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When Democratic Socialist Zohran Mamdani announced his campaign to run for mayor of New York City in October 2024, he was a virtually unknown state assembly member up against a Trump-friendly incumbent, Eric Adams. He wasn’t just a longshot —for many New Yorkers, he felt like an impossibility. But that changed Tuesday night, when Mamdani became the presumptive Democratic nominee after sweeping the city’s ranked choice primary, beating out former New York governor and accused sexual harasser Andrew Cuomo by more than seven points.
“Tonight, we made history,” Mamdani said to a crowded room of his supporters on Tuesday. “In the words of Nelson Mandela, ‘It always seems impossible until it is done.’ My friends, we have done it. I will be your Democratic nominee for the mayor of New York City.”
Mamdani’s campaign focused heavily on platform issues like fast and free buses, universal childcare, and the freezing of rent for stabilized units in the city. But the race was also marked by the campaign’s inescapable presence on social media. Mamdani worked with dozens of the biggest influencers and creators, appearing on Gaydar, Subway Takes, streaming with Twitch star Hasan Piker, hopping on stage at an MJ Lenderman concert, and collaborating with local New York influencers for videos on policy discussion, voter education, and canvassing encouragement. Last weekend, Rolling Stone reported on how this effort from the Mamdani campaign had creators far and wide rethinking the relationship between their content and politics. On Tuesday, Mamdani secured the primary with a landslide 43.5 percent of the vote — with Cuomo conceded to Mamdani less than two hours after the close of polls. Content creators like Subway Takes host Kareem Rahma and Cassie Willson tell Rolling Stone Mamdani’s win is a bright spot amidst consistent baffling choices from the Trump administration. But with the general election still ahead, where Mamdani could not only face Adams but Cuomo again, with the two both potentially running as Independents, content creators who were all in on the Mamdani campaign have another concern. They’re feeling hopeful —but is that something can trust?
“This is an utterly unfamiliar feeling, “ Willson cried in a video to her followers on election night. The caption: “Is this what hope feels like?” The 30-year-old who lives in Brooklyn has over 300,000 followers on TikTok, where she posts comedy videos and sketches about the Democratic establishment and life in New York. Mamdani joined her for a sarcastic infomercial on her account, criticizing Mayor Adams’ record. After signing up to work on the campaign, Willson eventually became a canvassing lead —directing upwards of 60 people on volunteer shifts. She tells Rolling Stone that Mamdani’s digital presence was important because it motivated her to show up in person and help, but it also spread his platform and the messaging behind it far outside of New York.
“I’ve never experienced hope like this with regards to electoral politics, because candidates like this are so rare,” Willson tells Rolling Stone. “Now, if you scroll on videos of Zohran, you’ll see comments that say, ‘That’s my mayor. I live in Ireland,’ or ‘That’s my mayor. I live in rural Kentucky.’By platforming this campaign online, what we are showing our global audiences is that when we come together, when we organize, we win.”
Anthony DiMieri, a content creator and videographer who worked with the Mamdani campaign, says that people feel weird about trusting that feeling of hope because they’re “used to bad things happening.” But he notes that the same energy that makes people nervous about the general shows just how strong hope can be.
“Fifty thousand people just went out and volunteered for something that seemed impossible, and then through their work, it became possible,” he says. “People are going to be emboldened and think ‘What else can we do?’” And I think that’s the beginning of something.”
Ahead of the election, influencer Rachel Gaede told Rolling Stone that she felt compelled to post about the Mamdani campaign and encourage her followers and fellow New York City transplants to vote because of how important the race felt —and how many people her page with a half a million followers could reach. Now, she says some of the nervousness around feeling good might be coming from residual anxiety around the 2024 presidential election.
“Coming out of the previous presidential election, I think it was really hard to even imagine feeling hope again,” she says. “Something that a lot of people experienced was being really siloed within your own social media. So what happened with the Mamdani campaign was doubting, ‘Is [his growing support] real?’ Or is this just because I’m in a bubble of media that is mirroring the things that I want to be hearing?’”
Gaede calls Mamdani’s victory proof that the online hype was matched by in-person work. But she notes that while the campaign’s videos with influencers were helpful, much of the celebration and feelings of hopefulness probably come from how collaborative Mamdani supporters were.
“It’s such a tangible moment where you can look at people who are maybe resistant to get involved in politics, and you can say, like, no, look like we did this. This made a difference that people did show up,” Gaede adds. “Their social media killed it, but at the end of the day it was the people canvassing and door knocking and encouraging people to get to the ballots and vote that really made the difference.”
For comedian and content creator McKenna Moore, the Mamdani victory was a massive win for New York City. But she tells Rolling Stone she feels nervous about how happy she feels, because of how much harder the general election could be.
“This is the first time that I’ve felt actually hopeful about electoral politics, certainly since at least 2016. I think the day after Trump won, everything has just been bad since then,” she says. “It feels like you’re standing on a bridge, and you know that the bungee jump coordinator behind you is about to push you at a bad time, and you’re going to be terrified. It feels like Zohran’s victory could be stolen, especially because centrist Democrats and the actual Democratic Party don’t want him to win the actual election.”
Something many influencers discussing their emotions around the race are harkening back to is the Trump effect. Alex Hartman runs the meme page Nolita Dirtbag on Instagram, and tells Rolling Stone the nervous emotions around Mamdani’s win could be in part because of how utterly incomprehensible or cruel many of the Trump administration decisions seem to be. “Everything [Trump] touches becomes so much more volatile. For the world at large, honestly, it’s like we get hammered with major highs and then major lows,” Harman says. “It’s such a reactionary ping pong game. And there will be a serious concerted effort from traditional media and billionaires to make [Mamdani] look like the worst boogeyman in the world.”
While celebration, alongside nervousness, abound on social media, there are some Mamdani supporters who are feeling nothing but excitement. Rahma, the host of Subway Takes, tells Rolling Stone he’s feeling “absolutely incredible.” And as for doubt? He says he’s not distrustful of his hope, because he’s never strayed from one mindset: all in on Mamdani.
“It was all worth it,” Rahma says. “One of the best parts for me was when in the debate, Cuomo and those other guys kept saying, ‘Yeah, Zohran’s good at making videos, but that’s not going to win an election.’ I guess it did.”
