Born in Kampala, Uganda, in October 1991 to Indian, Muslim parents. His father is a professor of political science and anthropology at Columbia University in New York, and his mother is an acclaimed filmmaker.
Came to the US and New York at the age of seven. Went to school in the Bronx and later earned a degree in African Studies at the elite Bowdoin College in Maine. There, he co-founded a local chapter of the student organization Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP).
Became a US citizen in 2018. Married earlier this year to Syrian-American illustrator and artist Rama Duwaji, whom he met on the dating app Hinge.
Has released rap music under the name Mr Cardamom and worked on housing issues for low-income people in the borough of Queens, a job that, according to Mamdani, contributed to his beginning to look towards politics.
As a Democrat and member of the Democratic Socialists of America, he was elected to the state House of Representatives in 2020, and was re-elected in 2022 and 2024. Relatively unknown, he launched his mayoral campaign in the fall of 2024 with a focus on making New York – the most expensive city in the United States – a place where people can afford to live and reside.
Free bus service, free preschool, municipal discount stores and halted rent increases are among the election promises. Proposals that will be financed through higher taxes on businesses and New York's wealthiest.
During the campaign, he has presented himself as a candidate of the people. He has highlighted his Muslim faith and appealed to the diverse New York by campaigning in Urdu and Spanish.
Elected on Tuesday as New York's youngest mayor in over 130 years, Mamdani won with just over 50 percent of the vote, defeating former Democratic Mayor Andrew Cuomo, who ran as an independent, and Republican Curtis Sliwa.
