Zohran Mamdani, the leftwing Democrat not beloved by Wall Street, is the surprise winner of the race to become mayor of New York. Andrew Cuomo conceded defeat though the final result won’t be known until July 1st. Mamdani ran his campaign on a pledge to make life more affordable for New Yorkers, with promises to raise taxes on the rich to fund free buses and childcare and has criticised US support for Israel in Gaza,. He found a groundswell of support among younger voters, amassing a huge social media following and was backed by Sanders and AOC. The contest was widely seen as a referendum on the future of the Democratic party.
He financed his campaign through small-dollar donors and said Cuomo’s campaign was the “latest example of billionaires and corporations trying to buy an election.” Cuomo in response drew attention to Mamdani’s inexperience in government.
He was born 18 October 1991, Kampala, Uganda into a Muslim family and moved to New York aged 7, becoming a U.S. citizen in 2018. He worked as a foreclosure prevention housing counselor in Queens, an effort focused on helping low-income homeowners of color — a role he has said inspired him to enter politics.
He has a Libra Sun conjunct Mars (and Mercury) in early Scorpio in a hard-edged short-fused square to Saturn in Aquarius with an Aquarius Moon – determined and a thinker and communicator. He has the generational Uranus North Node Neptune in Capricorn – innovative and can-be-opinionated and that trines a charming, light-hearted Venus Jupiter in Virgo.
His Solar Arc Jupiter is exactly square his Uranus at the moment for a lucky break.
It is a tough job so no surprises there will be ups and downs ahead with a significant upheaval by 2029 which might suggest a one-term stay as mayor. 2027 looks mired in confusion. His Solar Arc Jupiter chimes with New York’s Jupiter in Libra square Capricorn Sun. Though his Uranus Neptune North Node conjunct the NY Sun could be tricky.
His relationship chart with New York has a composite Pluto trine Saturn and square Mars Sun which suggests an aggravated interface. Similar to Tony Blair and the UK – started upbeat and ended hostile. Whatever plans he has in mind may run into considerable opposition.
Though the New York chart looks in line for relief, a lucky break and potentially positive changes for the next two years with the SA Uranus opposition the NY Jupiter and square Sun.
I just realized that his mother is the filmmaker Mira Nair (Monsoon Wedding, Mississippi Masala), from her second marriage to academic Mahmood Mamdani (her first husband was Jewish).
In case it’s not clear, he won (pending certification) the Democratic Primary. He will face off against Eric Adams, the current mayor who is running as an independent, and Curtis Sliwa, founder of the Guardian Angels, who won the Republican primary, in the November General Election. I’m reading that Andrew Cuomo (who lost to Mamdani) may run as an independent in November as well.
What’s so interesting to me about this result is that his broad support from young people, which seems logical to me since most are so (justifiably) eager for a change, including for the reasons Roderick points out below, is that it runs counter to recent polling of Gen Z.
What I’ve read recently is that politically Gen Z is splitting their support. According to that polling older Gen Z voters (in their mid to late 20s up to 30), at least in the US, are trending more liberal, while younger voters (late teens through early 20s) are trending more conservative. That explains the bump for Trump in 2024, especially among young men. I’ve also read that that ideological split is not “solid” and that a hunger for change can also account for the shift towards a more conservative/Trump viewpoint — or, in my view, more skilled use of social media/podcasts in manipulating voters.
I can also see this as a rejection of Cuomo’s character and perceived corruption along with the need for a change to someone who cares about the concerns of voters and not just billionaires and Wall Street.
Apologies for the lack of astrology.
Nicole, I honestly wouldn’t put too much weight (yet) in the idea that younger voters are dead-set on being politically Conservative. And also. let’s be clear, Trump and MAGA are far-right Reactionaries. There’s nothing remotely Conservative about them in the traditional political sense.
Granted, the earliest of the Pluto in Capricorn generation is not even of voting age yet (18) in the US, so we are still dealing with the late Pluto in Sag cohort in their 20s who also have Neptune in Aquarius and Uranus in Pisces. So we haven’t even seen what a truly Conservative-leaning cohort may be like. I suspect the Uranus-Pluto square energy signature—Aries to Capricorn—is going to considerably offset whatever conservative tendencies there may be in this group, however.
Moreover, Trump has done absolutely nothing to help the current crop of 20 somethings. They can’t find even starter jobs, much less afford to buy homes or even rent a modest apartment in even a third tier city, but he and his ilk believe another tax cut so billionaires can go buy their fourth and fifth yachts is exactly what the country needs. That won’t carry any weight with anyone in 2028. When you can’t even find work or a place of your own to sleep in, people could care less about the typical culture war canards of abortion, marriage (e.g. “tradwives”) etc.
Nicole, I do agree with you regarding Cuomo. His collapse is indeed indicative of a new trend, and I believe it will extend to Trump and all associated with him, who is Cuomo on steroids as far as corruption and amoral character are concerned.
One element of it is that many young people are horrified by the ongoing slaughter in Gaza. In general the Democrats have veered towards supporting Israel, while Mamdani’s pro Palestine stance is far more appealingto young people. For Generation Z, Gaza is to them what Vietnam was to the Boomers.
Zohran Mamdani seems like a pragmatic progressive and his campaign focused strictly on economic and social issues that people from all ideological backgrounds are dealing with right now…rather than focusing on polarizing cultural issues that many progressives tout. So, perhaps Mamdani will be more effective.
I assume New Yorkers were tired of the Cuomo Dynasty and Andrew Cuomo is a highly controversial figure.
His economic covered in socialism policies will end up fiasco as in Indian state Karnataka. All this socialism ends up taxing not the rich but working class and that leads to losing as incumbent.
That sounds like the trickle-down economics that we’ve experienced for the better part of the last 50 years which has resulted in the largest stratification of wealth in modern history.
@Rachana, come on, not comparable, really, given the economic and social structure. I’d rather look at European metropoli for a comparison. Capital cities tend to be progressive and left leaning. My hometown Helsinki has been held by a Center Right Coalition Party (named so since formed by several liberal leaning rightists parties in 1918) since the 1970’s, first with a Council nominated and now with the largest party getting the seat model. This year, Social Democrats who’ve been distant thirds behind the Green Party too, came within a couple of thousand votes, with the Left party also doing well. Social Democrats took another Coalition Party stronghold and retook Tampere, where the mayor is now a 34-year-old gay bestie of Sanna Marin, Ilmari Nurminen. It was a landslide overall, and they have been polling 5 points ahead the Coalition Party nationally now for a year despite people barely recognizing the leader when shown the picture.
Since Finland tends to be a bell weather country for European politics (what would be the astrology, maybe Gemini rising?), I think there might be a true turn towards economic populism
@Chris Romero, he participated in demonstrations for trans healthcare rights when the first Trump EOs came in and is pro-Palestine, a thing Cuomo advisors tried to unsuccessfully use against him. I think it’s a demonstration one can be for socially progressive things and win some more socially conservative voters if one also truly stands for the often conservative immigrant populations.