Socialist New York City mayor frontrunner Zohran Mamdani is drawing national attention — and cash — after his upset victory in New York City’s Democratic mayoral primary, with new campaign finance filings showing a surge of donations from outside the five boroughs.

From June 25 to July 11, Mamdani raised more than $351,000 from over 5,200 donors with no listed ties to New York City, according to filings released Wednesday. The out-of-state contributions made up nearly half of the $816,000 the Queens assemblyman brought in during that 16-day stretch, signaling that his grassroots appeal now extends far beyond city limits.

The wave of donations followed Mamdani’s stunning June 24 primary victory over former Governor Andrew Cuomo — a result that reshaped the city’s political landscape and vaulted the Democratic socialist into national prominence. One day after the primary alone, Mamdani’s campaign reported $170,000 in new donations — over $45,000 of which came from out-of-town donors.

A significant portion of the outside support hailed from California, where more than 1,150 donors contributed over $100,000 to Mamdani’s campaign, further underscoring his emergence as a national figure on the left.

Mamdani, a member of the Democratic Socialists of America, has positioned himself as the face of a resurgent left-wing movement, campaigning on an unapologetically progressive platform that includes rent freezes, city-owned grocery stores, and higher taxes on corporations and the wealthy. His policy proposals have drawn support from progressive organizations like Oxfam America and the Strong Economy for All Coalition, whose employees were among recent contributors.

But Mamdani’s meteoric rise has also rattled establishment Democrats and moderates, who are now scrambling to coalesce behind a viable alternative ahead of the November general election.  Despite Mamdani’s fundraising momentum and ideological star power, party leaders have largely held back from issuing endorsements. Governor Kathy Hochul, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries have all declined to publicly support a candidate.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)