In just a matter of months, New York State assemblymember Zohran Mamdani overcame low polling figures and surprised Democrats with a presumptive victory in the New York City mayoral primary held on Tuesday.
Bob Hardt, political director for Spectrum News channel NY1, told Morning Edition that Mamdani went from polling in the single digits earlier this year to declaring victory early Wednesday through "social media and hard work and seizing the left lane."
"Five years ago, Mamdani was running for the state assembly in a crowded Democratic primary, and no one outside of his Astoria, Queens neighborhood really had heard of him," Hardt said.
The 33-year-old democratic socialist, who now represents that neighborhood as part of the 36th Assembly District, earned a plurality of first-choice votes despite consistently polling behind former New York governor Andrew Cuomo.
"He became a Goliath slayer," Hardt said. "And the Goliath form was Andrew Cuomo."
New York City primaries use a ranked-choice voting system wherein voters choose their top five candidates in order of preference. Multiple elimination rounds may be conducted until a candidate gets more than 50% of the vote, and official results may take weeks.
With Mamdani's sizable lead in the first round, the second-place Cuomo conceded the primary early Wednesday, but he has not ruled out running in the November general election as an independent candidate. If he enters the general election, he would join a race that already includes current New York City Mayor Eric Adams and uncontested Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa.
Mamdani ran on a platform that emphasized affordability. He proposed freezing rents for rent-stabilized tenants, making city buses and childcare free and creating publicly owned grocery stores with low prices.
NPR's A Martínez spoke to NY1's Bob Hardt about how Mamdani's grassroots campaign captured the support of Democratic primary voters.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Interview highlights
A Martínez: You mentioned social media. Tell us about that part of his rise, because some pretty powerful ads apparently did really well on social media. How much of a factor was that?
Bob Hardt: He went on the Coney Island plunge into the ocean wearing a full suit. He walked from one end of Manhattan to the other. And while these are gimmicks, he seemed to be real, and it really had an impact with a lot of younger voters. The question I think a lot of people had on Primary Day was, 'Would the TikTok clicks translate into votes?' And obviously we know the answer now.
Martínez: The New York Times and the New York Post — for those that are not from New York — the editorial boards of each paper don't agree on much, but they both agree that voters in New York should not vote for him.
Hardt: And it was for different reasons. Obviously those two papers are from different ideological spectrums. For the New York Post, Mamdani was just far too liberal. For The New York Times, they thought that Mamdani just didn't have enough experience. So, you almost had a unanimous opinion with the New York political elite that Mamdani wasn't ready for prime time. The voters thought otherwise.
Martínez: Assuming he wins, what would determine whether he can actually make the changes that he's promising? How would it be paid for?
Hardt: That's the $64 question. Or actually, a much higher price. The governor and the state legislature in Albany hold the reins of power in New York City. No matter who's the governor or who the legislature is or who's the mayor, the way the state government is structured in New York is that it has to go through Albany. And that's going to be a rocky road for Mamdani, because Governor [Kathy] Hochul, even though she's a Democrat, doesn't want to raise taxes, which is part of Mamdani's proposals. And she's up for re-election next year. So you can already see a tricky path for Mamdani should he become elected mayor. And we should point out, even though New York City is heavily Democratic, there's still a general election in November.
Martínez: It's only been a few days, but what sort of early opposition are you seeing against Mamdani's general election campaign?
Hardt: There could be as many as four opponents that Mamdani is facing, including Andrew Cuomo, who has not said whether or not he's going to continue his run. He has an independent line, should he pursue it. We haven't talked at all about the Democratic incumbent mayor, Eric Adams, who will also be running on a third-party line as well. And then you have Republican Curtis Sliwa, who created the subway safety group, the Guardian Angels. And you could create a scenario with all of these different candidates where a Republican like Sliwa could somehow slip in because of divided electoral math. And the same thing with Mayor Adams.
Martínez: What do you think [Mamdani's] success says about politics in New York City?
Hardt: I think it shows that there's a real hunger from the younger generation of new leadership, that there is still political excitement. People aren't just jaded and cynical — people in their twenties and thirties — but they want something new. Andrew Cuomo would have been the oldest mayor sworn in New York City in history. And Mamdani, if he wins, will be the youngest in more than 100 years.
The digital version of this interview was edited by Treye Green.
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