent socialist and trade unionist in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

In the 1890s, Debs was a key figure in the founding of the American Railway Union, one of the US’ first formal industrial unions. The union was involved in the 1894 strike at the Pullman train company’s Chicago factory, an event that eventually led to a nationwide railroad boycott and, eventually, the imprisonment of the ARU’s leadership, including Debs.

The strike and subsequent boycott are often seen as major turning points in American labor relations and the creation of stronger labor laws.

Debs later ran for president as the candidate for the Socialist Party of America in five elections: 1900, 1904, 1908, 1912, and 1920. In the 1912 election, Debs secured over 900,000 votes, around 6% of the popular vote.

Mamdani’s quote relating to Debs came from a speech given in court in 1918, after he was convicted of sedition following a series of speeches made against US involvement in the First World War and the administration of President Woodrow Wilson. Debs appealed the conviction, and it reached the Supreme Court, where it was eventually upheld. His 1920 presidential run was made from prison.

He remains one of the most famous socialist figures in US history.

Jawaharlal Nehru, the first leader of an independent India

Standing before you, I think of the words of Jawaharlal Nehru: “A moment comes, but rarely in history, when we step out from the old to the new, when an age ends, and when the soul of a nation, long suppressed, finds utterance.”Tonight, we have stepped out from the old into the new. So let us speak now, with clarity and conviction that cannot be misunderstood, about what this new age will deliver, and for whom.

In the middle of his speech, just before laying out his plans for a “new age” in New York, Mamdani quoted Jawaharlal Nehru, a key driver of India’s independence from Britain, and its first prime minister after independence was achieved.

The words quoted by Mamdani, who is of Indian descent, were part of a speech Nehru gave on August 14, 1947, the night before the country’s independence was formalized. The speech is often considered one of the greatest orations delivered in the 20th century, calling on Indian citizens to seize the opportunities that independence brought.

Fiorello La Guardia, former New York City mayor

This will be an age where New Yorkers expect from their leaders a bold vision of what we will achieve, rather than a list of excuses for what we are too timid to attempt. Central to that vision will be the most ambitious agenda to tackle the cost-of-living crisis that this city has seen since the days of Fiorello La Guardia.

Soon after referencing Nehru, Mamdani moved closer to home, saying he hoped to emulate the successes of Fiorello La Guardia, who served as Mayor of New York City from 1934 to 1945.

La Guardia is widely considered to be one of the best mayors in the city’s history, steering it through the second half of the Great Depression and implementing major reforms both politically and to New York’s public infrastructure.

Under his mayorship, tunnels, bridges, and highways were built across the city, as well as two airports, the eponymous La Guardia and Idlewild Airport, now known as JFK.

After referencing La Guardia, Mamdani spoke of his own plans, saying he “will freeze the rents for more than two million rent-stabilized tenants, make buses fast and free, and deliver universal childcare across our city.”

“Years from now, may our only regret be that this day took so long to come. This new age will be one of relentless improvement,” Mamdani added.

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