New York City's Democratic mayoral frontrunner has some old ideas coming back to haunt him—and they’re anything but moderate.
Socialist candidate Zohran Mamdani surged to the front of the 2025 mayoral contest after an unexpected Democratic primary win, but long-buried college writings are now resurfacing, spotlighting his far-left worldview and igniting backlash from both sides of the aisle, Fox News reported.
Mamdani, endorsed by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, has pushed bold policies ranging from city-controlled food stores to $30 minimum wages. But it's not just fresh political ideas making headlines—his undergraduate op-eds speak volumes about the ideological foundation behind them.
During his time at Bowdoin College from 2010 to 2014, Mamdani authored dozens of pieces in the student newspaper. Several writings endorsed an academic and cultural boycott of Israel and lambasted his college president for showing sympathy to Israeli institutions.
In one 2014 column, Mamdani argued that linking with Israeli academia meant ignoring basic rights like “food, water, shelter and education” for Palestinians. It's a line of thought lifted straight from the playbook of Students for Justice in Palestine, a group he co-founded on campus—later cited as a key force in anti-Israel protests across U.S. universities.
Invoking phrases like “Israeli colonial occupation,” Mamdani accused college leadership of moral failure for placing academic cooperation above political purity. Apparently, the free exchange of ideas is only welcome when those ideas pass a certain ideological litmus test.
Mamdani’s coverage of race was no less provocative. In a 2013 piece, he argued white men dominate media and social authority, linking this visibility to “white privilege” and structural racism. The logic: if you see power, and that power doesn’t look like you, it must be injustice.
He wrote that white privilege is both individual and systemic—suggesting that even silent bystanders unconsciously uphold racism. Contrast that with today's urban challenges of crime, housing, and economic disparity, and it raises questions: Is identity politics the priority, or urban policy?
Mamdani’s reflections on his campus years included frustrations over mispronounced names, being stereotyped for his clothing, and the burden of always having to bring up race. Navigating college as a non-white student, he seemed more focused on social discomforts than on solutions or dialogue.
While he studied abroad in Egypt, Mamdani wrote that his brown skin and Muslim name allowed him to move more easily than Westerners. He felt relief when others mistook him for Egyptian or Syrian, and this experience of racial fluidity deepened his understanding of how race functions differently across cultural contexts.
In that same essay, he described the shift in perception from being an outsider at Bowdoin to fitting in more naturally amidst political upheaval in Cairo. Yet the common thread wasn’t the chaos around him—it was how people saw him. Identity, again, seemed to eclipse other concerns.
His critiques weren’t limited to others. Mamdani admitted to internal struggles with his own ethnicity and desirability, wondering aloud whether romance was even possible without being someone's “thing for brown guys.” It was deeply personal—but deeply political.
With Democrats outnumbering Republicans in New York City six to one, Mamdani’s primary win positions him as a formidable candidate in the general election. But his sharp ideological leanings are making moderate Democrats uneasy, and some are questioning whether his vision resonates with working-class families.
Also complicating matters: Eric Adams, the sitting mayor and a former Democrat, is now running as an independent. That sets the stage for a high-stakes three-way dynamic where internal Democratic fractures may prove decisive.
While Mamdani’s campaign didn’t respond to requests for comment, the silence speaks volumes. In a race where every move counts, even college writings from over a decade ago carry political weight.
As the general election nears, New Yorkers will have to ask themselves whether they want ideology or solutions. A platform promising safe injection sites and defunding police departments may earn applause in activist circles—but raises alarms in homes worried about rising crime and fading street safety.
It’s easy to be radical when you’re writing op-eds in a college dorm room. It’s another thing entirely to run a city of over eight million diverse, complex lives. Mamdani may insist he’s progressed since those writings, but the ideas remain on record—and voters now have to decide what they really mean for New York’s future.
