New York mayor election: Zohran Mamdani names his ‘transition team’, to retain police chief

There were scenes of celebration in New York overnight with people cheering, clapping and chanting: "Zohran, Zohran, Zohran!"

One man tells Reuters news agency he has been in New York for 13 years, and this is the first mayor he is excited to see run the city.

Mamdani's clear campaign messages resonated with him. "I loved his points tonight; I loved that he really stayed on three of them," he says.

"We're going to make the city affordable, we're going to have free buses, we're going to have free childcare."

Zohran Mamdani has so far bagged 50.4% of the vote, while Andrew Cuomo has got 41.6%.

Republican Curtis Sliwa has managed just 7.1% of the vote with 91% of the ballots counted so far.

In New York City, Zohran Mamdani has won the mayoral race, becoming the first Muslim mayor and youngest person in over a century to lead the finance capital of the US. He'll take office on New Year’s Day

In his victory speech, Mamdani challenged Trump with four words: "Turn the volume up"

Zohran Mamdani's campaign and this mayoral race drew the attention of tech billionaire Elon Musk.

Yesterday, in a post on his social media platform X, Musk called the election a “scam” because some candidates' names appeared on the ballot paper twice.

However, this is a common practice in New York state elections, part of a system known as fusion voting, where multiple parties can endorse a single candidate and list them on the ballot.

This was the case during last year’s presidential election, where ballots from several New York counties had frontrunners Donald Trump and Kamala Harris appearing twice.

Wall Street financiers greeted the news of Zohran Mamdani’s election as mayor of New York City with a mix of trepidation and pragmatism.

In interviews on Tuesday, many described the election result as a threat to their business interests, but vowed to work with the new mayor. Others reacted to his ascendancy in more visceral terms, lamenting the victory of a democratic socialist who supports higher taxes and has expressed anti-Israel views.

The mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has congratulated Zohran Mamdani on his election victory and what he called a “historic campaign.”

“New Yorkers faced a clear choice — between hope and fear,” Khan wrote in a statement on social media platform X, “and just like we’ve seen in London — hope won.”

From kebab vans to scavenger hunts, Zohran Mamdani's social media strategy played a part in propelling him to victory in this mayoral election.

His heavily edited videos on TikTok and Instagram have amassed millions of views and arguably helped him transcend politics, becoming both a mayoral candidate and a pop culture figure.

A self-proclaimed Democratic socialist, Zohran Mamdani quoted India's first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, another Democratic socialist, in his victory speech.

"A moment comes but rarely in history when we step out from the old to the new," Zohran Mamdani said, referencing Nehru's midnight speech of 1947, when India awoke to freedom after nearly two centuries of British rule.

Donald Trump’s weak approval ratings appear to have helped Democrats across a variety of races, exit polls conducted for CNN suggest.

Majorities of voters disapproved of Trump’s performance in New York, California, Virginia and New Jersey – all states where Democrats scored big wins, according to pollster SSRS.

In New York, where Zohran Mamdani was elected as the city’s first Muslim mayor, Trump is viewed favourably by just 26 percent of voters, according to the polling.

Voters also expressed a more positive view of Democrats than Republicans in all four of the states.

The cost of living was a key focus of Zohran Mamdani’s campaign - a message that resonated with voters in one of the most expensive cities in the world.

Rents are a particular pinch point. The average one-bedroom apartment in the city centre costs $4,143 per month (around £3,180).

Childcare is another challenge.

Mamdani has promised affordable housing, rent freezes, free public buses and universal childcare for children under five. He says it will be paid for by new taxes on millionaires and corporations.

Zohran Mamdani walked off the stage after his victory speech on the tune of Dhoom Machale, a popular Bollywood song. Social media hailed the viral moment, with some using it to attack “white supremacists” while others said he was proud of his roots.

Zohran Mamdani’s campaign has been compared to Barack Obama’s historic run to become the first African-American US president.

But could he run for the White House? The answer is no.

Mamdani became a naturalised US citizen in 2018 but he was not a citizen at the time of his birth, which is required under current law for a person to become president or vice-president.

Indian-origin Republican Vivek Ramaswamy issued a stern warning to the Republican Party following Democrats' sweeping victories in key races across the United States. “There are two key lessons for Republicans. Listen carefully: Number one, our side needs to focus on affordability, make the American dream affordable. Bring down costs: electric, grocery, healthcare, and housing. Lay out clearly how we're going to do it,” he wrote on X.

Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor congratulated Zohran Mamdani's mother, whom he called his ‘old friend’, on her son's victory in the NYC mayoral elections. He said, "Warmest congratulations to my old friend Mira Nair on her son Zohran Mamdani’s spectacular victory and to his uncles, my Stephanian friends Vicky and Gautam Nair, for their nephew’s triumph!”

National Conference president Farooq Abdullah on Wednesday congratulated Zohran Mamdani on his resounding victory in the New York City mayoral election. "Zohran Mamdani's stunning victory is not merely a personal milestone but a clarion call for collective progress," he said.

In his speech, Mamdani referenced change and momentum: “We have toppled a political dynasty.” Moments later, the crowd roared and the song played. The chant of Dhoom Dhoom matched the mood: to celebrate transformation and power shifting hands. Beyond the moment itself, the song fit the narrative. Read more here.

Rama Duwaji, 28, is the wife of Indian-origin Zohran Mamdani. She is an artist by profession. Duwaji was born in Houston, Texas to a family of Syrian descent. Her family moved to Dubai when she was 9. She has over 2 lakh followers on Instagram, a number that has shot up significantly since her husband began his mayoral campaign. More details here.

Responding after Mamdani's fiery speech that targeted ‘culture of corruption’ and slammed Trump over ‘evading taxation and exploiting tax breaks’, the US president wrote in a post on Truth Social, “...AND SO IT BEGINS!” in what is being considered a response to the NYC mayor-elect.

The clean sweep of the top contests among several ballots nationwide will boost morale for Democrats bruised by Trump's onslaught since returning to the White House and set alarm bells ringing in Republican circles. Mamdani's victory came in the face of fierce attacks on his policies and Muslim heritage from business elites, conservative media commentators and Trump himself.

Mamdani was born in Kampala to Indian-American filmmaker Mira Nair and Ugandan scholar Mahmood Mamdani. Mahmood, who was born in Mumbai in 1946, grew up in Kampala as part of the Indian diaspora community. In 1972, he was among roughly 60,000 Asians expelled from Uganda by dictator Idi Amin.

Cuomo, the former governor, the candidate with the most experience working in government, pitched himself to voters as a seasoned moderate who could manage New York’s problems, from crime in the subways to the universally acknowledged affordability crisis. But he failed in his effort to stage a comeback after resigning in disgrace from his third term as governor amid sexual harassment allegations, which he denies. He also failed to break through with Republicans, many of whom criticized him for his Covid-era policies and criminal justice reforms.

Zohran Mamdani's victory marks a watershed in New York politics and a triumph for the progressive wing of the Democratic Party. The 34-year-old democratic socialist, born to Indian-origin parents, has been elected mayor of New York City - becoming the youngest to hold the office in more than a century, and the first Muslim, South Asian, and naturalised immigrant to lead the city. More details here.

As soon as the news of Mamdani winning the NYC mayoral election dropped, Nair shared a story by Indian film director Zoya Akhtar with the words: "Zohran, you beauty." The story was accompanied by Jay-Z's iconic track, 'Empire State Of Mind.' See her post here.

In his victory speech, Mamdani promised to fight for all New Yorkers, whether they are “an immigrant, a member of the trans community, one of the many Black women that Donald Trump has fired from a federal job, a single mom still waiting for the cost of groceries to go down, or anyone else with their back against the wall.” Read more here.