NYC Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani hired a new campaign manager as he builds out his team for the November general election, the campaign announced Friday.
Maya Handa, who ran State Sen. Zellnor Myrie’s mayoral bid earlier this year, will be the candidate’s campaign manager.
Elle Bisgaard-Church, who previously held that role in the Mamdani campaign, will become chief adviser to Mamdani.
“I’m incredibly proud of the historic campaign we ran in the primary,” Bisgaard-Church said in a statement. “While our focus now is singularly to ensure Zohran is elected as the next mayor of New York City, I’m excited to take on this new role and continue building toward the future.”
Handa has experience on the national level, having previously worked on Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s presidential campaign. She also worked on Rep. Mondaire Jones’ congressional campaign, India Walton’s mayoral campaign in Buffalo and for the Working Families Party.
Many of the campaign’s recent new hires have worked on national campaigns in contrast to Mamdani’s primary team, which was led by Albany insiders like Bisgaard-Church.
Afua Atta-Mensah, a local strategist and advocate, will be the campaign’s political director, and Deandra Khan, who was previously an advisor to the president of service workers union 32BJ, will be the director of labor and intergovernmental affairs.
The campaign previously announced new hires to its communications team, including new Press Secretary Dora Pekec, who previously did comms for Brad Lander’s mayoral campaign, and new Communications Director Jeffrey Lerner, the former political director of the Democratic National Committee.
Originally Published: July 25, 2025 at 12:58 PM EDT