{"id":365127,"date":"2025-11-08T18:37:29","date_gmt":"2025-11-08T18:37:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/365127\/"},"modified":"2025-11-08T18:37:29","modified_gmt":"2025-11-08T18:37:29","slug":"sorry-boomers-gen-z-and-millennials-now-in-charge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/365127\/","title":{"rendered":"Sorry Boomers, Gen Z and Millennials now in charge"},"content":{"rendered":"

More than half of the more than 2 million New Yorkers who voted in this month\u2019s mayoral race<\/a> were younger than 55, with a significant share of them Millennials and Gen Zers \u2014 a reversal of typical age-based turnout patterns that experts attribute to enthusiasm around Zohran Mamdani\u2019s upstart campaign.<\/p>\n

Mamdani\u2019s affordability agenda<\/a>, which propelled him to a 10-point victory over independent candidate Andrew Cuomo in Tuesday\u2019s election, held particular resonance with young New Yorkers anxious about an increasingly expensive city.<\/p>\n

A Daily News analysis of voter demographics data highlights just how successful the 34-year-old Queens Assemblyman appears to have been in reaching the younger generations.<\/a><\/p>\n

According to the data, around 1.16 million New Yorkers under 55 voted in the Nov. 4 contest, making up almost 58% of the more than 2 million who cast ballots overall in what marked the city\u2019s highest turnout mayoral race since the 1960s. By contrast, just shy of 850,000 of Nov. 4 voters were older than 55, the data shows.<\/p>\n

Those between 18 and 44, who make up the youngest Gen Z and Millennial generations, had an especially outsized impact this year, with about 855,000 \u2014 or roughly 42% \u2014 of all voters hailing from those age brackets, The News\u2019 analysis found.<\/p>\n

\"LylaLyla Huber poses for a photo after voting in the General Election at the P.S. 249 the Caton School on November 04, 2025 in Flatbush Brooklyn. (Photo by Michael M. Santiago\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Historically, older generations have dominated at the polls in New York City mayoral elections. Election analyst Jerry Skurnik noted that residents younger than 55 made up less than 40% of those who voted in the 2021 mayoral contest won by Eric Adams, albeit that race wasn\u2019t particularly competitive and had far lower turnout.<\/p>\n

Basil Smikle, a veteran political strategist who was appointed in 2015<\/a> by then-Gov. Cuomo to serve as the New York State Democratic Party\u2019s executive director, said he couldn\u2019t think of a local city election in which young voters outpaced older ones in the type of way they did this year.<\/p>\n

While the demographics data doesn\u2019t show how individual residents voted, Smikle argued it\u2019s a non-brainer most of the younger ones went for Mamdani, noting his support among newer generations became palpable as he ran a campaign centered on a message of change and \u201cdistrust in traditional institutions.\u201d NBC News exit polling<\/a> backs up Smikle\u2019s theory, showing Mamdani clinching 60% more support than Cuomo among voters between 18 and 29.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think younger voters saw themselves in [Mamdani],\u201d Smikle said before reasoning that was an especially important factor in the context of Mamdani\u2019s closest competitor, Cuomo, being representative of New York\u2019s old political guard as he ran a campaign focused heavily on his long record in government.<\/p>\n

\"PeoplePeople leave a polling location in New York City during mayoral election on Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo\/Olga Fedorova)<\/p>\n

The fact that Mamdani didn\u2019t have an extensive resume, Smikle added, might have even worked in his favor. \u201cHe had more credibility as an agent of change,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Andrew Yang, a businessman who ran unsuccessfully for president in 2020 and New York City mayor in 2021, credited Mamdani\u2019s savvy, humorous social media presence, arguing that was another big reason why he fired up so many young voters. Yang, who was an early front-runner in the 2021 mayoral race<\/a> after also prioritizing social media, said he believes candidates for elected offices across the country are going to try to replicate Mamdani\u2019s candidacy.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re going to see legions of candidates try, but Zohran is a distinctly talented communicator and New York City gets a lot more media attention than the average election elsewhere,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\"NewNew York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani announces the members of his transition team in front of the Unisphere in Flushing Meadows Corona Park in Queens on Wednesday, Nov. 5, 2025. (Shawn Inglima\/ New York Daily News)<\/p>\n

Mamdani\u2019s campaign, more significantly, was centered on a set of easily digestible policy proposals: Freeze the rent for the city\u2019s roughly 2 million stabilized tenants, drastically expand fully subsidized childcare and make public buses free to ride \u2014 and then pay for all of it by jacking up taxes on millionaires and corporations. He was able to blunt a range of criticisms, from the potential economic fallout of his vision to positions and statements on Israel and Gaza some viewed as antisemetic.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was championing policies that young people believe in,\u201d said Michael Lange, a progressive election analyst<\/a> who has followed Mamdani\u2019s rise closely since he launched his mayoral campaign just over a year ago.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s also the policy front that will prove the most challenging for Mamdani as he takes office Jan. 1 as the youngest New York City mayor in over a century. Most of Mamdani\u2019s promises \u2014 the tax increases, the expanded childcare, the free buses \u2014 are contingent on funding and legislative action from Albany.<\/p>\n

The state Legislature\u2019s Democratic leaders are generally supportive of Mamdani\u2019s proposals. But Gov. Hochul, who faces a competitive race for reelection next year, has been openly skeptical of the idea of raising taxes in 2026, even on high-earners, a stance that could seriously complicate many components of Mamdani\u2019s agenda.<\/p>\n

Meantime, Mayor Adams, who dropped his reelection bid in late September<\/a>, is actively looking into finding a way to at least temporarily block Mamdani from enacting his signature rent freeze on stabilized tenants.<\/p>\n

Dora Pekec, a spokeswoman for Mamdani, said the mayor-elect will face the obstacles ahead with the same \u201cenergy\u201d his young supporters brought him during the campaign.\u00a0 \u201cTheir energy made this win possible, and it\u2019s the same energy and commitment to our affordability agenda that will drive the work ahead,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

For some Mamdani supporters, immediate success on his policy pledges isn\u2019t a must.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the end of the day, I\u2019d rather have a politician with bold yet concrete ideas, even if they may be outside of his immediate grasp,\u201d Will Sabel, a 38-year-old Park Slope resident, said in an interview Tuesday after casting his ballot for Mamdani.\u00a0\u201cThe fact he\u2019s articulating his vision coherently and clearly, and clearly stands for it, gives me confidence that no matter what it takes, he\u2019s going to at least try, even if it\u2019s not something he can snap his fingers and do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mamdani has set the bar high, though. \u201cWhen we enter City Hall in 58 days, expectations will be high,\u201d he said in his Tuesday night victory speech<\/a>. \u201cWe will meet them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Smikle, the ex-state Democratic Party executive director, warned that many of Mamdani\u2019s supporters likely aren\u2019t going to be as forgiving as Sabel.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s going to be very important for him to manage expectations in the short term,\u201d Smikle said. \u201cI think he will need some big wins in the beginning of his administration.\u201d<\/p>\n

With Colin Mixson<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"More than half of the more than 2 million New Yorkers who voted in this month\u2019s mayoral race…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":365128,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5122],"tags":[19042,5229,5297,13239,9117,405,403,5226,5225,5228,5227,67,586,132,5230,68,2969,5301],"class_list":{"0":"post-365127","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york","8":"tag-2025-election","9":"tag-america","10":"tag-andrew-cuomo","11":"tag-city-hall","12":"tag-mayoral-race","13":"tag-new-york","14":"tag-new-york-city","15":"tag-newyork","16":"tag-newyorkcity","17":"tag-ny","18":"tag-nyc","19":"tag-united-states","20":"tag-united-states-of-america","21":"tag-unitedstates","22":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","23":"tag-us","24":"tag-usa","25":"tag-zohran-mamdani"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115515533633185101","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/365127","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=365127"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/365127\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/365128"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=365127"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=365127"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=365127"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}