I Was Just Thinking…What voters shouted about cultural heritage, economic justice during Nov. 4, 2025 election

If leaders were listening, they have voters’ marching orders

By Norma Adams-Wade

Let’s take inventory. Why did voters elect controversial candidate Zohran Mamdani as New York City mayor on November 4? His supporters did not seem to care that this progressive newcomer was scourged by conservatives for being a Muslim, Democratic socialist, and was accused – I choose to believe falsely — of being anti-Semitic.

The New York Mayor-elect was born in Uganda, Africa to upscale parents: his Dad (Dr. Mahmood Mamdani), an India-heritage university professor with a Harvard University doctorate in political science. His mother (Mira Nair), an India-born, Harvard-educated, Academy Award-nominated filmmaker who directed noted movies including Mississippi Masala that starred Denzel Washington.

Before his son, Zohran, was born, the new mayor’s father was among immigrants from India that Ugandan dictator Idi Amin expelled from that country beginning in 1972. Amin stressed that he felt the British had corrupted Uganda when they brought in workers from India who later profited more from Uganda resources that the native-born Blacks. Amin was exiled from power in 1979 and Zohran’s dad returned to Uganda where his son was born years later.

Zohran, now 34, has become New York City’s youngest mayor-elect in modern history and a magnetic but polarizing figure during his mayoral campaign. This seemingly was because of his common-man/woman sympathies and ideology, racial heritage, and faith. Yet, out of more than  2 million votes cast, well over a million citizens (1,036,051) marked his name on the ballot, giving him 50.4 % of the vote over his two opponents—Independent and former Democrat Andrew Cuomo and Republican Curtis Sliwa.

Younger voters and diverse immigrants expressed often tearful pride over Mamdani’s victory – proud tears much like when Barack Obama became the nation’s first Black President in 2008. Since his victory, Mamdani says New York City is now “a city of immigrants that will now be run by an immigrant.”  He relates easily to other Millennials like himself and the previous Generation X. Prior to delving into politics, he was a housing counselor helping people in need and even spent considerable time with his favorite side hobby as an Indian-culture rapper and music producer.

Still, the new mayor will have to attempt to convince sceptics that he is not antisemitic and antipolice. During his campaign, he expressed disapproval of masked ICE agents indiscriminately arresting Brown people on streets, their jobs and homes, claiming that they “looked suspicious.” He has explained that he desires peace between Israel and Palestine, disagreed with Hamas’ horrendous Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Israel, and disagrees with Israel’s continued attacks on innocent people in Gaza. He says he wants a lasting peace agreement between the two entities.

On the TV show The View, and after the recent national No Kings street demonstrations, co-host Ana Navarro said of the many dissatisfied Americans: “They took their anger from the streets to the ballot boxes.”

Meanwhile, Mamdani’s critics are sounding alarms and voicing doomsday predictions for the nation. They bow to a mean, vindictive leader who favors billionaires over decent everyday people, who courts countries where dictators rule, deploys the National Guard and masked ICE agents on Democratic Blue states that oppose him, and who poo-poos the U. S. Constitution as if it is a grade-school essay paper.

So yes, a malaise had covered a big portion of the U. S. populace who retreated in almost hopeless despair about a nation they no longer recognized.

Then the wave of No Kings protests revitalized citizens who took to the streets and voiced their objections. Media attention turned to New York City, incredulous that the renegade candidate Mamdani has become so popular. Then the ultimate shock. He won the election! Other states on Nov. 4 also marked stunning Democratic victories flipping certain states from Red to Blue, including  in New York, Virginia, and New Jersey. The rejected found their voices, and through their votes, denounced Trump and his minions.

The  GOP continues scheming, trying gerrymandering to redraw lines and further diminish Democratic voting strength. Media recently quoted another Trump tactic urging his Republican Party to eliminate the Senate filibuster that is a factor in the current partisan deadlock in Congress. Each party has a bill they are pushing while the other sides is blocking it. Each side, nose to nose, stares the other in the face without blinking. The standoff has shut down the government for over a month now. Maybe by the time you read this post, the stalemate will have ended.

Trump and the on-top Republicans forge on in their power grab. These include campaigns to stop mail-in ballots, to remove mailboxes in certain communities, to restructure the nation’s postal service, and include creative restraints  on voting. In still another chilling tactic, media quoted Trump saying in a social media Truth Social post that if his party will follow his proposed plans, Democrats will “most likely never attain power” again. That outcome would usher in a one-party system easily led by a dictator. : “That is not American,” his opponents proclaimed.

The negative reaction to Mamdani brings back memories of similar reactions to former President John F. Kennedy being a Catholic, which aroused fear that his faith would put our nation under the power of the pope in Rome. There also the later debunked conspiracy theory that Obama was a Muslim when he first campaigned for president in 2007. Former President Jimmy Carter faced criticism that he was too openly devoted as a Christian, making some voters uncomfortable that his public faith blurred the lines between religion and politics.

Yes, cultural heritage and economic affordability of life’s necessities are front and center on the American political stage. Voters have spoken. Who’s listening?

Dallasite Norma Adams-Wade is a Texas Metro News senior correspondent, The Dallas Morning News retired writer, and a National Association of Black Journalists founder.