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AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org, The War and Peace Report. I’m Amy Goodman.
We’re continuing our coverage of Zohran Mamdani’s historic victory in the New York mayoral race over former Governor Andrew Cuomo. On Tuesday night, Democracy Now! was at Mamdani’s victory party at the historic Brooklyn Paramount. More than a thousand people packed in. We spoke to just a few of his supporters.
SUMAYA AWAD: My name is Sumaya Awad, and I’m a member of New York City DSA. And I am — to say I’m excited and ecstatic and relieved is an understatement. I mean, we have fought so hard for this, right before the primary, and then now, in the last couple of months and last couple weeks and today. I’ve been canvassing since 9 a.m. And I feel exhausted, but it’s the best kind of exhausted, because it’s exhaustion from something that I believe in with every fiber of my body and that I know that the majority of New Yorkers believe in. And we haven’t felt that — I haven’t felt that in my lifetime.
AMY GOODMAN: Tell us what it is you believe in.
SUMAYA AWAD: It’s a politician and an agenda that is truly for working-class people, and one that doesn’t put the platform and the mission at the expense of anyone. He has not left anyone out of what he is fighting for, and he’s made it clear. Whether you support him or not, he is fighting for us.
AMY GOODMAN: What did you say?
RUBY: NBC just called in for Zohran.
AMY GOODMAN: And what do you think?
RUBY: I’m so, so happy. I’ve been awake since 4:30 in the morning today, out canvassing in Park Slope and Prospect Heights. And we’ve been working towards this for a year, and I’m just so happy to win the New York City that we deserve.
AMY GOODMAN: What’s your name? Where are you from?
RUBY: My name is Ruby. I live in Crown Heights. Whoo!
AMY GOODMAN: Hi.
HARRISON: How’s it going?
AMY GOODMAN: Can you tell me your names? And what do you think?
HARRISON: I’m Harrison, and I’m thrilled. We’ve been canvassing since February, January, and it’s so happy to see all of our work pay off.
JANIE: It feels surreal that it’s actually here and that it’s happening, yeah. It’s so crazy.
AMY GOODMAN: What does it about Zohran Mamdani that led you to support him? And what is your name?
JANIE: I’m Janie. He just has inspired hope, I feel like, across the city in a way that no one has in a long time. Yeah, a lot of us didn’t want to vote for a Democrat who we felt like we had to, you know, choose over another person. So, yeah.
AMY GOODMAN: As you can hear, they have just called it for Zohran Mamdani. And here we are in the Brooklyn Paramount. What’s your name? What are your thoughts?
BEN: My name is Ben. I couldn’t be more excited. I couldn’t be more excited.
AMY GOODMAN: What group are you with?
BEN: I’m an organizer with Jewish Voice for Peace. We’ve worked really hard for this moment. I’m so excited to celebrate with everybody.
AMY GOODMAN: Did you think you’d see this day?
BEN: I was confident. I was confident. Yeah, yeah. Thank you.
AMY GOODMAN: What do you say about Donald Trump saying today that any Jew who votes for Zohran Mamdani is stupid?
BEN: It’s antisemitic nonsense. I mean, it’s bigotry, plain and simple. And we’re sick of antisemitism being weaponized against Palestinian people and against our own communities, as well.
AMY GOODMAN: What do you want to see Zohran Mamdani do as mayor?
BEN: Making New York City a city for everybody, a city we can afford, a city where people can lead dignified lives.
ROULA HAJJAR: My name is Roula Hajjar. I really — I don’t know what to say. I mean, it’s been a very hard few years with the genocide, and this is the first good news that we’ve had, it feels like, like truly, truly good news, something to really look forward to and celebrate.
AMY GOODMAN: What about local issues here in New York? What most appeals to you about Mamdani?
ROULA HAJJAR: Well, I mean, I think that — so, I’m a social worker by training, and I think that the way that he is construing public safety issues as not — you know, not criminalizing mental health issues is very, very significant and, I think, will change how we think of safety and security in New York City, which is something that I know is on the minds of a lot of people.
JAGPREET SINGH: My name is Jagpreet Singh. I’m the political director at DRUM Beats. And I feel amazing. I feel ecstatic. I’m on top of the world. It’s going to be a couple of days until I come back down.
NABILA: Hi. My name is Nabila. I’m a youth organizer at DRUM Beats.
AMY GOODMAN: It’s well known that while young people are very enthusiastic, they’re the least likely to vote.
NABILA: Yeah.
AMY GOODMAN: What’s your response to that?
NABILA: I think this just goes to show when we have a candidate that actually cares about the popular issues that affect everyone, and someone who’s charismatic and who doesn’t talk down to youth, you finally have a youth that’s ready to show the energy they’ve always had. It’s just that they’ve been marginalized all this time.
KEANU ARPELS–JOSIAH: Hi. My name is Keanu Arpels-Josiah. I’m with Sunrise Movement New York City.
AMY GOODMAN: So, what are your feelings right now?
KEANU ARPELS–JOSIAH: I’m joyful. This is the beginning of a new future for New York City, a future where we have a politics that works for our generation, for affordability, fights the climate crisis, fights the billionaire class taking over our government, stands up to fascism and stands up for our issues. This is a moment where all of politics is changing. New York City is changing. New York City is standing up and demanding a different future for our world, for our country and for our city. I couldn’t be more excited.
AMY GOODMAN: How will it change what you do?
KEANU ARPELS–JOSIAH: It means the same for us in some ways, and it means everything is different in other ways. It means collaboration. It means a politics of working with those in office to deliver the agenda, but it also means a politics of accountability. We need to be with Zohran celebrating today, and we need to be talking with him tomorrow to make his agenda a reality. We need to be standing alongside. We can’t just be yelling at each other. But we have to have collaboration and accountability. And it means we need to fight Governor Hochul, who’s trying to build fossil fuel pipelines through New York City, that Mamdani opposes. We need to fight to tax the rich. And we need to fight Washington as it attacks our communities.
SIMONE ZIMMERMAN: My name is Simone Zimmerman. I’m a part of the Jews for Zohran campaign. I’m a board member of Jews for Racial and Economic Justice Action. And I’m over the moon. I don’t know. This is it.
Trump called the Jews who voted for Zohran stupid. But look, we’re in a moment right now where we have an administration that is using racism and fear and is sowing terror in cities around the country. And Jews are not different from any other Americans. We see the hatred and the racism that they’re spreading, and we’re terrified of it. And despite the fact that millions of dollars were poured into this race to scare the living daylights out of Jewish voters, I think we’re going to see so many people see in Zohran a vision of safety and belonging in the city that they want to be part of, despite the fact that over and over again they were told, “You don’t belong. You don’t belong.” Zohran worked so hard to go to synagogues, to reach out to Jewish communities across the city, Jewish communities of such ideological and religious diversity, and say, “You belong here.” And I think people believe him, and I think that tonight we’re seeing that.
FAHD AHMED: My name is Fahd Ahmed, and I’m the director of DRUM Beats. This campaign was successful because it had a movement behind it, and it was successful because it spoke to the material needs of people.
AMY GOODMAN: This is a very strong message to the entire country. It’s not only Republicans who were organized against Mayor Mamdani. It’s the Democratic Party, as well. What are your thoughts on that?
FAHD AHMED: Yeah. You know, in our work, we talk about that the — it is the policies of the centrists, whether they’re Democrats or some of the old Republicans, that created the conditions that caused the rise of the right. When people’s needs aren’t being met, they need an alternative, and so far, only the far right was providing an alternative in the form of authoritarianism, in the form of fascism, in the form of hate, turning against immigrants, against queer people, against Muslims. And what this campaign and our movement was able to do was offer a left alternative.
JAMES DAVIS: I’m James Davis. I’m the president of the Professional Staff Congress-CUNY, the CUNY faculty and staff union.
AMY GOODMAN: You were among the first unions to endorse Zohran Mamdani.
JAMES DAVIS: We were. I mean, we’ve known Zohran since his time in the Assembly. So we knew that even though he was a long-shot candidate, he would have tremendous message discipline. And in a time like now, when there’s Trumpism from the federal government, we also knew that his message was going to resonate among working New Yorkers.
We see what President Trump has done with the budget bill as a massive transfer of wealth to the already wealthiest. So, part of our agenda is making sure that there’s additional progressive taxation, so that the public services, including the City University of New York, can be properly funded, so we can have not just an affordable education, but a high-quality education that our students deserve.
JASMINE GRIPPER: Jasmine Gripper, co-director of the New York state Working Families Party. We are feeling proud of our success. We endorsed Zohran early. And tonight he got over 140,000 votes on the Working Families ballot line. He himself voted for himself on the Working Families ballot line. So, we’re ready to continue to build power to make his agenda a reality, to help all New Yorkers.
WALEED SHAHID: Waleed Shahid. I’m a political strategist. I’m South Asian. I’m Muslim. I think the campaign that Zohran started was based on the fact that so many Muslim Americans, South Asian Americans, Arab Americans felt left out of the Democratic Party because of the party’s support of Benjamin Netanyahu’s war crimes. And Zohran made an effort to include those people in the Democratic Party, in the Democratic primary process, in a way that so many politicians were unwilling to do. And I think you’re seeing the results of that tonight, is that not only was it Muslims and South Asians and Arabs, but young Jews, young people of all backgrounds, wanted to see a candidate who had conviction and courage, whether it was about opposing war and genocide or standing up to the real estate lobby in this city, that they want a candidate who is consistent. And I think Zohran represents that in many ways and is like the — represents the future of a lot of what American politics is going to look like.
SHAHANA HANIF: I’m Shahana Hanif, New York City councilmember representing the 39th District in Brooklyn, which includes Park Slope, Kensington. And I feel amazing.
AMY GOODMAN: So, how will the City Council operate differently now with Mayor Mamdani?
SHAHANA HANIF: Look, we’ll have a partner. We will have a partner who shares similar values and a progressive agenda, that has not been supported by Mayor Adams. You know, we had a mayor who consistently vetoed signature legislation that would transform New Yorkers’ lives. He vetoed ending solitary confinement in our city jails. He vetoed adding more accountability and transparency to our police force. He vetoed expanding vouchers for people who are in shelters, warehoused for years. This mayor, this new mayor, cares so deeply about the working people, the working-class people of New York City, and his agenda is more aligned with the current progressive — with the current progressive New York City Council.
KHALID LATIF: My name is Khalid Latif. I’m the director of the Islamic Center of New York City.
AMY GOODMAN: So, here you are. Zohran Mamdani is about to take the stage. He has won the race for mayor. He will be the first Muslim mayor. Did you ever think you’d see this day?
KHALID LATIF: Yeah, you know, it’s so remarkable. I’ve known Zohran for years, and everything you see him to be and he presents himself as is who he actually is — really sincere, deep conviction, a genuine love for people. And I think for us as Muslims in New York City, with so much of the rhetoric that we’ve seen over decades, but especially ramping up into this night, for him to come and win this so quickly, and so many people from so many walks of life being here behind him tonight, just is a testament to who it is he is. It’s really remarkable. Yeah, there we go.
AMY GOODMAN: Can you read that for me, what it says on the screen?
KHALID LATIF: Zohran right now has over 50% of the votes, 972,000 votes in total. And it’s just going to keep coming in. He’s a remarkable young man, and New York is behind him right now.
AMY GOODMAN: Did you think this was possible?
KHALID LATIF: You know, I think, early on, when he started, people probably didn’t know what to expect. But as things started to go, I was there the night of the primary, and just the hope that was in the room and the sheer shock that people had that he won so quickly, I think everybody knew we were going to get to this place right now. And it’s just the start of a lot of good things.
MAMDANI SUPPORTER: I!
MAMDANI SUPPORTERS: I!
MAMDANI SUPPORTER: I believe!
MAMDANI SUPPORTERS: I believe!
MAMDANI SUPPORTER: I believe that we!
MAMDANI SUPPORTERS: I believe that we!
MAMDANI SUPPORTER: I believe that we have won!
MAMDANI SUPPORTERS: I believe that we have won! I believe that we have won! I believe that we have won!
AMY GOODMAN: Some of the many supporters and organizers at Zohran Mamdani’s victory party Tuesday night at the Brooklyn Paramount. Mamdani thanked the more than 104,000 volunteers who propelled him to victory in the New York mayoral race. Special thanks to Democracy Now!’s Hany Massoud and Anjali Kamat.
