With viral videos and buzzy spots, Zohran Mamdani crafts a Democratic blueprint

By David Wright, CNN

(CNN) — One of Zohran Mamdani’s rivals during a New York City mayoral primary debate, trying to paint him as too inexperienced for the job of mayor, dismissed his rise in the polls with a quip.

“I regret not running for mayor in 2021,” said the rival, state Sen. Jessica Ramos. “I had been in the Senate for two years. I’d already passed over a dozen bills. I thought I needed more experience.”

“But turns out you just need to make good videos,” Ramos concluded.

Ramos might have had a point.

Mamdani was on the cusp of a remarkable result in Tuesday’s mayoral primary, with his chief rival, Andrew Cuomo, conceding the race. Through creative, visually striking advertisements, buzzy public appearances, and new media guest spots, the 33-year old state assemblyman went from nearly unknown outside of New York City to a new national face of progressive challengers to both President Donald Trump and the Democratic establishment.

The videos Mamdani produced and posted on social media drew widespread interest from strategists and talk that they could be a model for Democrats worried they are losing the battle for younger voters online.

Waleed Shahid, a veteran Democratic strategist who has worked with a range of progressive candidates and committees, compared Mamdani to Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who endorsed him.

“Zohran cracked the code so many Democrats are searching for: laser-focus on affordability, scroll-stopping videos, and blend Obama’s happy warrior with Bernie’s populist anger,” Shahid said. “Democrats say they want to modernize; this is a playbook.”

Mamdani mixed moments like a tense confrontation with Trump administration border czar Tom Homan in March, with other more relaxed episodes, likes when the candidate plunged into winter waters off of Coney Island to promote his “rent freeze” proposal, or as he recently walked “the length of Manhattan.”

In one video viewed over 5 million times on X, he explained New York City’s ranked choice voting system – and criticized Cuomo, the former New York governor – speaking in Hindi, using mango lassi to analogize the ranked-choice voting process.

Mamdani has flooded multiple platforms with his content, drawing more than one million followers across TikTok, Instagram, X and other social media sites. And he’s joined new media shows, podcasts, and popular accounts to broaden his reach, such as a guest appearance with comedian Stavros Halkias the weekend before the election that drew more than 50,000 likes in less than a day.

“As Stavvy was saying, freezing the rent for rent-stabilized tenants, making the slowest buses in the country fast and free, delivering universal childcare. We can only do this, though, if you come out and vote,” Mamdani says in the short-form video.

The effectiveness of the tactics used by Mamdani, the anti-establishment challenger, against Cuomo, the durable establishment favorite, offers a potential test case among the party’s base voters in liberal New York City that will inform the next steps on Democrat’s path forward.

He raised $8 million (the fundraising cap set by the city’s campaign finance rules) and dominated the field in contributions from small donors.

Democratic soul-searching began quickly after 2024, as the party struggled to come to grips with the sophisticated media apparatus that President Donald Trump’s campaign had built on his way to victory.

Questions were posed about Trump’s more successful pursuit of alternative media platforms, his penchant for viral moments, and his erosion of Democrats’ long-running advantage with young voters and voters of color – demographics tuned into the channels Trump dominated. Many liberals cast about for a “Joe Rogan of the left,” nodding to the president’s valuable appearance with the popular podcast host in the weeks leading up to the election.

“Win or lose, Democrats would be smart to learn from Mamdani’s example. He’s meeting the moment with a populist, sticky message, an instinct for new media, and a command of the attention economy that’s all too rare in Democratic politics today,” said Sawyer Hackett, a Democratic strategist with experience working on presidential campaigns.

But Jesse Ferguson, a veteran Democratic strategist, cautioned Democrats against taking too many lessons from the high-profile contest in New York.

“These are good tactical innovations, but tactics aren’t strategy, so Democrats shouldn’t learn from any of these candidates and think the underlying problems are solved,” Ferguson said.

The fights that have divided national Democrats showed up in the New York race. Former President Bill Clinton headlined establishment endorsements for Cuomo,. Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez – two progressives also known for their social media reach and their distance from party leaders – backed Mamdani. (Mamdani’s appeared for a live video on Ocasio-Cortez’s Instagram a few hours before polls closed Tuesday.)

The Democratic National Committee stayed neutral. But ousted DNC Vice Chair David Hogg, the Gen Z activist pushed out of leadership after vowing to back younger primary challengers, was featured on Mamdani’s social media. And his group, “Leaders We Deserve,” gave $300,000 to an organization backing Mamdani.

Hogg was at Mamdani’s Election Night party Tuesday. So was Ella Emhoff, stepdaughter of the party’s most recent presidential nominee, former Vice President Kamala Harris.

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