How Mamdani did it

 NBC News - “If you ask voters, ‘Why did you vote for Mamdani?’ ... I don’t think they’re going to tell us, ‘Oh, because I saw some cute thing on social media,’” said Jonathan Nagler, a politics professor at New York University and the co-director of its Center for Social Media and Politics. “I think they’re going to say what actually influenced them is because they learned something on social media about policies he had that mattered to them.”

In his viral videos, Mamdani makes his hopes for the city clear: to lower the cost of living by raising taxes on the richest New Yorkers. His core campaign promises — rent freezes, fast and free buses, universal child care — have been the bedrock of his online platform. The more policy-focused online discussion stands apart from the content that defined Harris’ online campaign, which included the aesthetics of Charli XCX’s Brat and viral nonpolicy soundbites like Harris’ reference to falling out of a “coconut tree.” But along with policy, Mamdani also added personal flair to his online campaigning.

In one recent video, Mamdani dapped up New Yorkers as he walked Manhattan from tip to tip, saying that residents “deserve a mayor they can see, they can hear, they can even yell at.” He explained ranked-choice voting while speaking fluent Hindi in another video, complete with playful South Asian pop culture references. And when his campaign became the first to reach the $8 million spending cap in this year’s mayoral race, Mamdani posted a video urging viewers to stop donating and volunteer to canvass instead.

Anthony DiMieri, a filmmaker who works on Mamdani’s campaign videos, said part of the mayoral candidate’s popularity comes from the consistency of his character on and off camera. Mamdani is also highly involved in the video ideation process, he said, and will often add in spontaneous jokes or ideas during shooting.

“We met people on the campaign trail who said they joined because of the videos. We were like, ‘What brought you here?’ and they’re like, ‘I just loved his videos’ and ‘I haven’t seen anybody like this,’” DiMieri said. “We’ve all had a lot of fun doing this work, and I think the fun we’re having is translating to audiences.”

The momentum grew offline, too, as tens of thousands of volunteers showed up to door-knock for Mamdani in their neighborhoods. Online, his supporters shared stories of how they convinced their family, friends and neighbors to rank him first.

Pranjal Jain, a digital strategist who worked on influencer strategy for Harris’ vice presidential campaign in 2020, said Mamdani’s social presence “dismantles the ivory tower” that so many politicians keep themselves in. He’s meeting New Yorkers on the streets with a warm smile, she said, and speaking to them like they’re his peers.

“He is so smiley, he’s so giggly. He’s always hugging people,” Jain said. “He’s just running a grassroots and community-driven campaign, and I think his body language embodies that. Like, I’ve never seen Cuomo hug anyone in my entire life.”

Experts agreed that the personality that shone through in Mamdani’s videos effectively captured his audience in a way that Cuomo couldn’t.

“It’s not only about online or social media presence and filming spectacular actions,” said Magdalena Wojcieszak, a communication professor at the University of California Davis. “It’s also the fact that Mamdani is a very young ‘digital native’ outsider who has the charisma, humor, and personable nature that many politicians across the political aisle lack partly due to their age, political experience, and being seen as part of the ‘establishment.’”