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How newly registered NYC voters are helping fuel Zohran Mamdani's campaign
By
Brigid Bergin
and
Joe Hong
Published Oct 2, 2025
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Courtesy of Monice Small
By
Brigid Bergin
and
Joe Hong
Published Oct 2, 2025
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On June 9, Zohran Mamdani released a video targeting an unusual set of voters: New Yorkers who live in New York City, but vote somewhere else.
“The other day on the subway, I met a New Yorker. But get this, they vote in California. I know this is true for many of you. You're Democrats who've chosen not to vote here because you believe your vote counts more elsewhere,” Mamdani said. “Every four years, you vote absentee from your parents’ address in Philly or three apartments ago in Atlanta. But come on, you live here!”
The message worked. There was a surge in new voter registration, according to a Gothamist analysis of voter rolls. First-time voters in New York City told Gothamist they were motivated to register out of a sense of hope that there was finally a candidate who understood the anxiety they feel about the cost of living. His pitch for free buses, universal child care and a freeze on rent increases for stabilized tenants spoke to pocketbook issues that are central to their lives.
Many of them also mentioned Mamdani’s video.
But winning the primary on the single issue of affordability comes with pressure. Voters expect Mamdani to deliver.
New voters in New York City made up 7% of the overall electorate in the June primary. In raw numbers, that's 76,860 first-time voters out of 1,071,730 total turnout, according to a Gothamist analysis of voter data from the New York City Board of Elections. By comparison, new voters made up 2% of the primary electorate in 2021.
Neuroscience graduate student Mia Haraguchi, 25, came to the city three years ago to study the brains of fruit flies at the Rockefeller University, an elite private institution in Manhattan. When she saw Mamdani’s video, she realized she still had time to change her registration from Texas, where she grew up.
“The message was like, ‘maybe you're voting somewhere else. You feel your vote matters there, but we all live here and voting in local elections is like a way to materially change your life and the lives of your friends who live here,’” said Haraguchi, who lives in student housing.
The Upper East Side resident voted for Mamdani. “It felt like I was voting for something rather than against something,” she said.
“The idea of being in New York long term is not feasible for me,” she said, adding that everyone she knows struggles with rent. “I was thinking about those people and kind of my future in the city.”
Mia Haraguchi canvassed for Zohran Mamdani. She said his focus on affordability inspired her to register in the city.
Mia Haraguchi
Mamdani’s video was remarkably effective.
Between June 9, when the video dropped, and the June 14 registration deadline, 54,291 people registered to vote, according to a Gothamist analysis of the voter roll. That’s 82% of all the voters who registered in June and 43% of all registrations in 2025 before the June 14 cutoff.
The vast majority of this year’s new voters (more than 83%) were between the ages of 18-34, and they overwhelmingly came from districts that Mamdani won in the first round of the ranked-choice primary. New voters were a crucial part of his campaign’s success.
“ New York City is where the rest of the country will be headed in 10, 20, 30 years in terms of demographic change,” said political scientist John Mollenkopf, director of the Center for Urban Research at the CUNY Graduate Center. “ We're watching the future playing out right in front of our eyes here, not just for New York City.”
Gothamist contacted hundreds of first-time voters to ask them what prompted them to register and cast their ballot for the first time this year. Those who responded said they voted for Mamdani. Most cited his focus on addressing the city’s affordability crisis, while others were inspired by his South Asian identity and explicit rejection of policies benefiting the rich.
Many shared a feeling of desperation. The hope they’d placed in Mamdani hinted at the challenge facing the 33-year-old Queens assemblymember should he win. These new voters could become a potent part of a reshaped New York City electorate. But those same voters could become politically disenchanted or resentful if Mamdani is seen as failing to deliver on his promises.
“New York City right now, it feels next to impossible to live here comfortably, right? Like you can live here, but you’ve got to work your a-- off,” said Monice Small, 32, a personal trainer running her own fitness studio in Rockaway Beach, Queens. She’d finished her last training session at 7:30 p.m.
She’d been at work for more than 12 hours.
“Something has to change,” said Small, a first-time voter originally from Jamaica who became a U.S. citizen earlier this year.
Mollenkopf, who has studied voter turnout data for decades, said he saw three main reasons new voters were gravitating to Mamdani. He cited deepening inequality, a shifting population that is less non-Hispanic white, and the need for generational change among the city’s political leaders.
“The baby boom generation held on a long, long time,” said Mollenkopf, “and it’s probably time for us to get off the stage.”
Dante Pilkington said he registered to vote at the behest of his wife. The couple are planning to have a kid.
Dante Pilkington
Dante Pilkington, 32, a native of Prospect Heights, Brooklyn, said he registered at the urging of his wife. The couple are planning to have their first child and were drawn to Mamdani’s pitch for universal child care.
“ The way I see the city is that we've sort of been living in the the wake of Bloomberg-era policies,” said Pilkington, a freelance television producer. He said neighborhoods like the waterfront in Dumbo have become “a luxury playground for the super rich.”
He feared the city’s affordability crisis will destroy the core of the city’s identity: its diversity.
“ What I love about New York City is it feels like a place where if you walk around for an hour, you're gonna see every type of person and you might talk to somebody who's totally different from you,” said Pilkington. “And I want this city to be that way forever, and not just a giant Sweetgreen.”
Varun Srikanth said he's proud Mamdani doesn't hide from his Indian heritage.
Varun Srikanth
Varun Srikanth, 26, a middle school teacher who recently moved to Harlem from California, said he was proud to vote for a fellow Indian American who embraced his heritage and shared his politics. Srikanth said he attended at least two Mamdani events catering to South Asian voters like him.
“I don’t mean this in a crass way,” Srikanth said, “but he’s not whitewashed his background in running for political office.”
Jaron Foster’s decision to vote for Mamdani followed a New Year’s resolution to shake himself out of “a wave of political apathy.” The 27-year-old model also works in the hospitality industry, and said the cost of his Ridgewood apartment was pushing him to the breaking point.
“I mean like 20% rent increases, I’m still paying off $24,000 in student loans... grocery prices are crazy, eggs were like $13 at my grocery store earlier this year,” he said.
Jaron Foster described anxiety due to the cost of rent, groceries and student loans.
Jaron Foster
He canvassed for Mamdani, then attended a few Democratic Socialists of America meetings, and went to a Q&A with Public Advocate Jumaane Williams over the summer. He updated his voter registration from his native Baltimore ahead of the June deadline. He said he is eager to vote for Mamdani again in November.
“ It feels kind of like we're at some sort of tipping point,” said Foster. “I don't know how much more we can take, as working-class people. I feel like this is kind of like the worst I've felt, spending power wise, in my adult life.”
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Zohran Mamdani
elections
new york city
Brigid Bergin
Brigid Bergin is an award-winning senior reporter on the People and Power desk. She is fiercely committed to telling stories that help people engage and support democracy. In 2022, she hosted a live, ten-week call-in politics show ahead of the midterm elections called The People's Guide to Power. Brigid's reporting in 2017 included some of the first coverage of a political newcomer now known as AOC. In 2016, she broke the news of a voter purge in Brooklyn just days before New York’s presidential primary, triggering city, state and federal investigations. Brigid also guest hosts The Brian Lehrer Show and All Of It. She graduated from the University at Albany and the CUNY Newmark School of Journalism. Got a tip? Email [email protected] or Signal 917-723-4719.
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Joe Hong
Joe Hong is the investigative data reporter for WNYC and Gothamist. He previously covered K-12 education for several newsrooms across California. His reporting has led to local reforms in juvenile justice system as well as a state law requiring universal screening for dyslexia. Got a tip? Email [email protected]
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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