Mira Nair's Son Making Waves In NYC Politics

Zohran Mamdani isn't your typical mayoral candidate. For starters, he's the son of a legendary filmmaker. But instead of walking red carpets, he's knocking on doors in Queens, fighting housing battles, and launching a mayoral campaign that feels like a Gen Z fever dream.
With bold, subversive ideas, TikTok tactics, and small-dollar donor energy, Mamdani is shaking up NYC politics as the city gears up for its mayoral election in November 2025. And yes, he's even going head-to-head with big names like Andrew Cuomo, the former New York governor who resigned in 2021 amid controversy but remains a heavyweight in the state's political scene.
Here are a few things to know about NYC's millennial maverick:
He's the son of a critically acclaimed director and a Ugandan academic—born in Kampala, raised in NYC, now eyeing City Hall.
His mom is the iconic Mira Nair (Monsoon Wedding, anyone?) and his dad is Ugandan academic Mahmood Mamdani. Talk about a power parent combo. Born in Kampala on October 18, 1991, Zohran spent early childhood in Uganda and South Africa before moving to NYC at age 7.
NYC-raised, Bowdoin-educated, and already organizing in college—Zohran didn't wait to get political.
Zohran grew up in Morningside Heights, crushed it at Bronx Science, and graduated from Bowdoin College in 2014 with a degree in Africana Studies. Oh, and he didn't just chill, he co-founded the 'Students for Justice in Palestine' chapter there.
His middle name, Kwame, was chosen to honour Ghana's former President.
Zohran's dad gave him the name 'Kwame' after Kwame Nkrumah, Ghana's first Prime Minister and then President. It is not just a name, but a whole political vibe.
Zohran helped stop evictions and secured major debt relief for NYC taxi drivers.
Zohran started out fighting evictions, then set his sights on NYC's broken taxi medallion system, where drivers had to shell out huge amounts just to drive a cab. When the bubble burst, they were drowning in debt. Zohran helped get $450 million of it wiped clean.
He was the first South Asian elected to NY Assembly.
In 2020, he made history as the first South Asian guy ever elected to the New York State Assembly, and he's been repping Astoria (aka District 36) since January 2021.
He moonlighted as rapper Mr. Cardamom.
His campaign vibes are straight out of Bollywood with iconic Deewar and SRK moments. And yes, he's speaking in Hindi.
Zohran's plan? Free buses, rent freezes, and going after rich universities.
Small donors powered him to $8 million before he stopped fundraising.
He also took a chilly plunge into the freezing Coney Island waters to protest rent hikes. Yes, there's a video. Yes, it has 800k+ views.
AOC's all in on team Zohran.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is backing Zohran, calling out his skill at bringing working-class communities together.
Love him or not—or maybe you're just here for that viral icy plunge video—Zohran Mamdani is switching up NYC mayor race vibes.
The big moment lands on June 24, when voters hit the polls for the Democratic primary that could change everything, meaning things are about to get interesting.

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NEW YORK (AP) — New York City is using ranked choice voting in its Democratic mayoral primary election Tuesday, a system that takes some explaining, even for New Yorkers who have used it before. Voters' understanding of how ranked choice works could play a role in which candidate comes out on top in a race that features former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, progressive upstart Zohran Mamdani and several other current and former public officials, including City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams and City Comptroller Brad Lander, who was arrested last week at an immigration court. The system is based on a simple premise: Democracy works better if people aren't forced to make an all-or-nothing choice with their vote. Rather than pick just one candidate, voters get to rank several in order of preference. Even if a voter's top choice doesn't have enough support to win, their rankings of other candidates still play a role in determining the victor. The system is more complex than a traditional election, making it tough to forecast a winner. It could also take longer to get results. How does it work? In New York City's version, voters get to rank up to five candidates, from first to last, on the ballot. If one candidate is the first choice of a majority of voters — more than 50% — that person wins the race outright, just like in a traditional election. If nobody hits that threshold, ranked choice analysis kicks in. Vote tabulation is done by computer in rounds. After the first round, the candidate in last place — the candidate ranked No. 1 by the fewest amount of people — is eliminated. The computer then looks at the ballots cast by people who ranked that candidate first, to see who they ranked second. Those people's votes are then redistributed to their second choices. That process then repeats. As more candidates are eliminated, voters' third, fourth and even fifth choices could potentially come into play. Rounds continue until there are only two candidates left. The one with the most votes wins. Eleven candidates are on the ballot in the Democratic mayoral primary. Incumbent Mayor Eric Adams isn't one of them. He's a Democrat but is running as an independent. The Republican Party has already picked its nominee, Guardian Angels founder Curtis Sliwa. How long will this take? The computerized process of tabulating votes takes little time, but it doesn't start right away. Polls close at 9 p.m. Tuesday. Within a few hours, preliminary results should give a picture of how the candidates are doing based on voters' first choices. The ranked choice tabulations, however, won't start until July 1 because the city needs to wait for the arrival of mail-in ballots. The July 1 tabulation could potentially give a clear picture of who won, but the result won't be official. Further rounds of ranked choice analysis will be done as additional absentee ballots come in until the board certifies the election July 15. This will be the second time New York City has used ranked choice in a mayoral primary. The first time, in 2021, things went haywire when elections officials neglected to clear test data from the tabulation program. That led to an inaccurate vote tally being reported until officials realized the error. Officials are hoping things go smoother this time. Why do people like ranked choice? One benefit is that nobody 'wastes' their vote by picking an unpopular candidate as their first choice. Voters can rank someone they like No. 1, even if they suspect the candidate doesn't stand a chance. If that person is eliminated, voters still get a say in who wins based on their other rankings. Another benefit is that it's tough for someone to get elected without broad support. In a traditional election, it's possible for someone with fringe political views to win in a crowded field of candidates, even if they are deeply disliked by a majority of voters. That's theoretically less likely in a ranked choice system. A candidate could get the largest share of first-choice votes but still lose to someone who is the second or third choice of a large number of people. What are the negatives? The system is tough to grasp. It requires voters to do more research. It also makes races less predictable. Transparency and trust are also potential problems. Ordinarily, candidates, the public and news organizations can see votes coming in, precinct by precinct, and know exactly who is leading and where their support comes from. Under the ranked choice system, the process of redistributing votes is done by computer. Outside groups will have a harder time evaluating whether the software sorted the ranked votes accurately. That's a challenge for news organizations, like The Associated Press, that analyze vote tallies and attempt to report a winner before the count is complete. There may be instances when candidates who seem to have a comfortable lead in first-place votes on election night lose because relatively few voters rank them as their second or third choice. That could lead to people questioning the results. David B. Caruso, The Associated Press Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data