Canvassing, clubbing, campaigning: How Zohran Mamdani turned a cynical political landscape into a minefield of hope

“I can’t emphasize how much of my mental health depends upon this 34-year-old dude winning this election and becoming the Mayor, and I don’t even live in New York! #ThatsMyMayor”If you’re swimming in the waves of countless reels on Instagram — with an ambiance of a catchy song: “The name Mamdani..

M - A - M - D - A - N - I” — and encountering comments like THAT under those reels, you possibly are on the right side of the algorithm.Just the algorithm, though — in reality and politically, you probably are inclining toward the Left.Because for the Democratic Socialist 34-year-old politician, who is running to become the Mayor of New York City — the takeover has just started!A 34-year-old, dressed like any ordinary New Yorker, with his signature tie, and the brightest smile, and the effervescent humor, AND a couple of rings in his fingers — that’s Zohran Mamdani for you. Had he crossed you on any New York street just a year back, nobody would’ve taken note — let alone crossed streets to hug him with a big grin on their face, or take a selfie with him, or even FaceTime their folks for him to say hi to them!

But today, as New York City has arrived at D-Day, it’s all set to witness a different reality.

Zohran4NYC

On the chilly morning of November 4, the Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani strode across the Brooklyn Bridge with dozens of supporters. He paused as the Manhattan skyline glowed behind him and declared, “Our time has come, New York. Our time is now.”

To tell you the truth, it was an almost surreal climax for a campaign that a year earlier seemed all but inconceivable. In the previous cycle, polls had shown Mamdani lingering in single digits — literally “tied with ‘Someone Else’” at 1% support — as he began his unlikely race for City Hall.

But a whirlwind year of door-knocking, social-media wizardry, and even dance-floor canvassing transformed the young state assemblyman into a symbol of hope for disenchanted New Yorkers.

From grassroots activism to front-row politics

Once virtually unknown citywide, Mamdani has now swept across the five boroughs with an energetic grassroots campaign that married old‐school door‐knocking and rallies with viral social media and even nightlife. But his rise began far from Albany or the mayor’s office, in the fall of 2021, on the hard pavement outside City Hall.At 30, Mamdani threw himself into a grassroots fight for taxi drivers drowning in debt. He joined a 15-day hunger strike alongside those drivers, demanding debt relief for cabbies crushed by crippling medallion loans.Imagine being the son of a renowned scholar and a global filmmaker, and sharing the side of the street with taxi drivers — while himself being on a hunger strike!

The protest ultimately succeeded, with the city brokering a deal to restructure $450 million of debt from $750 million of it, capping many drivers’ payments at about $1,100 a month. Mamdani, quite naturally, was weak from fasting, broke his fast with four dates and “a scoop full of avocado” – joking that he would never have a better avocado “in my life!”With the deal coming through in favor of the Taxi Workers Alliance, Mamdani got his first sweet taste of success (along with avocado) and a pat on the back from The Guardian, who called him “one of the [Taxi Workers Alliance’s] most vocal advocates.”He later explained the tactic bluntly: “By going on a hunger strike in front of City Hall, there was no way you could ignore what we were doing to our bodies in the service of this fight… It’s infectious – the courage, the belief.”That act of personal sacrifice – and the $450 million debt relief it helped win – not only won him acclaim among working-class New Yorkers, but also forged a belief in Mamdani that “government can lower costs and make life easier in our city.”What’s more? He had the taxi drivers as his lifelong allies. A mere example of it — recently, when Zohran hopped on a taxi with Kareem (the Subway Takes guy), the taxi driver quipped: “I can put my life on line for him, because he did put his life on the line for me.”

One might call it the Beginner’s Luck, but Mamdani’s track record proves otherwise.

The political coronation: Becoming the Assemblyman

After cutting his teeth as an activist, Mamdani made history in 2022 as the first Muslim ever elected to the State Assembly from Queens. Alongside, he built a reputation as a young democratic socialist dedicated to affordable housing, transit, and labor rights.

But no one outside a small activist circle expected him to run for New York City mayor.And the unexpected happened in 2024 when he decided to run for the position anyway. In fact, when he formally launched his campaign in 2024, he did so almost alone. The big names in media noted that he had “no real endorsements” and “virtually no money,” with polls placing him below 1%. With name recognition in single digits, he centered his message on the city’s crushing affordability crisis — free buses, universal child care, rent freezes.

He pitched it and how! Think relentless optimism meeting effortless rizz!“While corruption is engulfing City Hall, it’s the cost‐of‐living crisis that most New Yorkers are concerned about,” he said at kickoff.When Senator Bernie Sanders chimed in on social media that Mamdani “began his mayoral campaign at one percent in the polls,” he simply urged voters to help him pull off “one of the great political upsets in modern American history.”Even then, the victory — i.e., becoming the mayor of NYC — wasn’t the ambition; giving a good fight and causing a “political upset” was. Winning the election was a long shot anyway.

Building the volunteer army: NYC for Zohran

What followed was nothing short of a spectacular election campaign — armed by the youth of NYC, fuelled, driven, and propelled by them.Counting on extraordinary door-to-door organizing, expanding outreach by word-of-mouth, and canvassing, Mamdani’s campaign set out to prove that “people power” could still aspire to win in New York City.From Brooklyn to the Bronx, volunteers fanned out with stacks of flyers and doorknob hangers listing Mamdani’s platform: rent freeze, fare-free buses, universal childcare. As Zohran once said himself, “Every single minute of the day, I am looking to speak to as many New Yorkers as possible!”Mamdani’s team married that old‑fashioned grassroots energy to savvy digital organizing. Early on, they produced catchy, TikTok‑friendly videos about issues like free buses and rent freezes.

Soon, those videos found their audience base on Instagram, Facebook, and other social media platforms. While Team Mamdani was already marking their presence on the digital playground, on the streets, the ripple effect was visible.

At rallies and phone-banks, neighborhood residents held homemade “A City We Can Afford” and “Zohran” signs. Canvassers drilled walking routes, often in multilingual crews, and even wore the slogan “Vote Zohran for a city you can afford” on their gear.One of his early volunteers explained why everyone went gaga for Zohran — he offered “a vision… a sense of hope – a break from the cynical cycle of local officials who are either incompetent or lack direction.” For many cynical voters, that vision was refreshing.

What’s more reassuring? Unlike his main primary opponent, former governor Andrew Cuomo (who self-funded much of his campaign), Mamdani refused big checks, insisting he would “never cut Medicaid” or otherwise betray working-class New Yorkers.The grassroots ground game paid off in staggering raw numbers and organic reach. In the final weekend push, the campaign attempted a record-breaking 200,000-door-walkout during early voting. Though they fell short by about 42,000 knocks, Mamdani’s team still logged 157,678 doors in 24 hours — by far the largest one-day haul in recent New York City history.That’s not all.Recently, the volunteers’ army hosted a first‐of‐its-kind influencer briefing: 70 online content creators (from YouTube to TikTok) were given an exclusive Q&A with Mamdani, and their livestream reached nearly 80 million followers — now that’s new! The campaign even organized a formal “Creators for Zohran” coalition, led by Gen Z activist Aidan Kohn‑Murphy and engineers-turned-influencers.

Cracking the youth code: How millennials and Gen-Z found their way back to politics

Politics, especially electoral politics, has long been seen as the business of grumpy old uncles — there’s not much space for young, bright, and definitely smiling ones! Zohran’s campaign flipped the script. From building a campaign on issues encompassing every age, to running it on new-age strategies — and yielding results (oh, just check the Mayoral Primary numbers) — Team Mamdani showed how we can do it, and do it well!Although there was a considerable amount of buzz online for Zohran4NYC, a central question was whether these efforts could mobilize the youth vote.

From the beginning, Mamdani leaned heavily into social media and nontraditional outreach, aiming to make politics feel fun and urgent. His campaign filled YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram with lighthearted stunts: think polar bear plunges in freezing Atlantic waves, riding a Citi Bike through Manhattan rails, even spoofing a dating show with a red rose — all while tying them to policy promises.And all those seemingly effortless, lighthearted moments summed up.

Indeed, a Fall 2025 poll showed Mamdani leading overwhelmingly among 18–34-year-olds (62% support) — a sign that his digital strategy was resonating.In fact, the payoff was strikingly evident in the early-voting turnout data. Newsweek found that 117,042 New Yorkers aged 18–29 had already cast ballots, accounting for 16% of all early votes. This represented a 130.1% surge in that cohort versus the comparable 2021 election.

In short, millennials and Gen Z were turning out in droves.The impact was so astonishing that even researchers got hooked!According to researchers at Tufts University’s CIRCLE (Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning), this young turnout was astonishing for a city primary. “Mamdani’s victory shows that when campaigns focus on engaging new voters, it works,” they wrote. Board of Elections data confirmed a “significant bump” in ballots by 18–34 year olds compared to 2021.In other words, the pool of first-time and infrequent voters had swelled – and Mamdani’s team had clearly helped fill it.A large part of this energy came through online and peer-to-peer networks. Independent, self-styled campaign offshoots such as “Creators for Zohran” and “Hot Girls for Zohran” recruited influencers, Instagram dancers, drag queens, and college students to the cause.

Now, “Creators for Zohran” is led by Aidan Kohn-Murphy, a creator and activist, and founder of Gen Z for Change, and Alexis Williams, a content creator, engineer, and activist.

Gen Z for Change began as “TikTok for Biden,” a coalition of hundreds of content creators who helped turn out the youth vote that put Biden in office in 2020. Recently, User Mag reported, at a shadow press conference in Brooklyn, campaign volunteer Kohn-Murphy and Williams shared that they assembled “all sorts of content creators” – from TikTok comedians to education influencers – who then “posted relentlessly” in Mamdani’s favor.Even Vanity Fair Magazine covered one highly publicized event: a sold-out Halloween party hosted by “Hot Girls for Zohran,” where co-founders Cait Camelia and Kaif Kabir explained they were harnessing “sexy and playful” outreach to get young people interested. They even published photos showing partygoers in costume brandishing Mamdani stickers beneath a neon “HOT GIRLS FOR ZOHRAN” sign. It wasn’t an anomaly anymore — rather, an early clue that even ordinary nightlife scenes were becoming political stages.There’s more.Teens joined in, rallying behind Abid Mahdi, the 15-year-old leading the platform “Teens for Zohran,” who considers Zohran as his Bernie — “Even though I can’t vote myself, I’ve probably helped persuade hundreds of people to vote either directly or indirectly by leading canvases.”

Then there’s “Gays for Zohran” and “South Asians for Zohran.”These groups often organized themselves independently of the official campaign, yet with tacit approval.

Gay New York gathered its own “Gays for Zohran” contingent, staging a National Coming Out Day rally in Greenwich Village complete with drag performances and speeches. Came along, Brooklyn’s South Asian community rallied too: “South Asians for Zohran” organized Garba dances and temple visits to mobilize voters.

Co-leader Japneet Singh reportedly said that Mamdani’s campaign “has finally given a voice to those who have for far too long been forgotten,” and that it was “mobilizing the South Asian diaspora in a historic way.”His grassroots operation, backed by local Democratic Socialists and community groups, grew rapidly. By early November 2025, the campaign boasted 5,500 volunteer canvassers – already 1,000 short of a 6,500-person goal. These crews not only shared memes, but they also held street rallies and even canvassed together. The result was a wildfire of peer‐to‐peer enthusiasm, bringing hundreds of fresh faces to Mamdani’s campaign.

Now, it’s obvious that a popular public figure would have a substantial audience base that is loyal to them and can be trusted with spreading the word whenever needed. What’s striking this time is the kind of recognition that these “fanbases” have received.In speeches and posts, Zohran has acknowledged these fans openly. He even said at one influencers’ meetup, “You all deserve answers, and I want to hear them” — a pointed contrast with standoffish politics as usual. His campaign photos even show him chatting up YouTubers on street corners and shouting answers into a ring light. It doesn’t matter how big or how tiny the platform is, how many numbers you can boast or how green you are in the business — if you’ve got a platform and you want Zohran to be featured in it, he’s game!It’s only natural that by autumn this year, his social media presence had made him a national figure — “the Internet’s mayor” — with dozens of viral clips and 80,000 volunteer sign-ups.This spirited media approach had a tremendous impact on the electorate. As per an NY1 report, early voting in fall 2025 hit record highs (over 735,000 ballots, more than five times the 2021 primaries) and “expanded the electorate”, especially among young and immigrant communities. Analysts even credited Mamdani’s team with “absolutely” delivering on the cliché of getting young voters to show up in record numbers.As per The Guardian’s analysis, in South Asian and Indo-Caribbean districts of Queens and Brooklyn, turnout almost doubled – “increase[d] turnout by almost 90%” – thanks to targeted organizing by local groups aligned with Mamdani.In the end, the youth surge was undeniable — the aforementioned NY1 report noted turnout in hip, young neighborhoods was “two to three times” the level of four years ago.

Creating content and reconnecting with communities: How the movement gained momentum

Mamdani’s reach extended well beyond college campuses and Brooklyn loft parties.

In fact, his youthful bounce did not mean he ignored older New Yorkers.Just last month, one fine Friday morning, Zohran was found doing tai chi with seniors on Manhattan’s Lower East Side. Speaking to the media, he said, “Now is the time to deliver an affordability agenda for seniors who are being pushed out of the city they call home.”

Later that day, he was caught “dancing at a salsa” class with senior citizens at a local community center! Oh, the footage of Zohran shimmying with a graceful, middle-aged dancer — absolute archive material!Remind me, when was the last time a mayoral candidate had pulled off something like this — even if for the sake of performativeness?He was not done after his tai chi and salsa session!If Zohran was practicing tai chi in the morning, at night he went for a Brooklyn nightclub crawl! Last weekend, he hit at least six bars and clubs in Brooklyn (Gabriela, Caribbean Social Club, Mood Ring, Papi Juice, and others), where usually politicians would show up with their bulky bodyguards for some “fishy business” — but not Zohran!At places like Mood Ring and 100 Sutton, he was filmed enjoying the vibe, and at the Haitian club Damballa, he “was seen dancing and singing” on the dance floor.

He chilled by the console, grooved to the DJ’s beats, and when he got the mic, he urged the partying youth to come out and vote for a city they want to stay in — a city they could afford to live in.

In the early hours (around 1 AM), he even rolled up to Papi Juice, a beloved queer and trans people nightclub in Bushwick. There, standing on a booth, he asked the jubilant crowd: “Are we ready to beat Andrew Cuomo? Are we ready to win a city we can afford? Are we ready to make history?”Now imagine Andrew Cuomo paying a visit to one of these establishments.

Honestly, I can’t — the same goes for several other content creators and influencers who, in fact, were among that crowd, and as per them, they’d have run for their lives given Cuomo’s past record of alleged harassment against women.But with Zohran, the jigsaw pieces fit. He even thanked the bar for providing “a space for joy,” highlighting that enjoying life and doing politics are not mutually exclusive. The now-viral footage of Mamdani dancing into the DJ booth to Kendrick Lamar’s beats spoke to how thoroughly he embraced the city’s nightlife in service of his campaign!And despite the all-night energy, quite remarkably, Mamdani was up at dawn to campaign again — he was spotted the next day at the NYC marathon, glad-handing spectators and emphasizing his message.For a city that never sleeps, a mayor who follows suit — what could be more fitting!

Painting a new political landscape: From indifference to involvement

When Zohran started his campaign last year, nobody on the streets would give him five minutes to talk about their everyday issues as citizens — let alone politics. Today, he not only has turned the tide around, but he has also formed such a chain of volunteers that’d run marathons just for him. At this point, this is a case study of perseverance that brought people together in his favor.By Election Day 2025, polls gave Mamdani an overwhelming advantage. Voter turnout in the early voting period hit record highs (about 735,000 ballots, four times the usual early votes), and enthusiasm among his base was palpable. This stat left even the seasoned political veterans astonished — who would have thought a New York City campaign could be powered by Bangladeshi “aunties,” tattooed teens, queer activists, and retirees all at once?

But when you manage to sit with the grassroots, share a halal with your fellow citizens, don’t fuss over “eating with your hands” unnecessarily, or even, as Ramy pointed out, go through the whole day, constantly “smiling… in a way that physically hurts my face” just to put everyone else at ease — you recignize the pulse of the people, and you move mountains.With the ballots counted during the Primary, Mamdani won not only the Democratic nomination, but he also kick-started a change that saw neighborhoods that had barely voted in the past come alive with protest signs, solidarity slogans, and enthusiasm.His campaign proved that even in the toughest political climate, connecting personally with communities — be it through a social media post or a surprise dance-floor rally — can bring people back into the civic process.

Along with his incredible team that has already pulled off a campaign for the history books, Zohran has already made his mark. Now, it’s time for the final push.

Marching ahead: One last push

By Election Eve, Mamdani had become the de facto front-runner in the Democratic primary, thanks to all this groundwork. Earlier in June this year, he had indeed upset former Governor Andrew Cuomo by 13 points in the Democratic primary. Having secured that nomination, he now focused on the general election, promising a turnaround for every borough.In his Brooklyn Bridge walk on November 4, Mamdani ended in City Hall Park as the polls opened – symbolically breaking through from one borough to another.His pitch has been unmistakable all along: New York must become more affordable and efficient for working families. While campaign literature and chants echoed the campaign’s laundry list — “Freeze the Rent”, “Fast, Free Buses”, “No-Cost Childcare” — reflecting policies drawn from his state legislative wins, one favorite slogan emerged victorious: “A City We Can Afford.”

It’s a no-brainer at this point to state that Team Mamdani’s strategy has paid off. In fact, that Brooklyn Bridge moment stood out as a defining image of hope, as it represented a breaking of an old mold — instead of cynicism and money-driven campaigns, New York had witnessed grassroots enthusiasm, driven by diverse, often young volunteers.Throughout the entirety of the last year, Mamdani has run one of the most visible election campaigns in recent past — for any politician, especially of his pedigree and stature — and the city has witnessed all of it.Now, it’s NYC’s turn!Will the city be standing by Zohran, holding a boombox, with “The name is MAMDANI — M - A - M - D - A - N - I” blasting through it?For the sake of Canada’s, Ireland’s, Florida’s, and even Texas’ pookies’ mental health, let’s hope so!