Overview
- Zohran Mamdani won New York City’s mayoral race with just over half the vote, becoming the city’s first Muslim and first South Asian mayor-elect after record turnout.
- President Trump and Republican allies questioned his citizenship and ideology, with Rep. Andy Ogles urging an investigation into his naturalization and some activists pushing slogans like “Deport Zohran.”
- Axios reports the Trump administration is elevating Mamdani as a case for tougher legal immigration and potential denaturalization, alongside broader moves to tighten refugee, visa, and citizenship rules.
- Immigration law experts say denaturalization requires clear, convincing proof of illegal procurement or a willful, material lie, note no such evidence has surfaced, and emphasize that the Democratic Socialists of America is not a communist organization.
- At the Somos conference, Gov. Kathy Hochul and the mayor-elect signaled cooperation even as she questioned free buses on fiscal grounds, while business leaders Jamie Dimon and Bill Ackman offered to work with Mamdani.