The Mamdani youthquake in New York City | Weekly roundup for November 9, 2025
Deep Dives
Explore related topics with these Wikipedia articles, rewritten for enjoyable reading:
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Zohran Mamdani
16 min read
The article centers on Mamdani's mayoral victory and its implications for Democratic strategy. Understanding his background, political philosophy, and rise from state assemblyman to mayor provides essential context for why his win represents a significant political moment.
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Youth vote in the United States
14 min read
The article highlights a 'youthquake' where 42% of voters were under 45, compared to 27% in 2021. Understanding the historical patterns, challenges, and impact of youth voter turnout in American elections provides valuable context for assessing whether this represents a sustainable shift.
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American Left
20 min read
Mamdani is described as a 'democratic socialist candidate' whose affordability message resonated with voters skeptical of both parties. Understanding the history and policy positions of democratic socialism in America helps contextualize his political positioning and appeal.
Dear readers,
It has been a very busy week here at Strength In Numbers (as you’ll see in section 2). Not only was the editorial schedule packed with content, both written and recorded (and of course, I was up all night Tuesday), but I also spent most of the day Wednesday writing questions for our November poll with Verasight. If all goes according to plan, that will come out next week (the week of the 17th), and will generate a lot of data for our conversation about what Democrats need to do to win in 2026 and 2028.
This week’s lead story is about Zohran Mamdani’s win in New York City. His victory, while unsurprising, suggests several ways Democrats can to appeal to low-engagement voters — a key problem the party has faced in the Trump era. The rest of the roundup also focuses largely on the results from Tuesday’s elections.
On deck here at SIN: I plan on finally getting around to writing my piece on social media and politics today, with the working title “The bipartisan case for Bluesky (seriously, hear me out).” The Friday post, as usual, will react to whatever is in the news.
Thank you for subscribing to Strength In Numbers! Last week was a big success for this small solo newsletter, and I’m grateful to you all for playing a key part in it.
1. The Mamdani youthquake suggests a way for Democrats to repair their brand
Driving Democrats’ big victories in the 2025 elections on Tuesday were lots of big swings. Latino-heavy precincts moved ~60 points to the Democrats since 2024. Voters from families making less than $50,000 per year also lurched left. Exit polls suggest higher-than-average movement among Asian voters and women, too.
But one chart that really caught my eye is this one, showing the percent of voters participating in New York City’s mayoral election that were less than 45 years old:
This is a youthquake. CBS News reports that:
Data from the New York City Board of Elections indicates that of the two million voters who cast ballots in person, 42% were under age 45 — a much higher share than in recent mayoral races. In 2021, just 27% of those who voted for New York City mayor were under 45.
First-time voters also made up an abnormally high 20% of the electorate on Tuesday. These new voters broke
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