Fact Check: Zohran Mamdani becomes first ‘Muslim Mayor’ of New York City? No, find the facts here
Social media is buzzing with the claim that Zohran Mamdani has been elected as the first ‘Muslim mayor’ of New York City.
By Md Mahfooz Alam
Claim:Zohran Kwame Mamdani has been elected as the Muslim mayor of New York City in the 2025 elections.
Fact:The claim is misleading. Mamdani has won the Democratic primary, as the party’s nominee for the upcoming mayoral election scheduled for November this year.
Hyderabad: US politician Zohran Kwame Mamdani has been in the news for his democratic socialist views. However, many users are claiming that he has been elected as the ‘Muslim mayor’ of New York City in the 2025 elections.
One X user wrote, “For the first time in the history of New York, USA, Muslim Mayor Zohran Mamdani achieved a resounding victory. Allahu Akbar.” (Archive)
Another X user wrote, “Congratulations to the Godi media folks, Johran Mamdani has become the new mayor of New York. Now you guys run his news day and night on your channels.” (Archive)
Fact Check
NewsMeter found that the claim is misleading, as Mamdani has secured the Democratic nomination for New York City’s 2025 mayoral race but has not yet won the election for the post of mayor.
We conducted a keyword search and found reports from The New York Times and Reuters dated June 1-2. According to these reports, the New York City Board of Elections confirmed on June 2 that mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani won the Democratic primary, officially securing his place as the party’s nominee for the upcoming November mayoral election.
Ranked-choice voting results showed Mamdani receiving 56 per cent of the vote in the third round, surpassing the 50 per cent threshold needed to win. Former Governor Andrew M Cuomo finished second with 44 per cent.
Mamdani now advances to a competitive general election in November, where he will face mayor Eric Adams, who opted out of the Democratic primary to run as an independent, along with Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa, founder of the Guardian Angels and independent candidate Jim Walden, a lawyer.
Who is Mamdani?
Zohran Kwame Mamdani, a Uganda-born democratic socialist, is an emerging figure in New York City politics. The son of renowned academic Mahmood Mamdani and acclaimed filmmaker Mira Nair, he spent his early childhood in South Africa before moving to New York City at the age of seven.
He attended the Bronx High School of Science and later earned a BA in Africana Studies from Bowdoin College, where he also founded the campus chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine. Mamdani became a naturalised US citizen in 2018.
In 2020, he was elected to the New York State Assembly after defeating a four-term incumbent and went on to win re-election in both 2022 and 2024.
Therefore, we conclude that Mamdani has won the Democratic primary, officially securing his position as the party’s nominee for the upcoming mayoral election scheduled for November this year. Hence, the claim is misleading.
