Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani speaks during his anti-Trump tour on Staten Island on Wednesday, Aug. 13, 2025, in New York. (Josephine Stratman/New York Daily News/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
Mamdani recalled a conversation he said he had on primary election day with a volunteer of an organization who endorsed his campaign. He said the volunteer had "gotten a phone call from a coworker about aunties and uncles who were breaking down at the poll sites after they'd been informed they weren't registered as Democrats and able to vote at that time." Only registered Democrats were eligible to vote in the June primary.
Mamdani also told the story of an 18-year-old man pulling up next to him on a motorbike on primary election night to ask for a selfie. Mamdani said he asked the young man if he had voted and that they used his license to check his registration. According to Mamdani, the man was a registered Republican, who was ineligible to vote in the primary but who could support the Democratic socialist candidate in the November general election.
"I tell you the story of that 18-year-old young man, of those aunties and uncles who had to be pulled away from those poll sites to remind us of how many more New Yorkers there are for us to speak," Mamdani said. "And I thank you for being here, because so often, any victories in politics are described as if they are that of just the candidate. But you know the truth. This is your victory. It is your work that took us from 1% in the polls to beating a former governor by 13 points."
Mamdani credited his campaign canvassers, who went door to door in six-floor walk-ups, rain or shine, for taking "a campaign that was considered, at best, an interesting idea to one that has won the most votes of any in New York City primary history."
Mamdani received more than 573,00 votes in the June primary, though voter turnout was less than 30% of registered Democrats.
Zohran Mamdani responded to reporter's questions about the protesters outside his anti-Trump event on Staten Island. (Deirdre Heavey/Fox News Digital)
"We cannot accept gun violence in our city," Mamdani wrote.
Cuomo, who is running as an independent in the November election, has recently increased attacks on Mamdani for living in a rent-stabilized apartment despite his wealthy upbringing.
Mamdani, the son of an acclaimed Indian filmmaker and a Columbia University professor, recently returned from an extravagant wedding celebration in Uganda. He has also recently walked back his prior support for the phrase "globalize the intifada" after widespread criticism and concern from the New York Jewish community.
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Incumbent Mayor Eric Adams is also running as an independent in November. The Republican mayoral hopeful is Guardian Angels founder Curtis Sliwa.
Danielle Wallace is a breaking news and politics reporter at Fox News Digital. Story tips can be sent to danielle.wallace@fox.com and on X: @danimwallace.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/mamdani-appeals-non-democrats-general-election-push-vows-government-can-meet-voters-material-needs