How Mamdani built an ‘unstoppable force’ that won over New York

Nate, a field lead volunteer for the Zohran Mamdani campaign, briefs volunteers Cynthia, Elena Studier, and Moriamo Bamidele before an evening of canvassing in the Bushwick neighborhood of Brooklyn, a week before the mayoral election. Photograph: Thalia Juarez/The Guardian

A week before Zohran Mamdani astounded the world by his out-of-nowhere, odds-defying, convention-shattering victory in the New York City mayoral election, members of his vast army of youthful volunteers were amply aware of what was at stake.

A group of 16 had assembled in the Bohemian Hispanic neighborhood of Bushwick in Brooklyn for one last push to heave the Democratic candidate over the line.