Democracy Now!’s Anjali Kamat reports on working-class South Asian support for New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani. South Asian voter turnout increased by 40% during the Democratic primary, contributing to Mamdani’s upset victory against former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, who is now running as an independent candidate. “We’ve had several South Asian or Indo-Caribbean candidates, and none of them elicit this response. And I think the fact that the campaign spoke to the very material issues of working-class people has, first and foremost, has really made a very significant difference,” says Fahd Ahmed, director of the South Asian community organization DRUM Beats, whose members have been canvassing for Mamdani’s campaign.
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AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org. I’m Amy Goodman.
Today [sic] is Election Day all over the country. Early voting just ended in New York’s mayoral race this weekend with 735,000 ballots cast. It’s the highest early voter turnout in New York’s history for a nonpresidential race, something like four times the number of people who usually vote in early voting, as the three candidates for mayor — Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani, former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa — closed out their campaigns.
President Trump told 60 Minutes he’s not a fan of Cuomo but would pick him over Mamdani, who he called a communist. Meanwhile, The New York Times reports former President Obama told Mamdani in a private phone conversation Saturday his campaign had been impressive, and offered to be a sounding board.
I should clarify: Tuesday, not today, is Election Day.
Zohran Mamdani’s mayoral campaign has energized communities across New York City in unprecedented ways, mobilizing nearly 100,000 volunteers for his campaign. Democracy Now!’s Anjali Kamat has been following a crucial, often-overlooked portion of Mamdani’s base: working-class South Asians.
ANJALI KAMAT: It’s Friday afternoon in a quiet neighborhood in Kensington, Brooklyn. These women are members of DRUM Beats, an advocacy group for low-income South Asian and Indo-Caribbean communities here in New York. and they’re getting ready to canvass for Zohran Mamdani.
KAZI FOUZIA: So, half of the list, you’re going to cover with them. Then they will — they will find them.
ANJALI KAMAT: They split up into groups, and I followed them as they knocked on dozens of doors. Armed with colorful flyers about the campaign in Bengali and Urdu and dozens of Zohran pins, they explained why they thought Mamdani was the best candidate, and reminded neighbors about early-voting times and locations.
DRUM BEATS CANVASSER: So, November 4th is the final vote. As-salamu alaykum.
ANJALI KAMAT: Their enthusiasm was infectious, often bursting into Bengali chants of “My mayor, your mayor.”
DRUM BEATS CANVASSERS: Āmāra mēẏara,