In a historic win, Zohran Mamdani, a 33-year-old Indian-origin New York State Assemblyman, has won the Democratic nomination for mayor of NYC. On Tuesday, June 24, he defeated former governor Andrew Cuomo in a close and widely followed ranked-choice primary. But did you know that Zohran is related to renowned filmmaker Mira Nair? If not, we have got you covered.
Who Is Zohran Mamdani?
Born on October 18, 1991, in Kampala, Uganda, Zohran Mamdani is the son of Indian-American filmmaker Mira Nair and Mahmood Mamdani, an Indian-born Ugandan Marxist scholar. The 67-year-old filmmaker, best known for Mississippi Masala, The Namesake, Monsoon Wedding and Salaam Bombay!, got married to Mahmood the same year she had her son.
When Zohran was just five years old, the family moved to Cape Town, South Africa, only to relocate to New York City two years later. He did his early education at the Bank Street School for Children in NYC and later attended the Bronx High School of Science for his higher studies. In 2014, he graduated from Bowdoin College with a degree in Africana Studies, and during his college days, Zohran was involved in student advocacy. He even founded the college鈥檚 chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine.
Before joining the Democratic Socialists of America in 2017, the 33-year-old had volunteered on local political campaigns for leaders such as Ali Najmi and Ross Barkan, among others. In 2020, he won the Democratic primary and became a New York State Assembly Member for Queens鈥 36th District in 2021 and was re-elected unopposed in 2022 and again in 2024.
On his personal front, Zohran, a practising Shia Muslim, got married to Syrian artist Rama Duwaji earlier this year.
Zohran Mamdani鈥檚 Win Over Governor Andrew Cuomo
An hour after polls closed at 9 PM (local time), Zohran had 44 per cent of first-choice votes, Andrew followed with 36 per cent, whereas City Comptroller Brad Lander managed to get only 11 per cent of the votes. Following the first round of vote tallies, Zohran addressed his supporters and told them, 鈥淚 will be your Democratic nominee for the mayor of New York City. I will be the mayor for every New Yorker, whether you voted for me, for Governor Cuomo, or felt too disillusioned by a long-broken political system to vote at all. I will work to be a mayor you will be proud to call your own.鈥