In a time of increasing political turbulence when breaking news headlines demand readers’ attention on a daily, if not hourly basis, many young people across the United States have begun to tune out. As reported by Tufts University’s Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE), the 2024 presidential election saw a decrease of about eight percent in youth voter turnout, down from a previous record high in the 2020 election.
Throughout the past five years, studies have revealed rising sentiments of political disengagement among young voters. Despite this, New York State Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani’s (D-NY) New York City grassroots mayoral campaign has made waves across the country and young people especially have noticed. Not only has Mamdani caught young voters’ attention—boasting more than 200,000 followers on TikTok and 440,000 on Instagram—he’s resonating with them.
“I started volunteering with Zohran Mamdani’s campaign in January,” canvas field lead and recent Florida International University (FIU) graduate Maxwell Dickinson told Old School Catalyst. “After Trump’s election, I think like most of us, I was really spiraling and I was like, ‘Man, I gotta figure out something to do here.’ And so just by chance, I was on Instagram and I saw him in a Subway Takes [episode]. I saw this guy, I was like, ‘Oh, he’s a politician. That’s cool. Oh, he’s running for mayor. That’s even cooler.’”
Born in Uganda, raised in NYC and naturalized as an American citizen in 2018, 33-year-old Mamdani became involved in politics after leading several student organizing campaigns. According to his Assemblymember biography, he credits his experience founding his high school’s inaugural cricket team with teaching him “how coming together with a few like-minded individuals can transform rhetoric into reality.” Before being elected to represent the Queens neighborhoods of the 36th Assembly District in 2021, he worked as a foreclosure prevention housing counselor, where he helped Queens homeowners of color stay in their homes. He said what he saw in this line of work led him to run for office.
After being exposed to Mamdani online, further research into the mayoral hopeful’s political career gave Dickinson reason to engage with his campaign on a deeper level. “He’s just a very left-wing progressive, which I like,” Dickinson said. “A member of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), as am I, and he implemented the free bus pilot program. One free bus route in each borough. It was a massive success. You know, ridership went up as you would expect, but it was also safer, like assaults on passengers and bus drivers went down.”
One pillar of Mamdani’s platform is making NYC’s buses faster and free. The pilot program ran from September 24, 2023 to September 1, 2024, with largely successful results. Assaults on bus operators driving these routes decreased by nearly 39%.
Dickinson cited Mamdani’s history of fighting for the rights of working class New Yorkers alongside them as a major reason for his support of the campaign. “He hunger-striked with a bunch of taxi drivers who were fighting to get better union benefits and they were successful,” Dickinson said. “He was out there with them. And so I saw both of those things and I saw his platform for the mayor.”
Mamdani’s platform, grassroots campaign and close involvement in the NYC community are all reasons he has gained so much respect in a tightly contested race—actions which, in turn, have motivated the work of young volunteers like Dickinson and fellow DSA member Adam Johnson.
“ Canvassing for Zohran, for me, is the biggest dose of inspiration I can get,” Johnson told Old School Catalyst. “It is where I’m putting all of my political energy right now. It is the only thing that I have right now in my mind to combat against Trump.
“New York City is the biggest city in the U.S. with an outsized influence on the rest of the nation’s politics,” Johnson continued. “New York City is looked to a lot and it is a big deal if we can get a socialist in office.”
In the world of U.S. politics, the negative rhetoric surrounding socialism has impacted a number of Democratic politicians in recent memory, including Bernie Sanders’ and Kamala Harris’ respective presidential campaigns in 2016 and 2024. The stigma around socialism even pushed Harris to clarify to voters in New Hampshire: “I am not a democratic socialist.” Mamdani’s approach is different, as he wears his DSA membership proudly, seemingly unafraid of the connotations it may bring.
With a number of fellow progressives on the ballot in this mayoral race, the question stands: what makes Mamdani stand out as a candidate worth volunteering and voting for?
“ I think he’s young, he’s charismatic and he’s a change candidate who actually has the resume to back up that he’s a change candidate,” Dickinson said. “ He’s different. He wants to sort of shake things up in New York. You can look up what he’s done as a state assemblyman and see that he has actually changed things and I think he is clearly serious about change.”
“Zohran is the real deal,” Johnson said. “I know his values. I trust him. I’ve seen him at DSA meetings. He’s being real and just like with Bernie [Sanders], people can see that and people respond to it. He doesn’t come across as a ‘politician’ to me. He comes across as what a politician should be. I think this guy getting in would be legitimately very good for this city.
“I feel I would never be excited by these other candidates,” Johnson continued. “They would just be another Democrat to me.”
Mamdani’s success with youth is not exclusive to Gen Z; his campaign has received first-choice endorsements from the likes of U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders (D-VT), Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and the New York chapter of the Working Families Party (NYWFP).
“Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani has built an exciting campaign that has inspired thousands of New Yorkers to volunteer their time, donate and come together to fight for bold solutions to the problems working families face,” Co-Directors of the NYWFP Ana María Archila and Jasmine Gripper stated on the party’s website. “The polls and fundraising numbers tell a clear story about who is best poised to defeat Cuomo — that candidate is Zohran.” The group ranked Mamdani #1, followed in descending order by progressive candidates NYC Comptroller Brad Lander, NYC City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams, New York State Senator Zellnor Myrie and New York Senator Jessica Ramos.
Endorsements such as these could potentially serve as significant boosts to Mamdani’s mayoral hopes, as recent polls show him trailing frontrunner and former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo by only two points. Polls conducted earlier this year showed Mamdani down by as much as 40%.
Cuomo served as governor of New York from 2011 to 2021, ending his tenure when he resigned due to sexual misconduct allegations by several women. As governor, he announced a ban on fracking, oversaw tax cuts for businesses and the middle class and supported an increase to the state minimum wage. He especially came into the national sphere in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, often criticizing Donald Trump’s pandemic policy, though he encountered major public and legal backlash due to his own handling of the crisis. Cuomo has also recently faced controversy for accepting money from billionaires and GOP-affiliated donors who supported Trump’s 2024 presidential bid.
For Mamdani, his supporters and the NYWFP, defeating Cuomo is just as much of a goal as winning the election. In a ranked choice election like this one, voters can rank up to five candidates in their order of preference. Results are calculated by counting who receives the most first-choice votes. If no candidate earns more than 50% first-choice votes, counting will continue in rounds in which candidates with the least total votes are eliminated. This continues until there are only two choices left. The candidate with the most votes between the two wins.
No matter what the ranked-choice ballot may look like exactly, New York progressives have urged voters not to rank Cuomo at all.
“I should say that my views are my own, it should not be taken as the views of the Zohran Mamdani campaign,” Dickinson said. “But [regarding] Andrew Cuomo, who is currently leading the polls, and Eric Adams, who is not leading in the polls at all but is running as an independent: I think Eric Adams has shown that he’s been bad for the city, Andrew Cuomo would be worse for the city.
“Both of these guys have kowtowed to Trump,” Dickinson continued. “They’re taking money from Trump donors. I think [New Yorkers] have a lot of reasons to claim the title of ‘greatest city in the world.’ I think we can do a lot better than a mayor like Andrew Cuomo or Eric Adams.”
“In an effort to give voters very clear guidance, we are including a full slate of five candidates to fill their ballots,” the NYWFP wrote in a May 30 announcement. “When we unite, we can defeat Cuomo and elect a mayor who fights for us, not the rich and well-connected.”
Early voting for the mayoral primary election opened June 14 and closes June 22. The first days of early voting saw a significant turnout: it’s estimated that more than 131,000 people voted in the first four days across all five boroughs. The primary election day, which is the last day to vote before the general election this fall, is June 24. New Yorkers can find poll sites and relevant voting information here.
