True Left

Mamdani is one of three South Asian members of the Democratic Socialists of America who won historic down-ballot races earlier this month. In Pennsylvania, former magazine editor Nikil Saval became the first Asian American elected to the state Senate. And in Los Angeles, urban planner Nithya Raman will be the first Asian American women elected to city council. As first-time Democratic Socialists of America-endorsed candidates, they unseated Democratic incumbents while espousing progressive policies such as "Medicare for All," the Green New Deal and defunding the police.

Their wins point to the growing prominence of young South Asians on the left, many of whom, in the past half-decade, have transitioned from community activism to electoral politics.

“These candidates are successful not only because of the work they’ve done in South Asian communities,” Abdullah Younus, a member of the Democratic Socialists of America's national leadership body, said, “but also because the issues that they’re campaigning on — around housing, education and climate — cut across age divides and diaspora divides.”