Zohran Mamdani won the New York City mayoral election with 1,036,051 votes on Nov. 4.

Mamdani competed against former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and former WABC radio talk show host Curtis Sliwa. Mamdani ran as a Democrat, Cuomo as an Independent and Sliwa as a Republican. Overall, New York City saw a surge in voter turnout, according to NBC New York: “More than 2 million New Yorkers cast ballots in the contest, the largest turnout in a mayoral race in more than 50 years.”

Advanced Placement U.S. History and World History teacher Lucia Franke shared her thoughts on the increased voter turnout.

“As a history teacher, it always interests me to see a big change [like voter turnout],” Franke said. “If it’s sustained, it might be a turning point,” Franke said.

Mamdani’s campaign works towards freezing rent for tenants, investing in Public Sector Development and decreasing rent for senior citizens and low-income families. His team wants to include free childcare and “baby baskets” given to all newborn families that will include products like diapers, baby wipes and postpartum pads. Another proposal is a “network of city-owned grocery stores focused on keeping prices low, not making a profit. Without having to pay rent or property taxes, they will reduce overhead and pass on savings to shoppers.” To fund all his projects, Mamdani wants to raise corporate tax to 11.5 percent and implement a flat 2 percent tax increase on high-income owners.

“[Mamdani] seemed to be able to energize voters,” Franke said. “People are taking notice of the high voter turnout that Mamdani was able to generate, and so maybe his campaign style might get some traction because it had success for him.”

Former New Yorker, Savannah Williams (10) shares her thoughts about Mamdani’s campaign.

“I think it is great that he is so present with the public. I think he appeals to the younger crowd… [Mamdani] is a millennial, it helps him connect with a vast majority of people,” Williams said. “I like the free-busing and child care credit initiatives; it seems like they will benefit New Yorkers.”

Independent candidate Cuomo was New York State Attorney General in 2006 and New York City mayor from 2011 to 2021, according to the National Governors’ Association. Cuomo’s campaign shifted its focus to public safety, increasing NYPD officer numbers, boosting officer retention, improving subway safety and turning to public health by expanding on-site healthcare systems and increasing efforts to make healthy food more accessible. He also wanted to redevelop NYCHA properties and increase community-based “mental health and substance use disorder services.”

“The Cuomo family name has been in politics for a long time, and there was a scandal surrounding Cuomo,” Franke said. “Whenever there’s a third party, it can have the spoiler effect of splitting votes and weakening two or more candidates.”

Republican candidate Sliwa came third in the race after Mamdani and Cuomo; however, according to an interview with Sliwa in The New Yorker, he would drop out of the race only if a “truck hits [him], and [he gets] turned into a speed bump, and they can’t recover [him] in the I.C.U.” His campaign strategy centered around “anti-crime,” as he was the founder of “The Guardian Angels,” which was a citizen-led crime awareness group. His campaign concentrated on public safety by increasing the NYPD’s salary and reestablishing the Homeless Outreach Unit that worked through non-violent outreach. The campaign also confronted issues about housing by reenacting Local Zoning Control and turning commercial buildings into apartment buildings.

“New York is the nation’s largest city, and so it has an outsized influence on the media,” Franke said.