Young NYC voters say newly elected New York City Zohran Mamdani has a similar appeal to President Donald Trump—despite their vastly different political views
Introduction
By Susan A. Hughes
November 12, 2025
New York City was the setting for the second event in the Spotlight: Voices Across America series run by the Institute of Politics at Harvard Kennedy School, just ahead of the historic election of Zohran Mamdani as the city’s mayor. The event yielded some surprising opinions.
The series pulls together a cross section of American voters—those with diverse ideologies, genders, races, classes, and religions—to learn more about their concerns, their struggles, their triumphs, and their hopes for our nation.
The first session included voters from across the country following the 2024 presidential election.
For the second session, John Della Volpe, the IOP’s director of polling, Setti Warren, the director of the IOP, and 16 undergraduates from the Harvard Public Opinion Project gathered young voters from across New York City in late October. [Note: Warren unexpectedly passed away on November 2.] With an ABC film crew recording, the participants talked about what matters to them most in the current political environment.
“The most important thing I’ve learned in the last couple of decades I’ve been doing this is that there’s a big divide in this country, and it’s not what we think,” Della Volpe told the focus group participants. “In my view, the divide is not only based on red state and blue state, college or high school, or even race. The biggest divide I think is those people who feel heard versus those who don’t feel heard.”
So, he listened to the young New Yorkers’ concerns.
“The most important thing I’ve learned in the last couple of decades I’ve been doing this is that there’s a big divide in this country, and it’s not what we think.” — John Della Volpe
Daily living, immigration, and economic struggles
Transportation, housing and the overall cost of living came up fairly quicky in the discussion. As Elyssa, a full-time student and part-time communications intern from Queens, said, “Public transportation, specifically the MTA and train delays” caused her daily grief.
Patrick, a property manager in Brooklyn, noted the extremes some young people have to go to for affordable housing. “I live with strangers, and we’re not in a traditional leasing agreement, and one of my roommates is not fully paying their bills,” he said, “So we’re in a weird legal situation.”
Della Volpe found the panel was enthusiastically behind Mamdani, despite their Democratic or Republican leanings, with nine out of the twelve supporting the then-candidate, and the remaining three undecided. The similar appeal of Trump and Mamdani among this cohort was most striking to Della Volpe.
Matthew is studying dentistry, is originally from Texas, and lives in West Harlem. He voted for Trump for president but supported Mamdani for mayor. What he values is the consistency of both candidates’ campaigns. He noted Biden was replaced with Harris as a presidential candidate, “even though no one voted her to be the primary. There’s no flip-flopping.”
And despite his support for Mamdani, Matthew said he would vote for Trump again.
“My wife is an immigrant. She came here legally, we went through the paperwork, we did everything correctly, and I don’t feel like it was right that she had to wait three years to get citizenship while other people were allowed to come here illegally and get citizenship at the same time, if not quicker, and get benefits,” said Matthew.
“People here in New York, we are struggling with money, and so we try to apply for SNAP. We were not allowed to apply for SNAP because she was documented; it was not fair. And to me, I feel like that’s not the correct decision for how the government should be run.”
Tapping into what Trump and Mamdani share
Thomas from Staten Island was another Trump supporter who approved of Mamdani. “The Bernie-Trump pipeline was very real, and it seems like [Mamdani] is another version, and I want that. It is almost a fact that we can have the promises that people want in this city,” said Thomas.
What Trump and Mamdani have in common, said Thomas, in agreement with a point Matthew made, is consistency. “They are both populists on an anti-establishment line. I am purely an anti-establishment Republican, and I will vote for an anti-establishment Democrat or a Democratic Socialist before I support an establishment plan anywhere else, even it is Republican.”
Samiha is from Queens, just finished school, and is currently job hunting. She agrees that the anti-establishment message is something politicians need to hear.
“I feel like if [Mamdani] does win, that’s just going to show other Democrats that are leaning towards the establishment what is possible,” Samiha said. “And at the end of the day, we do have a say in the vote and that we’re not just going to vote for the establishment Democrats.”
“I think Zohran is a great example, or he could be, for other Democrats, as they say, fortune favors the bold. Start being bold.” — Elyssa, Queens NY
How young New Yorkers see establishment politicians
Della Volpe expanded the conversation to get a feel for politicians in general: “You are at a party and the Democratic Party walks in as a person. What do they look like?”
“He is trying hard to relate to you but fails. He’s trying very hard to be relevant but is really the odd one out,” said Elyssa.
“A NASCAR driver wearing his shirt showing all the sponsorships that pay for him,” said Patrick.
And if the Republican Party was a person?
“Someone wearing a NASCAR jacket,” replied Patrick, getting chuckles from around the room. “I feel like it’s becoming harder to tell the difference between at least the establishment Republicans and Democrats. They both just seem like they’re owned by the corporate oligarchy.”
Asked what the (at the time still upcoming) mayoral election could tell the rest of the country, these young voters were optimistic and proud.
“New York City was the center of Islamophobia after 9-11, and New York City is about to elect their first Muslim mayor, and that’s badass,” said Patrick.
Elyssa agreed. “I think it’s historic and a huge change, not just for New York City, but around the nation. I think Zohran is a great example, or he could be, for other Democrats, as they say, fortune favors the bold,” she said. “Start being bold. Stop trying to please everyone in your campaigns and actually target the people who want this change. Start making bold promises and actually follow through on them.”
The entire discussion is available on the Institute of Politics YouTube channel. The Spotlight: Voices Across America series will continue throughout the next academic year.
Photography by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images. Caption: Supporters celebrate after New York City Democratic mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani was projected the winner during his election night watch party at the Brooklyn Paramount on November 4, 2025 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. Mamdani defeated Independent candidate Andrew Cuomo and Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa in the closely watched election for New York City mayor.