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Last week, my social media feed buzzed with both celebration and concern over Zohran Mamdani’s surprise victory in New York City’s mayoral primary. The 33-year-old self-described Democratic Socialist was born in Uganda and raised in Queens. He also happens to be Muslim and has defended Palestinian rights and criticized Israeli policy.
Politics aside, his victory is historic. If elected in November, Mamdani would become the first Muslim and South Asian mayor of New York City. There are currently four members of Congress who are Muslim and 32 who are Jewish, according to Pew.
In addition to his out-of-the-box policies — government-run grocery stores, anyone? — Mamdani’s candidacy has also sparked deep questions about faith and the role religion plays in public life, especially in a city with the second-largest Jewish population in the world, outside Tel Aviv.
Mamdani’s refusal to condemn the slogan “globalize the intifada” alienated many Jewish New Yorkers, particularly when antisemitic hate crimes remain alarmingly high. The Jewish community makes up 10% of New Yorkers, but this year over 60% of reported hate crimes in New York targeted Jews, per NYPD. Still, 5% of Jews, mostly progressive and secular, supported Mamdani.
Throughout his campaign, Mamdani didn’t shy away from his faith. He attended Friday Muslim prayers across the five boroughs and spoke Urdu in campaign videos. He also made a point of engaging Jewish communities, distributing Yiddish posters in Orthodox neighborhoods and appearing in synagogues, according to The Forward.
But once in the spotlight, Mamdani’s faith quickly became a target of virulent attacks. He faced repeated accusations of antisemitism and endured a smear campaign, where one ad digitally darkened and exaggerated his beard. Worse, he received explicit bomb threats, prompting an NYPD Hate Crimes Task Force investigation.
Conservative influencer Laura Loomer posted on X: “There will be another 9/11 in NYC and @ZohranKMamdani will be to blame.” Others have called him “terrorist sympathizer” and Rep. Andy Ogles (R‑TN) referred to him as “little muhammad” and questioned the legitimacy of his naturalization process, calling for his deportation.
Amid the hostile attacks by some, Mamdani’s campaign also catalyzed moments of interfaith solidarity. He and one of his opponents, City Comptroller Brad Lander, who is Jewish, cross-endorsed each other and modeled a respectful alliance. The two appeared on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert”, talking about affordability. When asked how Mamdani could lower tensions between the nearly 800,000 Muslims and 1.2 million Jews in New York City, Mamdani replied, “I think by foregrounding that humanity,” emphasizing shared economic struggles. “We are not going to let anyone divide Muslim New Yorkers and Jewish New Yorkers,” Lander said on the primary night, per New York Times.
Much like JFK helped normalize Catholicism in American public life, Mamdani’s rise offers a chance to do the same for Muslims. While his candidacy, and potential leadership, may not resolve existing tensions, it could expand the boundaries of who gets to lead the most religiously diverse city in America.
I asked Asma Uddin, a religious liberty lawyer who specializes in Muslim identity (who also writes for Deseret), what Mamdani’s win says about American pluralism today. It’s a sign of both “progress” and “unresolved tensions,” she told me in an email. “His candidacy arrives at a moment when, as supporters put it, the city needs that kind of change — a push to move beyond the nearly 25 years of Muslim-American otherization since 9/11,” she continued. “His growing support shows that inclusive, progressive coalitions can challenge establishment power. Yet it also underscores how religious identity continues to be a flashpoint in U.S. electoral politics — energizing some voters, while provoking fear and hostility in others.”
Should Mamdani become the city’s mayor, he will have an opportunity, and a challenge, to bridge divides between New York’s Muslim and Jewish communities at a moment when peace and understanding have never been more urgently needed.
Fresh off the press
Should public school teachers be allowed to lead students in prayer? Americans are deeply divided on the question.
On Friday, the Supreme Court issued several important rulings and my colleagues reported on the outcomes:
In an opinion issued by Justice Samuel Alito in Mahmoud v. Taylor, the Supreme Court sided with a group of religious parents in Maryland who will have the right to opt out of the LGBTQ book curriculum.
The Supreme Court on Friday upheld a Texas law requiring porn websites to verify the age of users, similar to statutes passed in Utah and two dozen other states across the country since 2023.
Term of the week: Peter’s Pence
Peter’s Pence is a centuries-old tradition in the Catholic Church, referring to a special collection taken up worldwide to support the Pope’s charitable work and the administration of the Holy See. It’s held annually around the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul, which was celebrated on Sunday.
The fund is often promoted as a vehicle for papal charity like helping the poor and funding humanitarian relief, but it also serves a more practical purpose: helping cover the operational costs of the Holy See’s central government.
With the Vatican now facing serious financial shortfalls — a 50-60 million euro to be more precise, according to AP — Pope Leo is doubling down on this tradition, rolling out an American-style fundraising campaign to revive confidence and donations. U.S. Catholics have been the single largest contributors to Peter’s Pence, accounting for roughly 25% of the global total annually, AP reported.
What I’m reading – and listening to
In a rare move, Catholic leaders issue dueling letters criticizing the GOP budget bill.
Since reading the story about the two Brazilian nuns beatboxing and dancing, I haven’t been able to get their latest hit out of my head. “God had sent them viral to draw more young people to the church, they said, and they were trying to carry out his mission,” according to the New York Times.
In this essay in Comment Magazine, David Brooks draws on distinction between wisdom and intelligence. “The wise person knows how to pay attention — knows which features of the landscape to focus on, which is a great art, and which features to ignore, which is a greater one," he writes.
Odds and ends
This selfie of Jonathan Roumie, who plays Jesus in “The Chosen,“ with Pope Leo made my day when I stumbled on it. Before the meeting, the cast was filming crucifixion scenes in Matera, Italy, for season 6 of “The Chosen” (Mel Gibson’s “The Passion of The Christ” was filmed in the same place.) From reading about the cast’s press conference at the Vatican, I was interested to learn that more than 30% of the show’s audience do not consider themselves Christian.