Zohran Mamdani, filmmaker Mira Nair’s son, won a seat in the New York State Assembly on Tuesday and made history by being one of the first South Asians to win a seat in the state. Mamdani, a rapper, contested the seat on a Democratic ticket. Mamdani's campaign slogan was 'rotis and roses'. Mamdani, who represented the 36th Assembly District Astoria, went to Bronx Science for high school and graduated from Bowdoin College.
Confirming his victory, Mamdani tweeted, “It's official: we won. I'm going to Albany to fight to tax the rich, heal the sick, house the poor & build a socialist New York. But I can't do it alone. To win socialism, we'll need a mass movement of the multiracial working class as well. So let's build one. Join @nycDSA”
Zohran Mamdani was born and raised in Kampala, Uganda, and grew up in New York City after his family moved there when he was seven-years-old.
Mamdani works as a housing counsellor, helping immigrant families facing eviction stay in the homes they worked their whole lives to earn.
Speaking about his decision to run for the State Assembly, he said, “I am running for State Assembly because it’s time to guarantee housing to all New Yorkers as a right, regardless of ability to pay. It’s time to desegregate our schools, fully eliminate cash bail, ban solitary confinement, fund and fix the MTA, end workplace discrimination, and fight for social, racial, economic, and environmental justice for the many, not the few”. Immigration is an issue 29-year-old Mamdani holds close to his heart, so is free healthcare.
