NEW YORK — Zohran Mamdani’s army of volunteers isn’t letting up as their leader enters the final days of a grueling battle to become New York City’s next mayor.
Collectively, his network has already knocked on millions of doors, sent more than a million text messages and made millions of phone calls. And in the final days of what has become a bitterly contested general election, they are ramping up their efforts as the campaign pumps resources into in-person interactions.
“People are definitely persuadable. You start out with more folks who are undecided,” Tascha Van Auken, the campaign’s field director, told POLITICO. “If you talk to canvassers they will give you anecdotal examples of that. And you can see it when you look at field app data.”
Get-out-the-vote efforts are crucial for any campaign, especially to get would-be voters to the polls as Election Day looms. Should the 34-year-old democratic socialist win the race, as polling projects, much of the credit will go to his 95,000-strong volunteer network and the campaign staff managing them. Andrew Cuomo, who is running as an independent after losing to Mamdani in the Democratic primary, and Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa have their own operations humming in high gear. Neither, however, took POLITICO up on its request to embed with door knockers.
So far, the success of Mamdani’s outfit has been threefold: The campaign is armed with simple messages about affordability that have resonated with voters trending younger and farther to the left. The enormous number of people willing to work for free allows for an operation exponentially larger than what could be accomplished by paid contractors. And the system — inherited from the New York City chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America and supplemented in the general election by municipal labor unions with operations of their own — is highly organized, with an app allowing door knockers to reach their targets with maximum efficiency.
At noon last Saturday, a group of nearly 20 volunteers gathered at Ruppert Park on the Upper East Side for a quick introduction (several were first-timers who signed up through the campaign website), a brief tutorial on how to approach strangers (don’t get into arguments and don’t linger with chatty types), and a primer on a voter database app called MiniVAN and a WhatsApp chat used to relay real-time info and issues.
“All our canvassing work is led by volunteers,” Van Auken said. “Without that layer, you don’t have the scale. You can’t have staff launch 60 canvasses across the city in one night.”
Indeed, the campaign has around 700 volunteer canvass leaders. On Saturday in Ruppert Park, the crew chief was 27-year-old Kathy Cutler, a freelancer who said she spends between 60 to 80 hours a week working to get Mamdani elected — a devotion money can’t buy except with sums unrealistic for a mayoral campaign.
Cutler walked the group through how to use the app, which taps a national database to provide names, ages and party affiliations of New York City voters winnowed down to the campaign’s desired targets and grouped by apartment buildings. Various city blocks were then assigned to two-person teams.
The Upper East Side is rife with five- and six-story walkups, and the efforts of one duo began to take on a predictable cadence: Arrive at the building. Quickly buzz a bunch of apartments on the list. Trudge to the top floor. Hit all the listed doors on your way down.
The mission is a mix of proselytizing and reconnaissance. Canvassers shared some of Mamdani’s priorities, but they also harvested crucial information for the campaign. If the voter couldn’t be reached, the app had several options for why. Not home. Moved. Deceased. If the voter was there, how likely were they to vote for Mamdani? There’s a simple ranking system on a scale of one to five: One is a lock. Five is the most unlikely.
Paloma, a Mamdani canvasser who did not provide her last name, flitted along East 92nd Street with her canvassing partner in a gingham jacket and marigold Mamdani T-shirt. Upon approaching a door she would work herself into a smile in case someone was looking through the peephole. She favored two volleys of knocks before cocking her head to the side to listen for indoor activity. Hearing none, she would wedge Mamdani literature into the door jamb and move on.
Most of the people who answered their doors were happy to see her. Some were not.
“We are definitely not interested in voting for Zohran Mamdani,” one woman said. She was marked as a five.
“She’s not interested,” a man said, speaking for a registered voter at another apartment who wasn’t home.
What if he was wrong? The unit was flagged for a follow-up.
The sunny fall weather meant many people were out. And in between hits, the canvassers pushed through the sounds of everyday New York City life spilling into hallway after hallway. Plans to go to the store. Where to meet up with friends.
“Somebody peed on the floor,” the disembodied voice of a child called out. “And it wasn’t me.”
Sarah, who like her canvassing partner Paloma did not provide POLITICO with her last name, had already done multiple Mamdani canvassing tours and was now in training to lead them.
“There are different ways that you can show up,” she said. “You can do one canvass shift, or you can take on more responsibility.”
Emily Ngo contributed reporting.
