Independent journalism at Truthout faces unprecedented authoritarian censorship. If you value progressive media, please make a year-end donation today.

On January 1, New York City’s first ever Muslim and South Asian mayor will take office, inheriting the largest police force in the United States while assuming responsibility for a city that’s seen a rise in immigration raids and deportations ever since Donald Trump became president over the last year. Zohran Mamdani’s victory in November came on the heels of a campaign focused on making the city more affordable. His messaging was clear, consistent, and connected directly to the concerns of New York workers in every community across the city.

The mayoral election saw the highest turnout in more than 50 years, thanks to Mamdani’s success with a wide coalition of groups. His campaign brought in new immigrant voters, particularly within South Asian communities, younger millennial and Gen Z voters, and Black voters who flipped from Andrew Cuomo thanks to consistent outreach. The campaign also spoke directly to Muslim voters, many of whom were motivated to cast a ballot because of the surge of Islamophobia, both on a national level and specifically hurled against Mamdani, especially as the election drew closer.

The attacks against Mamdani felt almost like outdated caricatures, reminiscent of a time when Muslim hate was much more bluntly spoken and acceptable across the political aisle. Systemic Islamophobia has long been normalized, but that more candid, virulent brand of hate was brought back into fashion with the rise of Donald Trump. And while the anti-Muslim rhetoric that dominated his 2016 campaign caused real harm, Trump was still generally regarded as extreme and outlandish, especially by Democrats. Now, Democrats, who’d long couched their harmful rhetoric and policies in flowery language and progressive aesthetics, jumped on the bandwagon, suggesting Mamdani’s win would make the city unsafe.

What changed? The genocide in Gaza, which illustrated clearly the dehumanization of Muslims and Arabs that was so pervasive across our institutions. Mamdani’s unequivocal stance against Israel’s genocide and his solidarity with pro-Palestinian student protesters made him inseparable from that very same dehumanization.

Tens of millions of dollars were spent attacking Mamdani, including on attacks that tried to paint him as a Muslim extremist. In one case, a pro-Cuomo group

© Truthout