We Can't Afford to Gloss Over the Salient Reasons for Zohran Mamdani's NY Win
The New York City 2025 Mayoral Election. The talking heads and have their theories about the "why and how" a 30-something, newly arrived political savant beat the pants off of political veterans Andrew Cuomo, Curtis Sliwa, and former Mayor Eric Adams.
The margin was 10 points from the vote leader after Mamdani, Cuomo.
Some point out that, in the final analysis, Mamdani has not yet received a clear 50% of the vote. But to focus on this inconvenient truth would miss the point — Mamdani, whether above or below the 50% threshold, had the “magic sauce” to beat all his rivals overwhelmingly when all was said and done.
So how did this novice do it?
Well, here are the most compelling reasons he won, along with a path for anyone who would like to take him on in the years to come.
—Mamdani Chose an Issue Which Resonates with a Target Market
Fair-minded voters don't deny that President Donald Trump is our nation's hardworking chief executive. The issue the president faces is the perception, among many, that his administration is not addressing food prices.
World peace, global policy and relations, as well as financial matters all appear to take precedence over the new buzzword deployed by Trump critics, "Affordability."
Mamdani used this message to rally his troops and voters, and generate enough votes to win his election on Nov. 5, 2025.
This issue came to the forefront when he declared he would lower rents, have government-run grocery stores, and offer free bus rides for all.
Mamdani used the principles of Marketing 101: Satisfy the needs of your customers, or, in this case, voters. Mamdani satisfied the needs of his voters (customers), and it is the primary reason he won handily.
—Select Your Target Market
Marketing is all about segmentation — so is politics.
Old-time political bosses knew this secret even though most voters were immune to it.
Targeting blue-collar voters, which made up a large portion of the Democratic base, was targeted by religion, where Irish and Italian Catholics were the two demographic groups identified by traditional Democratic political strategists.
Mamdani had his own segmentation strategy as defined in the article "How Mandami Won, By the Numbers."
His approach is explained below.
—Brooklyn Coalition: Mamdani "drew votes from a diverse coalition of voters" that "took strong roots in Brooklyn neighborhoods chock-full of young, diverse people." "These voters drove him to victory by coming out in droves." Nevertheless, he credited blue-collar, primarily working people."
In addition, Mamdani won the black vote, which broke for former Governor Andrew Cuomo in the primary, and dominated among voters with college degrees and transplants who recently moved to New York in the general election."
—Young Women, Middle Class: 84% of female voters aged 18-29 went with Mamdani. A class divide between Mamdani and Cuomo voters was seen in this election. Cuomo "ultimately won the support of the city's poorest residents. According to CNN exit polls, "Mamdani won the majority of adults who earn between $30,000 and $299,999 annually. Those poorer and richer than that favored Cuomo."
—Minorities, Trump Voters: The Guardian published an interview with Michael Lange, a New York-born political analyst who predicted Mamdani would win. Lange said Mamdani "built the coalition that the left always wanted to build: it's multiracial, it's young, it's renters, and it's people squeezed by affordability."
Lange noted that Mamdani increased his numbers with Blacks and Latinos, which he lost in the primary, and "further maximized his base of liberal progressives, young leftists, and Muslims and South Asians."
Lange also said Mamdani won some minority voters in "immigrant strongholds" who voted for President Donald Trump last year. "I wouldn't say he was winning over white working-class voters and MAGA voters," he added.
—Political Intelligence (PI)
In a column written by this writer, "Does Trump Need More Than Marketing to Win?" (May 2, 2024) "(Political Intelligence) which is encouraging your voters who are currently registered to vote early by mail or on Election Day, and make a follow-up call."
This is called "getting out your vote."
Mamdani used Political Intelligence effectively, as seen by his vote numbers.
Cuomo and Sliwa, although political veterans, did not use this classic political tactic, and as a result. They both lost decisively.
—Stay on Message: Know Your Brand:
Say what you want about Mamdani, but he knows his brand — Communist. When his enemies label him with this dubious brand distinction, he merely smiles and disengages even the most hostile inquisitor.
He understands who his followers are and, even more importantly, knows who he is.
This kind of self-confidence, at first glance, seems refreshing. Whether it continues to work for him is an empirical question that needs time to evaluate. Stay tuned.
—Never Take Anything For Granted
Mamdani took nothing for granted.
The same cannot be said of Cuomo and Sliwa. Cuomo, the former New York State governor and once a formidable contender, appeared to be coasting on the campaign trail, while Curtis Sliwa ran a poor campaign.
The secret to running a successful campaign is to run as if one is losing and to be passionate about what one is doing. One must be totally involved, and merely "phoning it in" will always prove to be an unsuccessful road to victory.
Mamdani ran a great campaign and that was the reason he won.
And if a candidate does the preceding “actionables,” they will find out that it is always easier when one has marketing in mind.
(A related column maybe found here.)
Dr. John Tantillo is a Marketing professor at Lander College for Men. He also teaches Social Media Marketing and Branding at Touro University's Graduate School of Business. He is the author of the popular book: "People Buy Brands, Not Companies."
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