The Strategist Who Built a Movement: How Zara Rahim Orchestrated Mamdani’s Historic Victory

When Zohran Mamdani stunned New York City’s political establishment by defeating former Governor Andrew Cuomo in the Democratic primary and winning the mayoral election last week, much of the attention focused on his viral social media presence and charismatic appeal to young voters. But behind the 34-year-old assemblyman’s historic victory was a strategic mind who helped reshape how the campaign connected with voters: Zara Rahim, a communications expert who has spent more than a decade at the intersection of politics, culture and digital strategy, according to Fortune.

Rahim, who has served as a senior adviser to Mamdani since February, delivered a crucial piece of guidance that would define the campaign’s approach. As JagoNews24 reported, she urged Mamdani to “forget the New York that political strategists invent” and build “a campaign for the real city.”

From Bangladesh to the White House

The daughter of Bangladeshi immigrants who moved to the United States in the early 1980s, Rahim grew up in South Florida where she first glimpsed the power of digital storytelling. She was moved by hearing Senator Barack Obama speak for the first time and volunteered for his campaign.

After college, according to a 2018 Domino profile, Rahim worked under Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus in Bangladesh. “That was my first taste of working on something that had to do with the good of society and bringing practical policy solutions to folks who needed them the most,” she explained.

Fortune reported that Rahim began her political career as an intern on Barack Obama’s 2012 reelection campaign, where she was promoted to Florida Digital Content Director. According to her LinkedIn profile, she served on Obama’s historic digital team, where she worked on leveraging digital platforms to effectively communicate the administration’s policies and initiatives. She then worked in the White House Office of Digital Strategy from July 2013 to January 2014.

Building a Multidisciplinary Career

After working on Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign, according to Fortune, Rahim shifted to the fashion world, serving as Communications Director at Vogue Magazine from 2017 to 2018. There, she worked alongside influential figures across fashion, art, politics, and entertainment, honing skills that would later prove valuable in shaping Mamdani’s public image.

Her LinkedIn profile describes her as “a strategic communications expert, advisor, producer, and cultural worker” known for “successfully bringing people and cultures together.” More recently, Fortune reported, she has worked as an independent communications consultant for clients including A24, Mariah Carey, and Netflix.

A Strategy Built on Authenticity

Rahim’s strategy for Mamdani centered on authenticity and direct voter contact, particularly with communities that traditional campaigns often neglected, according to Fortune. She understood that the campaign’s social media success needed to be backed by genuine engagement on the ground.

As she told The New York Times, there was an “intensive schedule” in which TikTok and Instagram videos were shot between in-person events, during which the mayor-elect would speak in languages like Spanish and Hindi to address working-class folks. These were “Bangladeshi uncles and West African aunties who had never voted in a primary for a mayor,” according to Rahim, as quoted by Fortune. “They see somebody showing up at their mosques and treating their neighborhoods like they mattered.”

“Every summer we went to Bangladesh. That was just a part of how we grew up,” she said. “It was in Bangladesh that I saw my parents become their most pure selves… “

JagoNews24 reported her explaining: “We’d shoot videos between events. One minute Zohran’s talking about housing policy, the next he’s speaking in Hindi or Spanish to working-class families.” These weren’t staged photo-ops, she emphasized—they were connections.

Responding to Attacks with Clarity

The strategy extended to how the campaign responded to attacks. When Cuomo made controversial comments that Mamdani’s supporters characterized as Islamophobic, Rahim was quick to condemn the former governor’s tactics. “He has only tried to court Muslim people by saying look at this bad Muslim—that is a desperate tactic from a man who has nothing to say to Muslim people,” she told CNN, as reported by Fortune.

The statement went viral not for its anger, but its clarity. It reframed the narrative on Mamdani’s terms, underscoring the campaign’s moral ground without losing composure. “She has this way of cutting through noise with just one sentence,” a senior campaign aide told the publication. “When the room gets tense, Zara is the calmest person there – and somehow, also the sharpest.”

A Collaborative Victory

Fortune reported that Rahim worked alongside other key campaign figures, including Maya Handa, Tascha Van Auken, and Faiza Ali, all of whom played crucial roles in the victory. Van Auken, the field director, oversaw the unprecedented volunteer operation that knocked on doors 1.6 million times during the primary alone and led to 247,000 conversations with voters. By the general election, the volunteer count had swelled to more than 90,000 people.

The results spoke for themselves: videos reached millions online, but the real victory was offline. Over 1.6 million doors knocked.

In her 2018 Domino interview, Rahim reflected on her identity as a first-generation American. “Every summer we went to Bangladesh. That was just a part of how we grew up,” she said. “It was in Bangladesh that I saw my parents become their most pure selves… We’re constantly trying to figure out who we are. I don’t know if that feeling of freedom quite exists until you are able to get to a place where you love yourself.”

JagoNews24 observed that Rahim doesn’t crave the spotlight—she builds it. For Rahim, the real story isn’t about titles or milestones, but about making politics feel real again and ensuring that communities often overlooked by traditional campaigns see themselves reflected in their government.

As New York City prepares for its historic transition, Rahim’s work stands as evidence that effective political strategy isn’t just about viral moments or clever messaging—it’s about authentic connection, cultural understanding, and a deep belief that every neighborhood, every community, and every voice matters.

This story, conceptualized and edited by American Kahani’s News Desk, was aggregated by AI from several news reports.