The New Yorker:

The thirty-three-year-old democratic socialist has created a movement. Can it overcome Andrew Cuomo’s power?

By Eric Lach

Zohran Mamdani, the young democratic-socialist state assemblyman who has waged a surprisingly strong campaign for mayor of New York City, hasn’t just frustrated his opponents. He’s made them jealous. “I regret not running for mayor in 2021,” State Senator Jessica Ramos said this month, during a televised Democratic primary debate, when asked if she had any regrets in her political career. “I thought I needed more experience,” she explained. “But turns out you just need to make good videos.” Someone in the audience broke out in applause. It was obvious to everyone that this was a jab at Mamdani. Standing a few feet away from Ramos, Mamdani took in the dig with—what else?—a winning, dimpled smile.

In 2025, the idea of dismissing a political candidate for “just” being good at social media is almost a joke in itself. We have known for many years now that a candidate who can tell their story creatively on the internet is at an electoral advantage, in New York City and pretty much anywhere in the world. Social media is where many voters decide if a politician is what the Tammany Hall bosses a hundred years ago used to call “regular”—whether they can be counted on. It’s an authenticity test. A mayoral campaign today that doesn’t have a plan for “good videos”—ones in which the candidate can make their case and an implicit compact with their audience—is likely doomed. It’s not difficult to understand Mamdani’s opponents’ frustration. Most have spent years carefully plotting their mayoral runs, building their résumés, political connections, and fund-raising networks. Now the kid with the nice eyebrows is running circles around them.

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