Gothamist: After weeks of internal debate, Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani’s campaign chose to confront one of his vulnerabilities in the race for New York City mayor head-on, with a touch of humor.
“I know some of you have expressed concerns about my age.” the Democratic frontrunner said last week, ahead of his 34th birthday on Saturday. “I am committing for every single day from here on out, I will grow older.”
But the cheeky video, which garnered nearly 7 million views, hints at the more serious discussion within Mamdani’s campaign over how to respond to questions about the Democratic frontrunner’s age and experience. If elected, he would become the youngest city mayor in over a century.
But some people close to him warn that he should not be seen as indulging criticism that he is unprepared to run the city, adding that announcing members of his administration before he actually wins could seem presumptuous. The people asked not to be named because the conversations were private.
Polling on the mayoral race shows the two-term assemblymember’s relative lack of experience is on voters’ minds. A Quinnipiac poll found the two-term assemblymember ahead by 13 points over second place-rival Andrew Cuomo.
But the same poll also found that 47% of likely voters said he did not have the right kind of experience to be mayor while 73% said his opponent Cuomo, a former governor, did.
The internal debate about how to respond to questions about Mamdani’s age is another example of the early steps underway in the campaign to prepare for a transition.
Publicly, Mamdani has repeatedly said he is not focused on the transition and that no personnel decisions have been made.
But behind the scenes, the campaign is already deliberating candidates for his cabinet. Two of the sources familiar with the discussions told Gothamist that Mamdani has been most focused on the roles of first deputy mayor, the second-in-command at City Hall and police commissioner.
During last week’s debate, both Cuomo and Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa criticized Mamdani’s lack of experience. “This is not a job for someone who has no management experience to run 300,000 people, no financial experience to run a $115 billion budget,” Cuomo said.
“What I don’t have in experience, I make up for in integrity,” Mamdani responded.
Mamdani is confronting an issue common to candidates who are young or political outsiders.
