Zohran Mamdani, the mayor-elect of New York City, used social media to his advantage throughout his campaign. His success can be, in part, attributed to that social strategy. 

Mamdani, democratic socialist and state Assemblyman, created a name for himself in New York City’s 2025 mayoral election. He was seemingly unknown until this year, when he hit the ground running. While his campaign promises were enticing and suggested an affordable New York, progressive ideas are not how he got people’s attention. It was his social media campaign. His online popularity skyrocketed, with him amassing 4.5 million followers on Instagram and over 3 million on TikTok. 

Mamdani’s online and real-world popularity paid off in the Democratic primary, where he won over former Governor Andrew Cuomo to secure the Democratic nomination in the mayoral race. He then went on to win November 4th’s general election, where he faced Cuomo, running again as an Independent, and Republican Curtis Sliwa. 

Just months ago in February of this year, a poll conducted by Emerson College looking into the Democratic primary found Mamdani trailing with 1% voter support. Andrew Cuomo, on the other hand, had a strong lead of 33%. 

Mamdani flipped the script. He took action to mobilize young voters, aiming to increase turnout for the primaries. His work paid off; according to an analysis by The New York Times, “In the 14 days leading up to the registration deadline for the Democratic primary, about 37,000 people registered to vote, compared with about 3,000 people in the same period in 2021.” Specifically, the amount of voters under 40 that turned out drastically increased from 2021. This, evidently, worked in favor of Mamdani.

Aside from increased voter registration, Mamdani’s other major asset to success was his social strategy. Being a younger candidate, Mamdani can relate to and knows how to connect with digital natives. He’s one of, if not the first, major political candidates to really understand how to use social media to their advantage. A Brookings article points this out, referencing how “Franklin Roosevelt’s early understanding of radio and John F. Kennedy’s grasp of television were essential to their success. Mamdani was a breakthrough figure in social media video.”

One of Mamdani’s recent long-form TikTok videos takes the viewer through his campaign journey and combats claims from competitor, Cuomo. It’s human-centered, focused on the people of New York, as is his entire campaign. It includes an encouraging, action-oriented caption as well.

A post on Instagram took the viewer through Mamdani’s journey at a PinkPantheress concert in Brooklyn, where he was featured on the jumbotron with the message, “Our time has come. Vote Nov. 4,” written on his palms. Mamdani is working to meet younger voters where they are, going to places they will be to get his message out to them directly. 

Another TikTok post was labeled as a “very important announcement from Zohran.” In the video, he addresses the concerns about his young age compared to other mayoral candidates. He then calms worries about him being only 33 by alerting that he would thankfully soon be turning 34. He ends the video by encouraging supporters to canvas. While the video has a comedic and lighthearted tone, the message and call to action are both clear. 

Mamdani’s social media content is successfully accessible and entertaining, while also being purposeful. He’s drawing in hundreds of thousands of followers on each platform, even though he’s not differentiating content, just repurposing the same media across social channels. 

It’s not new for candidates to connect with younger voters on social platforms. Just last year, it was a large part of former Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign.

Harris’ team did a great job of creating content that would resonate with younger generations on her @kamalahq TikTok page, but it lacked authenticity. She was connecting with the youth, but it was hard to imagine her really in their shoes. Mamdani is taking the foundation built by Harris’ social strategy and turning it into something more personable, and, at the moment, more successful. 

People from all around the world showing their support for Mamdani online. A TikTok post from an early New York voter, Andrew Nucantola, amassed dozens of comments from supporters in other areas. Some non-New Yorker notes included “Supporting you from Italy!” and “thats my mayor!!! (i live in rural ohio).”

Mamdani has gone from being barely known at the beginning of the year to the mayor elect in one of the biggest cities in the world. Although he was running for Mayor of New York, his impact went far beyond the city limits, as the first Muslim mayor and coming from an immigrant background. 

TikTok audios and videos created by citizens, who are mere supporters of Mamdani, lead to more content about him circulating. This third-party content has been a huge factor in his gaining popularity, and participatory culture can be to thank. 

Videos like this TikTok post of a woman reminding New Yorkers to vote spreads Mamdani’s message without him having to say anything. The audio itself has the instrumental of Gwen Stefani’s “Hollaback Girl,” with Mamdani pronouncing and defending his name at a debate as the vocals. Even further, edits like this video are made and posted with little context, recognized as a clear message to support Mamdani. What these user-generated pieces of content lack in reference to his platform, they make up for in numbers of interactions. 

Mamdani’s campaign was  heavily focused on social media strategy as a way of getting word out, which did wonders for mobilizing younger voters. We’ve seen Mamdani’s social influence in this election, and now we wait to see what his media strategy will continue to be while he’s in office.