NEW YORK – The first city of finance has a committed socialist at the helm of city affairs.

But that was not the only remarkable thing about the

in New York City’s mayoral elections on Nov 4. The charismatic political newcomer is also New York’s first Asian-American and first Muslim mayor.

And with that, the governance of America’s largest city – home to 125 billionaires, the world’s largest stock exchange and major banks like JPMorgan Chase – passes into the hands of the self-described Democratic socialist with a loyal base in the far-left flank of the Democratic Party.

With an annual budget of US$120 billion (S$157 billion) and with 300,000 municipal workers at his disposal, Mr Mamdani will attempt to introduce a gamut of controversial ideas to make New York more affordable for working-class families, like freezing rents, free bus rides and free childcare for children under five.

Mr Mamdani beat Mr Andrew Cuomo, New York’s former Democratic governor, who ran as an independent and counted on support from the city’s moderate and Jewish voters. Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa came in a distant third.

In a victory speech in front of cheering supporters, Mr Mamdani said: “New York will remain a city of immigrants, built by immigrants, powered by immigrants and as of tonight, led by an immigrant.”

He promised to get cracking on fulfilling his campaign promises and directly addressed US President Donald Trump, who had repeatedly called on New Yorkers to defeat him.

“Donald Trump, since I know you’re watching, I’ve got four words for you: Turn the volume up,” Mr Mamdani said.

The election saw the biggest turnout in a New York mayoral race in more than 50 years, with more than two million casting ballots, according to the city authorities. With roughly 90 per cent of the votes counted, Mr Mamdani had a 9 percentage point lead over Mr Cuomo.

It was also an election that put many ideas to the test.

Would a city that has the world’s highest concentration of Jews outside of Israel vote in a Muslim mayor who amassed a following for supporting Palestinian rights and refusing to make a clear call for the disarming of Hamas? It appears to have, although voter surveys before the election showed most Jewish voters said Mr Cuomo was their choice.

Would the city’s changing demographics, where Muslims now constitute 11 per cent of the population, play a role? That would be a good guess, although conclusions can be drawn only after polling data is fully analysed.

Would the voters split on age? Voters under 35 had shown unstinting support for Mr Mamdani in pre-election surveys, whereas the older generation preferred Mr Cuomo.

Would the race have ripples far beyond the city? This is likely to be true as well. Mr Trump cast himself personally into the mayor’s election, threatening to withhold federal funds if Mr Mamdani won.

And could Mr Mamdani’s win be seen as the first serious political challenge to Mr Trump?

Analysts are seeing the early emergence of a trend. Along with the mayoral contest in New York City, the Democrats also won the governors’ contests in Virginia and New Jersey, which were also held on Nov 4.

The trend underlines Mr Trump’s low approval ratings and raises fresh doubts about his ability to preserve the Republican majority in both Houses of Congress in 2026’s midterm elections.

The president’s party typically does lose seats in elections after the presidential election, said Dr John Fortier, an elections expert at the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think-tank.

“There’s clearly some movement in the Democratic direction, that’s not uncommon in such elections,” he said. “But I think the President’s numbers overall are also a little down, so there’s some movement against the President.”

The real lesson from the New York mayor’s race is for the Democrats, Dr Fortier added.

“Essentially, it was a race between two Democrats and a less prominent Republican. And the result reflects that within the Democratic Party, the energy is with the more educated, progressive wing. You will likely see people of that ilk looking to run in other races in 2026, and possibly a significant presidential candidate from that wing in 2028.”

Emerging from a polling station in Manhattan, Mrs Rebecca Weiss, a Jewish voter who said she was a lifelong Democrat, described it as the most difficult voting decision she had ever faced. She ruled out Mr Mamdani straight away because he was a “dangerous, anti-Semitic radical” and said she disliked the idea of voting for Mr Cuomo because he was a candidate supported by Mr Trump. “So I voted Republican for the first time in my life,” she said.

Mr Mamdani has almost certainly received a far better response from the city’s South Asians, who make up about 5 per cent of the city’s population; he increased voter turnout among South Asians by about 40 per cent during the Democratic primary contest in June.

His colourful fliers in Bengali and Urdu were a new form of outreach appreciated by the community. The Chinese-Americans in areas such as Brooklyn and Queens also supported him in the primary contest.

A Nepalese-origin shopkeeper, Mr Gyanendra, who goes by only one name, said he had voted for Mr Trump in the 2024 election because he had found his candidacy “exciting”. He said he voted for Mr Mamdani because he was attracted to the idea of an Asian mayor of New York. “Let’s give him a chance,” he said.

Mr Mushtaq Rahman, a Bangladeshi-American, said his whole family, including three school-aged children, would be at an election watch party for Mr Mamdani in Queens because they had contributed to his campaign and canvassed for him.

“He is from our community, he knows that life is tough for immigrants and he has the right opinion on Israel, which is a key issue for me. And he wants to make childcare cheaper. So he ticked all the boxes for me,” he said.

Ms Bethany Li, executive director of the Asian American Legal Defence and Education Fund, the oldest Asian-American civil rights organisation in New York, said: “Mamdani’s victory shows what’s possible when candidates take every community seriously.”

She added: “He met voters where they are – mosques, temples and synagogues, to taiji classes and senior centres – and listened to what mattered most to them. His campaign invested in culturally competent, multilingual outreach that made people feel seen and earned significant support from Asian communities.”

The ‘smiling socialist’

Born in Kampala, Uganda, Mr Mamdani moved to New York with his family at the age of seven and became a US citizen in 2018. His Indian-origin parents are Harvard alumni. His mother Mira Nair is a celebrated film director and his father, Professor Mahmood Mamdani, teaches at Columbia University.

He attended elite schools in New York and later earned a degree in Africana studies from Bowdoin College, where he co-founded the campus chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine.

He worked as a foreclosure prevention housing counsellor in New York before he turned to political organising and eventually won three two-year terms as state assemblyman from Queens. His mayoral campaign reportedly received funds from philanthropist George Soros’ Open Society Foundation.

Along with his 28-year-old Syrian-American wife, an artist who was raised in Dallas, he lives in a rent-stabilised apartment in Astoria, Queens.

Mr Mamdani gave his critics plenty of fodder during his campaign.

His idea of taxing the rich caused shockwaves in a city which has the nation’s highest number of billionaires. The top 1 per cent of city taxpayers provide 48 per cent of the city’s personal income tax revenue.

He has also criticised the city’s police department and threatened to defund the police while calling for policing reform and racial justice during the protests over Mr George Floyd’s death in 2020.

He has

and described the Israeli government’s actions as an occupation, to the discomfort of the Democratic Party.

His party, which has a substantial base of Jewish voters and donors, has mostly kept a careful distance from him.

Former president Barack Obama, who

did not turn up to campaign for him even though he canvassed in nearby New Jersey.

But Mr Mamdani’s campaign built on Mr Obama’s methods, combining grassroots mobilising with his TikTok videos that went viral with his young voter base.

In one, he dived into the cold waters of the Atlantic Ocean in a suit to dramatise rent freezes and broke a Ramadan fast on a subway train with a Mexican burrito to make a point about unaffordable food. He has walked the entire length of Manhattan while pausing for selfies with voters.

Mr Mamdani’s public image as an approachable politician with an optimistic demeanour and a firmly progressive platform led him to be dubbed the “smiling socialist” in media commentary.

Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders and New York congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez were quick to support him.

But Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer did not endorse him, while House Democratic Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries endorsed Mr Mamdani just before early voting started. Former mayor Michael Bloomberg also stayed away, donating US$1.5 million to support Mr Cuomo in the final days of the contest.

After the stunning success of his politics and his campaign, the Democratic Party may now see Mr Mamdani with new eyes.