What We Can Learn From Zohran Mamdani

I’ll be the first to admit I don’t agree with all of Zohran Mamdani’s policies. But there’s no denying that the New York City mayoral candidate is demonstrating exactly what talented politicians should be doing right now. Mamdani has turned his campaign into a stellar example in message discipline and voter engagement. He goes everywhere – from reality TV tie-in ads to unlikely media outlets – all while hammering home one core promise: “And that’s why I’m going to lower costs.”

Turning Politics Into Pop Culture

Mamdani has found creative ways to embed his affordability message into pop culture moments. Earlier this month, he made an unexpected cameo during an episode of The Golden Bachelor – appearing in a cheeky Bachelor-themed ad asking New York City to “accept his rose” and envision “a future we can afford.” Just weeks later, his campaign doubled down on reality TV fandom with a Survivor-style ad that aired locally during Survivor. In that spot, a parade of actual former Survivor contestants is shown writing “Cuomo” on parchment, effectively “voting Andrew Cuomo off the island.”

These playful ads are more than gimmicks; they’re strategic outreach. By piggybacking on popular shows, Mamdani is literally meeting voters where they are – on their couches, during prime-time TV – and doing it with humor and cultural savvy. The message lands in an entertaining wrapper, but it’s unmistakable: Mamdani’s going to lower your cost of living. Every joke in those ads reinforces a serious policy promise (making child care affordable, freezing rent, improving transit), which keeps the conversation squarely on affordability.

Cuomo’s campaign, meanwhile, was a portrait of stagnation — listless, backward-looking, and mired in nostalgia for a political era most New Yorkers are happy to leave behind. He wasn’t just the candidate of the status quo; he was its embodiment. Known as a super NIMBY on housing and development, he was even described by The Real Deal as “paying homage to NIMBYs in low-scale neighborhoods,” explicitly ruled out adding homes in many residential areas — a win for anti-growth forces at a time of record housing scarcity. In a year when voters were desperate for solutions to sky-high rents and rising costs, Cuomo seemed stuck defending a past no one wanted to return to. Few are mourning his political downfall; after all, he gave New Yorkers no reason to miss him.

Relentless Focus on Affordability

The through-line of Mamdani’s entire campaign is affordability – and he never lets you forget it. He has essentially made the cost of living the singular lens for every issue. Housing policy? It’s about lowering rents. ” Child care? Make it affordable and universal.

This laser focus was on full display during the first televised mayoral debate on October 16, 2025. For two hours, Mamdani found ways to pivot almost every topic back to the struggle of everyday New Yorkers trying to make ends meet. When asked about his own experience, the 33-year-old Queens Assemblyman retorted that he’s “someone who has actually paid rent in the city… who has had to wait for a bus that never came, someone who actually buys his groceries in this city”

That moment crystallized the contrast in campaign styles. Cuomo – former governor with decades of experience – had no clear vision to lower the cost of living for residents, at least not one he was articulating. Mamdani, by contrast, mentions affordability ad nauseam. And politically, it’s proving effective. By relentlessly returning to how he’ll lower costs, Mamdani ensures that working- and middle-class New Yorkers know he’s on their side of the kitchen table issues. It’s the classic bread-and-butter focus that many voters feel establishment politicians (Cuomo included) have neglected. As Mamdani quipped, failing to talk about people’s cost-of-living pain is a losing strategy in 2025 – and the primary results seem to agree.

Going Everywhere (Yes, Even There)

Another lesson from Mamdani’s playbook: go everywhere and talk to everyone. Too often, politicians stick to friendly territory. Mamdani has done the opposite, bringing his affordability crusade to forums that might normally be hostile or unconventional for a democratic socialist from Queens. Case in point – he went on Fox News.

Showing up on Fox News – and staying on message once there – sent a signal: Mamdani isn’t afraid to venture outside the progressive bubble to reach voters. He’s effectively telling New Yorkers that he’ll talk with anyone and go anywhere to deliver on his promise of lowering costs This willingness to engage a broad audience ties back to the core of his appeal. Whether you’re a die-hard DSA member from Bushwick or a disaffected moderate catching Fox News in Staten Island, you’re hearing the same thing from him: I’m here to make your life more affordable.

That kind of message discipline and outreach breadth is something we rarely see executed so well. Many candidates talk about expanding their tent; Mamdani is actually doing it. He’s campaigning in all five boroughs with a mix of old-school grassroots canvassing and new-school viral media. The consistent through-line: he meets people where they are and always ties it back to what matters most – their cost of living.

A Lesson in Message and Delivery

Zohran Mamdani’s rise has been nothing short of remarkable. Just over a year ago he was a little-known 33-year-old state assemblyman. Now he’s the Democratic nominee for mayor with the governor’s endorsement and a sizable lead in the polls. How did he get here? By mastering message and delivery in a way that transcends typical politics. His policies – free buses, rent freezes, etc. – might be up for debate, but his message and how he delivers it are a blueprint worth studying for politicians of any stripe.

Importantly, Mamdani’s disciplined messaging hasn’t meant ideological rigidity. In real time, he has begun to moderate and adapt his stance on private-sector development. Earlier in his career, he was dismissive of relying on private developers, even accusing the real estate industry of profiting off the city’s housing crisis and arguing that the government must take on the lion’s share of housing production. But in last week’s debate he signaled a shift: he spoke of making it easier for the private sector to build—streamlining approvals, up-zoning around transit hubs, eliminating burdens like mandatory parking, and generally reducing barriers for developers to participate in housing creation. This willingness to adjust — while retaining his core affordability framing, demonstrates political flexibility, and shows that a disciplined message doesn’t require ideological rigidity.

Mamdani has also taken a surprisingly pro-market angle on New York City’s street food economy. He’s criticized what he calls “halalflation” — the fact that a basic chicken-and-rice plate from a halal cart now often costs $10 or more — and traced the problem back to the city’s outdated cap on vendor permits. Because so few are issued, a gray market has emerged where existing permits sell for huge sums, driving up costs for both vendors and customers.

In a viral campaign moment, Mamdani promised to “make halal eight bucks again,” arguing that the solution isn’t more regulation but less: issuing more permits and breaking up the artificial scarcity that inflates prices. It’s an approach that sounds almost libertarian, yet it fits neatly within his broader affordability agenda. By focusing on everyday costs rather than ideology, Mamdani reframes what progressive policy can look like — proving that fighting scarcity and lowering prices can resonate across political lines.

Still, Mamdani’s platform raises legitimate concerns. His rent-freeze proposal risks discouraging investment in the very housing supply he says he wants to expand. Promising “free” public transit and sweeping city-run services without a clear funding mechanism invites skepticism about fiscal sustainability. His rhetorical flair can sometimes obscure a lack of policy detail, and while his messaging appeals to emotion, it occasionally substitutes moral clarity for practical feasibility.

If Mamdani truly wants to deliver affordability, he’ll need to show the same creativity in budgeting and governance that he’s displayed in campaigning. Lowering costs in a city as complex as New York will require not just slogans but hard trade-offs, and the discipline to make unpopular choices when necessary.

Whether Mamdani succeeds as mayor remains to be seen. But as a case study in modern political communication, his campaign has already earned its place in the playbook. Politicians across the spectrum would do well to follow the path in focusing relentlessly on affordability – even if, like me, they don’t agree with everything he’s proposing.