Stop Looking for Zohran Mamdani's 'Secret Sauce'
It's not about finding the one perfect approach
Quick and short post between my usual monthly pieces - couldn't wait to share this take.
It wasn't about…
Zohran running on a bold progressive platform.
Zohran having "rizz" for days, of being a Gen Z, or having a social media campaign that vibed.
Zohran’s Bollywood and bodega-inspired branding.
Zohran being anti-establishment and anti-capitalist.
Zohran tapping into people's hope and sense of possibility.
Zohran’s multicultural, global and personal story.
Zohran building a movement that was bigger than him.
Zohran organizing across ethnicities, race, generations, and neighborhoods.
Zohran creating uncommon coalitions (thank you, Rank Choice Voting).
Zohran paying attention to communities and voters who have too long been ignored.
Zohran focusing unrelentingly on what voters wanted to discuss – the real pain points of what makes a city liveable, affordable and proposing real ideas for how to improve the economic realities of everyday people.
Zohran firing up the base as a mechanism to persuade the "middle."
Zohran building power and movement every step of the way through story, culture, and connection.
It wasn’t about any one of these things because it was about all of these things.
I already see too many people trying to boil this win down to one thing—one perfect approach that is replicable. But the beauty of Zohran Mamdani's campaign is that it wasn't based on one approach. It was a collective campaign that expanded possibility, met voters where they were at, centered belonging, and had the message, story, and engagement approach to match the progressive, bold platform he ran on. Mamdani showed how he will govern by how he ran for office. He showcased his values throughout his campaign and built trust.
What Progressives Can Learn
Progressives - whether you're a candidate, or you're running an issue campaign, take note. The project is not about identity, PR statements about policy positions, and perfect representation. The project is - and has always been - about power, movement, meeting people where they are at, and engaging to build connection, trust and community.
Trust building requires navigating social change with cultural dexterity — a constant process of deep attention, connection, experimentation, learning, storytelling, and amplification. It's built through a myriad of ways, so trying to look for a single silver bullet solution will only send you down a rabbit hole. It requires us to think beyond central command and control and top down approaches and to reinvigorate the social connection parts of social movements.
As
captured perfectly in his analysis: “Mamdani didn’t fight with “correct facts.” He countered it with persistent presence — online and offline — and with a narrative about who he was that voters already knew to be true. He didn’t wait for The New York Times to back him (in fact, they along with The Atlantic, tried their best to smear him). He built a base that trusted him because they’d seen him, heard from him, and shared space with him — long before they walked into a voting booth.”Because the winning formula is the combination of all the things we've seen Zohran Mamdani and his campaign team do.
Trust is the winner and to build trust in an anti-trust era requires multiple tactics and strategies— but the good news is that a trust-based approach *is* replicable and scalable.
I'm eager to break down these trust-building elements in more detail in future pieces - the community engagement, the storytelling, the representation+policy approach, how they balanced base mobilization with persuasion, and more. What aspects of Zohran’s approach would you most like me to examine? Let me know about that, or tell me what about this win and campaign makes you excited. You can reply to me by email or comment.
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Curious to hear: What are you celebrating about Zohran Mamdani's win?
Nice piece and take, Sudha. What a week it's been!