How Zohran Mamdani rewrote the rules of election campaigns
Politics is not always boring
When political elections are around the corner, I often get to see recycled speeches, empty promises and well-dressed old people pretending they understand Instagram and Tik-Tok. But a month ago, New York's mayoral race got a surprise plot twist - enter Zohran Mamdani. Suddenly, political campaigns became more entertaining than Avengers’ Infinity Wars.
Mamdani, long before he entered politics, was a regular guy who couldn’t even make breakfast without setting off the smoke alarm. His college roommate, who wishes to remain anonymous (probably because he’s still traumatized by the smell of charred food), recalls the time Mamdani attempted to toast bread.
Scene: Zohran Mamdani standing over a smoking toaster, waving a dish towel when his roommate burst in.
Roommate: (panicked) IS THE TOASTER ON FIRE?
ZOHRAN: (calmly, squinting at the flames) Technically, no. It’s just the bread that’s on fire. The toaster itself is fine.
Roommate: THAT’S NOT HOW FIRE WORKS! (grabs a water bottle)
ZOHRAN: (holding up a hand) Wait! You can’t put water on an electrical fire!
Roommate: (freezes) …Okay, fair. But also, WHY IS THERE A FIRE IN THE FIRST PLACE?!
ZOHRAN: (shrugs) I got distracted.
Roommate: By WHAT?
ZOHRAN: I was reading about rent control policies in Vienna.
Roommate: (stares) …You set breakfast on fire because of Austrian housing laws?
ZOHRAN: (nodding) They’re really progressive! Also, I think the smoke alarm’s about to—
[LOUD BEEPING ERUPTS. The dorm sprinklers activate. Both are now drenched.]
Roommate: (defeated) We’re getting cereal for the rest of the semester, aren’t we?
ZOHRAN: (grinning, when a knock was heard outside their door)
STUDENT-LEADER (standing outside the door): WHAT DID YOU TWO DO THIS TIME?!
ZOHRAN: (brightly) Learned the importance of public investment in fire safety infrastructure.
Last week, as I was scrolling through the internet, I was flooded with videos of some guy speaking in perfect Hindi about how New York is falling apart. Plus there were cuts from old Hindi movies with Amitabh Bacchan saying "Mere paas gaadi hai, bungalow hai, bank balance hai… “ and then this guy Mamdani saying New York City’s subway smells like a haunted sandwich.
Naturally, I was hooked. Who was this guy? Turns out, Zohran Mamdani is an Indian-origin politician living in New York. To me, he also seemed like someone who has figured out the secret to winning elections: be more entertaining than a TikTok trend.
While other candidates were busy giving boring speeches about "tax reforms" (yawn), Zohran was dropping 30-second clips with movie dialogues and ideas on how he was going to make New York better. And guess what? IT WORKED. He won his Democratic primary - that means he is now running for New York City’s mayor in Nov 2025. But here’s the real question: What are politicians going to take away from Zohran’s fresh approaches to political campaigning? Will politicians turn into social media influencers? Honestly? I am all for it. If politics is going to be a circus, at least let it be a fun one.
Mamdani’s election campaign has rewritten the rulebook
Once upon a time, politicians in the US used to kiss babies and eat corn dogs at state fairs. All this was to prove they were “just like us”. Mamdani skipped all that. Instead, he posted videos of himself attempting (and failing) the Renegade dance. His election campaign was built on memes and short videos. Mamdani spent a part of his college life as a rapper and you can see how he has crafted his campaign videos with a touch of rap in it.
I told you earlier about his videos in Hindi that appeal to his Indian-origin voter base in New York. Here is one filled with Bollywood dialogues (his audience lapped it up).
If his political opponents tried attacking him for being “too online,” Mamdani is the kind of person who would have responded with a three-second Snapchat of him eating a banana with the caption: “Still more coherent than your tax plan.”
His campaign wasn’t just all memes and short videos
While most of Zohran's opponents were busy dunking on Trump (which is a full-time job in NYC politics), Mamdani took a different approach. He proposed ideas to improve life for New York's not-so-wealthy. For example, he said "Vote for me! I'll mildly inconvenience billionaires by making them pay higher taxes!" and "Let's establish publicly-funded grocery stores where food doesn't cost a full day's wages." He suggested that buses (those symbols of peasant transportation) should be free.
To me, none of these ideas are groundbreaking in the grand scheme of human progress. Yet in the world of New York politics, they might as well have been. Why you ask? Because most politicians wouldn't dare say such ideas, knowing it would result in exactly zero donations from the rich. Winning elections doesn’t happen if you only appeal to the not-so-wealthy. You need lots of money to fund your campaigns. So why did Mamdani try this approach?
He entered the election race as a complete outsider with low chances of winning. To my mind, this apparent disadvantage became his superpower. Since he had little to lose, he experimented with messages that established politicians wouldn't touch with a bargepole. Worst case scenario? He would have lost and gone back to burning his toast. Best case? He might shift the political conversation.
Clearly, you cannot win any election by just making slick videos and funny memes. You need people who would be inspired by what you have to say, and walk around the streets of New York asking people to vote for you. They need to knock on doors and campaign hard for you. That’s where Zohran’s social media campaign touched a cord with the young. The combination of his positive ideas that appealed to the not-so-rich combined with viral-worthy meme content, inspired hundreds of people to join him in his campaign on foot.
Mamdani's willingness to state the obvious ("The system is rigged") while proposing actual solutions ("Let's un-rig it") created authentic enthusiasm. From what I can see, he gave people something to believe in rather than just someone to hate, and that may have been one of the reasons why the young volunteered, donated, and yes - knocked on doors for him.
Will Mamdani’s election campaign be remembered as the dawn of a new, more relatable era in politics? Or will it go down in history as the moment democracy officially became a reality TV show? Only time will tell. But one thing’s for sure: politics is not always boring. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to go check if Mamdani has posted any new memes today.
How can I write about someone of Indian origin and leave out the masala of his personal background
Zohran comes from cosmopolitan stock. His mother is acclaimed Bollywood director Mira Nair (of Monsoon Wedding and The Namesake fame). His father, Mahmood Mamdani - a Gujarati Muslim was born in Mumbai and raised in Uganda. After teaching in Africa for several years, Mahmood moved to the US. He currently serves as a Columbia University professor (specializing in anthropology, political science, and African studies). Zohran was born to his parents in Uganda and relocated to the U.S. when he was seven years old. Completing this global portrait, Zohran married Syrian artist Rama Duwaji, making their household a veritable United Nations unto itself.
The Mamdanis' migratory pattern bears resemblance to that of UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's family history - both families trace their roots to British India. Later, they migrated to Africa where the British Empire still had strong holds after India became independent in 1947. Much later, both families dispersed across the globe (Sunaks to Britain, Mamdanis to America) amid Africa's post-colonial tensions.
New podcast episode - Part 2 of 3: The origins of the Kashmir conflict
You know how India and Pakistan fought over Kashmir in 1947? Like a messy divorce where both sides refuse to give up the family silver. We all know about those early fights (which I covered in Part 1 of this podcast series). Normally, time cools things down. Except here, it did not. Because the US vs. USSR Cold War turned Kashmir into their geopolitical playground.
Superpowers picking sides, secret deals, and proxy battles kept the conflict alive waaay longer than it should’ve lasted. I dive into all this drama in Part 2 of my podcast—check it out if you wan to know how the world’s biggest rivalry turned Kashmir into a forever-feud!
Recommended Reads from the Lighter Side
Did you know kids as young as 8 have become published authors through our Writing Courses for Kids? Check out their amazing books here.
Want to bring your stories to life? We have slots open for our 1-on-1 writing courses. Drop me a message via email at hello@wsnt.in if you want to book a free trial session.
Zohran Mamdani is the Canary in the Coal Mine:
https://torrancestephensphd.substack.com/p/the-canary-in-the-coal-mine-zohran