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Photo Essay: This Is What Democracy Looks Like

Issue 296

Three hundred Mamdani volunteers pose for a group photo in Herbert Von King Park before fanning out to canvas in the surrounding Bed-Stuy neighborhood.  Jack Califano

By Indypendent Staff Jul 8, 2025

From frigid winter days when their candidate was polling in the low single digits to the final sweltering hours outside polling stations when Zohran Mamdani was rapidly closing in on Andrew Cuomo, his supporters fanned out across the city to talk with their fellow New Yorkers. In the end, Mamdani’s campaign would attract more than 50,000 volunteers, knock on 1.6 million doors and have countless conversations about how to win a more just and affordable city.

LAUNCHING PAD: Zohran Mamdani and 300 New York City DSA volunteers gathered at the First Unitarian Universalist Church of Brooklyn in early December for a training session on how to lead canvassing shifts.
Michael Paulson

TEAMWORK: Three Mamdani canvassers prepare to canvass the Lower East Side.

WHATEVER IT TAKES: Mamdani volunteers gather in 32 degree weather outside the Brooklyn Museum on December 14 for the first day of canvassing. “I want to be in favor of something for once,” said one canvasser.

PETITIONING: A team of Mamdani volunteers gathers on an early morning in March to gather petition signatures from Astoria commuters to get their candidate on the mayoral ballot.

A COMMON THREAD: Zohran Mamdani speaks at a Dec. 14 protest in the Garment District.
Richard Swofford

FAVORITE SON: Mamdani at a rally in Little Bangladesh in Jamaica, Queens, a community that overwhelmingly voted for him in the Democratic primary. 

READY TO GO: A Lower East Side canvassing team prepares to head out for a June canvas. 

FAST-GROWING MOVEMENT: Three hundred Mamdani volunteers pose for a group photo in Herbert Von King Park before fanning out to canvas in the surrounding Bed-Stuy neighborhood. 
Jack Califano

VICTORY!: Mamdani volunteers react with stunned disbelief as Andrew Cuomo gives his election night concession speech.

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