Controversial New York mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani may not only be socialism’s great new hope; he may also be motivating a new coalition of Muslims seeking more influence in American politics, according to ABC.
That appears to be the conclusion of an ABC report that looked into the donations the Mamdani campaign received as it took on former governor Andrew Cuomo in last month’s Democratic primary.
According to ABC’s Zohreen Shah:
Six days before polls closed in the New York City mayoral primary and hours after former Mayor Michael Bloomberg injected an extra $5 million into former Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s mayoral PAC, a group of Muslim Americans began mobilizing nationwide. A few donors told ABC News they knew they couldn’t match Cuomo’s donors, but believed a small jolt might give Zohran Mamdani a final push in the Democratic primary.
In fact, after Mamdani’s upset win, some who supported the candidate “felt their contributions toward his victory could forecast a rise in a larger network of Muslim Americans fundraising in national politics, which they say might influence who will run, and who might win,” Shah wrote.
As – News has reported, the 33-year-old avowed socialist shocked the political world with his primary win while espousing far-left views such as the abolition of private property, taxing “whiter” neighborhoods and his opposition to the state of Israel.
In fact, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict may have played a large role in the donations to the candidate. ABC reported that every donor it spoke to described the war in Gaza as a major reason they contributed.
Democratic bundler Asif Mahmood, a Southern California physician who has raised millions for Democrats and run for Congress himself, told ABC Mamdani’s candidacy has transformed the political landscape.
Mahmood said the New York effort may be influencing other Muslim candidates’ campaigns, such as Michigan Senate hopeful Abdul El-Sayed. He reportedly raised nearly $2 million in less than three months, nearly all of it from donations under $100.
“[Mamdani] was able to move Muslim support across the board,” Mahmood told the network. According to his campaign filing, the bundler explained, Mamdani drew donors from both Arab and South Asian Muslims, some devout, some secular, and local as well as nationwide.
The bundler said he wants to hold a fundraiser for the New York candidate in his California home.
“He has shown his strength,” Mahmood told ABC. “This is not a local race anymore. This is a national race.”
Lowell Cauffiel is the recipient of Columbia University’s prestigious Paul Tobenkin Memorial Award for his series on racial conflict in Detroit between blacks and Middle Easterners in the 1980s. He’s the best-selling author of Below the Line and nine other crime novels and nonfiction titles. See lowellcauffiel.com for more.
