By Prajwal Bhat
When Zohran Mamdani became New York City’s first South Asian and Muslim mayor on November 4, his victory was powered in part by strong support from the city’s South Asian immigrant communities.
New data analysed by Desis Rising Up and Moving Beats, a South Asian organising group that mobilised voters for Mamdani’s campaign, shows that Indian American voter turnout was particularly high in council districts with large Indian American populations – this despite a coordinated campaign by Hindutva groups to claim he was anti-Hindu.
In Council District 39, which covers parts of Brooklyn including Park Slope, Carroll Gardens and Sunset Park, Indian American voter turnout was 64%. Brooklyn is one of the five boroughs that constitute the city. The other four are Manhattan, Queens, the Bronx and Staten Island.
In Council District 6, which includes Hell’s Kitchen in Manhattan, an area with a significant Indian American population, turnout was 55%.
In Council District 25, which includes Jackson Heights and Elmhurst – neighbourhoods known as South Asian enclaves – Indian American turnout was 44%. New York has 51 Council Districts, each represented by an elected council member.
Mamdani won 82% of the vote in Park Slope, 56% in Hell’s Kitchen and 60% in Jackson Heights, according to election data published by the New York Times.
The data analysed by DRUM Beats is based on a statistical model that estimates voter ethnicity from names and other factors using New York City Board of Elections figures. The analysis covers all election data except approximately 100,000 provisional ballots.
The results made it clear that South Asian voter participation surged across the city in the mayoral elections. While overall citywide voter turnout rose by 180%, South Asian communities saw far steeper increases.
This story was originally published in scroll.in. Read the full story here.
