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NYC’s AAPI Voters Help Power Mamdani to Victory
By Romen Basu Borsellino | 25 Jun, 2025

Presumed Democratic Mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani did better with Asian American voters than any other demographic

No single factor can alone explain Zohran Mamdani’s shocking victory over Andrew Cuomo in New York City’s Democratic Mayoral primary on Tuesday night. But Mamdani’s success with Asian American voters was at least as important a factor as any other. 

Mamdani won majority Asian American precepts by +15 points, by far his largest margin of victory with any demographic. For comparison, Mamdani won majority Hispanic precincts by +7 and majority White precincts by +5. Former Governor Andrew Cuomo won majority Black precincts by +20.

While few can plausibly claim that they predicted the full scope of Mamdani’s victory, those who have been closely following the race may be less surprised by his ultimate success with the AAPI voting bloc, which he has long been actively courting.

For starters, Mamdani, whose parents are both Indian American, made his own identity a central part of the race. His campaign launch video featured alternating shots of him wearing a suit and tie and a traditional South Asian kurta. Mamdani’s earliest campaign events featured prominent Indian actor Kal Penn. One of Mamdani's campaign videos, which garnered millions of views, featured Mamdani speaking in Hindi and using mango lassi as a means to explain New York’s unique ranked choice voting system. Another video parodied the Bollywood-style of filmmaking. 

But he did not simply play to his own culture. Earlier this month, Mamdani landed the highly coveted endorsement of State Senator John Liu, who became the first Asian American ever elected to the New York's City Council in 2002. Liu, a Taiwanese American who came to the US at age five, represents the state’s only majority Asian American Senate district. District 16, located in Queens, is 56% Asian American and home to the city’s largest Chinese population. 44% of eligible AAPI voters in New York are Chinese. 

In the 2021 Democratic Mayoral primary, Liu endorsed Chinese American Andrew Yang, who despite coming in fourth place, did particularly well in heavily Asian American communities like Flushing. Yang’s absence this time around put much of the AAPI vote up for grabs. 

Mamdani, who also received the endorsement of CAAAV Voice (previously called “Committee Against Anti-Asian Violence) certainly wasn’t the only candidate to court the AAPI vote. In a press release touting his endorsement from the Asian Wave Alliance, a non-partisan AAPI constituency group, Andrew Cuomo said the following:

“When the Asian community came under attack during the pandemic, I stood with them and enacted legislation called No Hate in Our State, and I worked to increase public safety measures so Asian New Yorkers would feel safe and protected. As Mayor, I’ll continue to partner with our city's Asian communities to create a city where people from around the globe will look to New York City as a beacon of hope and opportunity.”

Cuomo also received the endorsement of Council Member Susan Zhuang, who stated that  “Governor Cuomo has consistently fought for the AAPI community, while others have overlooked us."

In addition to dominating his opponents, Zohran also vastly outperformed fellow South Asian Kamala Harris’s 2024 showing in New York City. While, again, numerous factors could be at play here, it is a reminder that simply belonging to a certain demographic is not enough. One must make a genuine appeal to any voting bloc they wish to court. After last night’s result, we should expect nothing less from those hoping to persuade Asian voters in future elections. 

While few can plausibly claim that they predicted the full scope of Mamdani’s victory, those who have been closely following the race may be less surprised by his ultimate success with the AAPI voting bloc

Zohran Mamdani and John Liu. Source: Mamdani's X profile

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