Few high-profile races in the Houston area were decided Tuesday during an off-year election, but at the Huqqa Social lounge in Sugar Land, dozens of people excitedly gathered in front of televisions to watch results roll in.
This election night party wasn’t focused on a local candidate though. Instead, members of Houston’s Muslim community came together to celebrate Zohran Mamdani’s victory in the New York City mayoral race, which made him the first Muslim and first South Asian person to be elected mayor of a major American city.
“I really enjoyed watching his campaign, how he rallies and how he talks and what he stands for,” said Erum Rani, who organized the party. “I was excited. As a queer Muslim person, it was heartfelt and it was very wholesome for me.”
‘Impossible until it wasn’t’
Muslim and South Asian communities across the Houston area shared Rani’s joy in Mamdani’s victory.
Though he was elected to lead a city 1,600 miles away from Houston, the campaign dominated the national spotlight as Mamdani, a self-described Democratic Socialist, rose from relative obscurity to defeat Andrew Cuomo, the figurehead of a political dynasty in America’s largest city.
Erum Rani pictured at the watch party for Zohran Mamdani’s mayoral race in New York City, organized by her production company SpinPointz Media on Nov. 4, 2025, at Huqqa Social in Sugar Land. (T Motion Films/Courtesy SpinPointz Media )
Conservative leaders including Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and Sen. Ted Cruz, who called Mamdani an “actual communist jihadist,” pilloried Mamdani throughout his campaign and often attacked him on the basis of his religion. For Mamdani to win without shying away from his heritage made him a hero among many Muslims, South Asians and other marginalized groups across the country.
“His victory has been such a bright spot in such a dark year. I’ve never seen my community this elated,” said Nabila Mansoor, co-executive director of the Asian Texans for Justice Action Fund. “I had a joke that when you meet another Muslim, count how many minutes until Zohran’s name comes up. This was seen as impossible – until it wasn’t.”
“Muslims are greeting each other like it’s Eid,” said Amatullah Contractor, president of the Asian American Democrats of Texas and manager for the Houston AAPI Table, a coalition of local Asian American and Pacific Islander advocacy groups, referring to Islam’s most celebrated holiday.
A blueprint for Houston?
Nabila Mansoor, President of Texas Multicultural Advocacy Coalition speaks at a community meeting about what’s at stake in the 2024 elections at the Tracy Gee Community Center on Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024, in Houston. (Karen Warren/Staff photographer)
While local Muslims and South Asians are happy to see someone from their community in such a high-profile role, progressives are also touting his underdog victory as proof that his message can resonate with voters.
Mamdani, 34, ran a campaign focused on issues of affordability in one of the most expensive cities in America, vowing to freeze rents in certain apartments, make city buses free for all riders and open city-owned grocery stores in New York food deserts.
His vocal support for the people of Palestine also earned him the loyalty of the nation’s Muslim community, who said they have felt abandoned by the Democratic Party during Israel’s onslaught of Gaza over the past two years.
Local organizers say that the values girding Mamdani’s campaign can be popular anywhere, even if some of his policy proposals may be specific to New York.
“The broader agenda of affordability, giving working-class people the opportunity to live a dignified life – all of these things are the same issues that affect working-class Houstonians,” said Vivek Venkatraman, an organizer with the Houston Party for Socialism and Liberation.
Vivek Venkatraman of the Party for Socialism and Liberation speaks to a group of people gathered in downtown Houston to protest the killing of 29 year old, Tyre Nichols by Memphis Police department officers on Saturday, Jan. 28, 2023 in Houston, TX. (Raquel Natalicchio/Staff photographer)
New York and Houston present far different political backdrops, and local progressives do not necessarily expect a Mamdani-style candidate to emerge in the next election cycle, even if Houston stands out as a liberal island in Texas’ sea of red.
Organizers, however, say there are lessons to be learned in Mamdani’s campaign, which effectively used social media to reach young voters and attract tens of thousands of volunteers. More importantly, they say, his strong stances on issues that resonated with voters earned him their trust.
“It shows that if you’re authentic and come to the political arena with moral clarity, transparency and authenticity, you have a chance at winning,” Mansoor said.
“Do I think a member of the Democratic Socialists of America is going to win in Houston? Probably not,” she added. “But will someone who stays true to their values and doesn’t succumb to political pressure? Yes, that’s something we can all learn from.”
This article originally published at Houston Muslims, South Asians celebrate Zohran Mamdani’s historic win in New York.