Democrat socialist Zohran Mamdani pocketed $8 million in increasingly formidable bids to become New York City's next mayor, making the most of his fundraising limits.
Mamdani, 33, announced that his surge campaign has reached the funding cap set by the city's Campaign Finance Committee, but he has also done so at the groundwell of small dollar donations.
“We believe this is the first campaign in this whole cycle to achieve this and the fastest in New York City's mayor's history,” he said at a celebration gathering outside city hall.
“This was made possible through contributions from nearly 18,000 individuals.”
The fundraiser further positions Mamdani ahead of the busy Democratic main sector, including incumbent mayor Eric Adams and former governor Andrew Cuomo, a relatively unknown Queens legislator.
Mamdani's Dark Horse campaign has steadily gained momentum with a mix of viral videos and a stepless, progressive promises, from urban-owned grocery stores to rent freezes.
His snowball support was translated into positive poll numbers consistently showing the second place position behind Cuomo.
“We've built a small support network that gave us an average donation somewhere around $80,” he said.
“This contrasts with Andrew Cuomo, with an average donation of five to six times.”
Mamdani said he would stop fundraising and spend $8 million on the bank on television ads.
