The Bangladeshi-American who helped redefine NY politics: Meet Zara Rahim

When Zohran Mamdani upended New York City’s political establishment – defeating former Governor Andrew Cuomo in the Democratic primary and then sweeping to victory in the mayoral election – the headlines called him a phenomenon. Charismatic, social-media-savvy, and unflinchingly progressive, the 34-year-old became the face of a new political generation.

But behind the carefully calibrated message and digital firepower stood a strategist whose fingerprints were on every post, speech, and slogan: Zara Rahim, a Bangladeshi-American communications mastermind who has spent more than a decade at the intersection of politics, culture, and influence.

The strategist in the shadows

Rahim doesn’t crave the spotlight – she builds it. Since joining Mamdani’s team as senior adviser in February, she’s quietly helped shape one of the most successful grassroots campaigns in modern New York history.

Her first piece of advice to Mamdani would come to define the campaign’s ethos. As one adviser recalled to The New York Times, Rahim told the team to “forget the New York conjured by political strategists – make a campaign about the actual New York City.”

That simple, radical idea flipped the script. Instead of focusing on the city’s power corridors, the campaign poured its energy into the subway commuters, food delivery workers, cab drivers, mosque-goers, and street vendors who make the city run – but rarely feel seen by its leaders.

By the time election day rolled around, 90,000 volunteers had joined the movement. It wasn’t just a campaign anymore – it was a civic revival.

A South Florida beginning

Rahim’s path to New York politics started thousands of miles south. The daughter of Bangladeshi immigrants, she grew up in South Florida, where she first glimpsed the power of digital storytelling during Barack Obama’s 2012 re-election campaign.

As Florida Digital Content Director, she learned how to turn tweets and videos into voter turnout. The lesson stuck: storytelling was strategy. From there, she joined the White House Office of Digital Strategy, shaping national messages from inside the Obama administration, before moving to Uber, helping navigate the company’s early battles over ride-sharing laws.

By her mid-20s, Rahim was working on Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign, honing her ability to translate policy into personal connection. And then, in a bold pivot, she entered the world of fashion — becoming Communications Director at Vogue.

It was an unconventional leap, but a telling one. “Politics and culture aren’t separate,” Rahim once said in an interview. “The way people see power — who has it, who deserves it — that’s all storytelling.”

The digital whisperer

When Mamdani began his mayoral run, Rahim saw a familiar challenge: how to make politics feel real again.

Her strategy was to blend the digital with the human. TikTok and Instagram weren’t gimmicks — they were extensions of the campaign’s face-to-face organizing. “We’d shoot videos between events,” she explained. “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 – they were connections. “These were Bangladeshi uncles and West African aunties who had never voted in a mayoral primary,” she said. “They saw someone showing up at their mosques and treating their neighborhoods like they mattered.”

The results spoke for themselves: videos reached millions online, but the real victory was offline. Over 1.6 million doors knocked. 247,000 conversations with voters.

The calm in the storm

When Cuomo’s campaign made remarks widely seen as Islamophobic, Rahim’s response was swift and searing. Speaking to CNN, she said: “He’s only tried to court Muslim people by saying, ‘look at this bad Muslim.’ That’s a desperate tactic from a man who has nothing to say to Muslim people.”

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,” said a senior campaign aide. “When the room gets tense, Zara is the calmest person there – and somehow, also the sharpest.”

A movement, not just a campaign

Rahim’s vision wasn’t hers alone. She worked closely with organizers like Maya Handa, Tascha Van Auken, and Faiza Ali, who built the volunteer machine that carried Mamdani to victory.

The campaign became a blueprint for a new kind of politics – one rooted in community, inclusion, and authenticity. As Rahim put it, “We weren’t extracting energy from people; we were building a culture of connection.”

From campaign trail to City Hall

After Mamdani’s victory on November 4, his first move was to assemble an all-female transition team – including Rahim – to guide his administration. Alongside her are luminaries like Lina Khan, Maria Torres-Springer, Grace Bonilla, and Melanie Hartzog.

When Mamdani takes office on January 1, 2026, he’ll make history as New York’s first Muslim mayor, first South Asian mayor, and its youngest leader in more than a century.

But for Rahim, the real story isn’t about titles or milestones. It’s about rewriting the playbook of who gets to shape power in America – and how.

Source: Fortune