RUN ZOHRAN RUN!

Shaking up Gotham politics.

The subject of this knowledgeable, timely, proudly partisan portrait—a millennial, Democratic Socialist state legislator from Queens—“upended” the establishment in June, defeating well-known opponents in the Democratic mayoral primary in America’s biggest city. The author, an academic and journalist, doesn’t pretend to be objective, and his support for Mamdani informs some debatable assertions. But Hamm’s impressive command of granular details and broader trends makes this a key text for understanding contemporary left-of-center politics and New York City’s upcoming general election, in which Mamdani, who turns 34 in October 2025, tries to become New York’s youngest mayor in a century. Hamm interviewed Mamdani at length and attended many campaign events, noticing how the “always…on-message” candidate’s pledge to freeze rents, make city buses free, and provide universal child care resonated with voters. Tens of thousands of volunteers, lots of them young, pitched in. Backing from many small donors unlocked millions in matching funds from the city. Leveraging its “top-flight social media game,” Mamdani’s team orchestrated buzzy events. A video of his ride with a cabbie friend has been viewed more than 300,000 times. The Ugandan-born Mamdani also reached out to residents “in dozens of native languages, from Arabic to Vietnamese,” winning votes from oft-overlooked communities. Meanwhile, he withstood attacks on his Muslim faith, false charges of antisemitism, and death threats. Hamm makes big claims, stating that Mamdani’s “outreach operation” was “far more genuinely committed to its candidate than that of any mayoral contender in New York City history.” Maybe so, but the author offers no hard evidence. More persuasively, he argues that unlike some prominent Democrats, Mamdani triumphed by paying “close attention to the struggles faced by countless working-class people,” radiating “vitality” and “optimism” along the way.

An informative, adulatory look at a grassroots candidacy galvanizing young voters and reshaping urban politics.