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In their bright T-shirts, the volunteers for Zohran Mamdani’s campaign on a recent Saturday afternoon at McGolrick Park in Greenpoint fit right in, part of a citywide cohort of canvassers 50,000 strong and growing.
But within their own families and communities of origin, the three are outliers. Their families all fled socialism or fought against it in the former Soviet Union, before emigrating to the United States. Now as young adults born and raised in the U.S., they are working hard to elect a candidate who calls himself a socialist.
Magdalena Morańda’s aunts and uncles fought in the Solidarność movement against the Communist Party in Wrocław. Her parents left Poland searching for something different. Their daughter, who grew up in Ridgewood, now canvasses for Mamdani — and belongs to the Democratic Socialists of America.
That part, she keeps quiet. “My parents do not know I’m in DSA. I don’t think they’d approve of me being in a socialist organization,” she said. When her mother calls while she’s with fellow organizers, she simply says: “It’s my Zohran campaign friends.”
Mamdani’s democratic socialism is of a different stripe than the Soviet-era command economy, which was marked by periods of totalitarian clampdowns. But for families that came out of old-school socialism, the memories can be hard to shake.
Umit Muradi’s family history has roots in that world. His Afghan-Turkic relatives survived the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979. His grandparents had endured collectivization in Soviet Turkmenistan in the 1940s, and the family’s life was marked by famine, cultural suppression and religious restrictions.
Even now, his own support for Mamdani sometimes surprises him. “It’s pretty nuts, I’m not gonna lie.” In their Queens apartment, politics was taboo, even dangerous. And socialism? “A pipe dream, that’s not going to work. It can be manipulated and taken over by a small group at the top.”
Then there’s Alex Rudnicki, raised in New Jersey in a Polish family with roots in Ukraine. He absorbed the same lesson: “Growing up in New Jersey and this New York area, the kind of common prevalence is like: A lot of the politicians are very corrupt. They don’t have the people’s best ideas in mind.”
Like Morańda and Muradi, he’s out in the field, supporting Mamdani and his democratic socialist message. In their free time, they go door to door, talking to strangers — sometimes invited inside, sometimes met with mockery — selling the idea of a more activist government.
Mamdani’s Vision
The next day, in Athens Square, Astoria — Mamdani’s home neighborhood where he serves as a state Assembly member — Morańda stands before a group of canvassers, many of whom are stepping into politics for the first time.
“I know a lot of you are nervous,” she said, addressing the crowd. “You think, I’m not a policy expert. I don’t know the answer to every question. But I want you to know something, you already know a lot.”
She guided them through the key talking points of Mamdani’s campaign, repeating them almost like a mantra: rent freezes, free and fast buses, universal childcare — funded by higher taxes on the wealthy.
Umit Muradi is a canvassing team lead for Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani’s mayoral campaign in Southeast Queens, Sept. 25, 2025. Credit: Alex Krales/THE CITY
“You are already experts,” she said confidently.
For political theorist Rafael Khachaturian, this combination of idealism and practicality is key. It’s a blend of left-wing ideas with pragmatic organizing. “Democratic control by working people, a stronger public sector, labor rights, minority protections, grassroots participation,” he said. He noted that this kind of politics has been forming since the anti-Vietnam War protests, and much more recently found its home in the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA).
The DSA began as a small organization in the 1980s. But after Bernie Sanders’ 2016 presidential campaign, it exploded into a national movement. Today, it boasts more than 80,000 members — most of whom joined post-2016 — and active chapters in cities across the country. Its 2024 platform, “Workers Deserve More,” blends short-term demands — like a 32-hour workweek, Medicare for All, free college and housing — with longer-term goals: curbing the power of the Supreme Court, breaking the two-party system and opposing U.S. military interventions abroad.
Mamdani calls himself a democratic socialist — but says his platform isn’t the same as the DSA’s. He doesn’t campaign on public ownership or a 32-hour workweek. His tax proposals are narrower, aimed at higher-income New Yorkers. While Mamdani has long been critical of Israel and vowed to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if he visits the city, his campaign mostly focused on local issues.
Back in 2020, he described socialism simply as “a commitment to dignity.” By 2025, he quoted Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on CNN: “A better distribution of wealth for all of God’s children in this country.”
He’s been an active DSA member. But his message is tailored.
For Morańda, a fellow DSA member, that’s okay. “I’m a practical person,” she said. “I know what he believes and the policies he’s fighting for.” If he needs to adjust his position on policing or business to win, Morańda said, she is “fine with it.”
For Khachaturian, Mamdani’s blend — an affordability-first message, delivered through a multicultural, New York lens — is what makes him resonate. “Labor is tied to people’s lived experiences,” he said.
For the three canvassers, that message is more than strategy. It’s personal.
Political Awakenings
At 23, Morańda lives in eastern Astoria and works in social-justice fundraising — a 9-to-5 job with an activist edge. Rising rents pushed her out of Ridgewood. “Although I’m not a rent-stabilized tenant, a rent freeze along with Zohran’s policies to crack down on bad landlords and protect tenants makes me feel better about being able to afford to stay in Queens,” she said.
Her aunt wasn’t so lucky, moving to Maspeth, a half-hour from the train or at the mercy of the Q39. Morańda takes the same bus to visit family. “Fast and free buses would let me see them more often, and make their lives easier. That makes me very excited.”
Morańda’s father, a carpenter, builds custom furniture for wealthy Westchester and Manhattan clients. “He called me from Tribeca this week and said, ‘I’m in this fancy apartment building,’” she said. At home, the contrast hits starkly: the family lives on credit card debt, paycheck to paycheck. “The most average American family you can imagine,” Morańda said.
For Muradi, 27, politics also began with contradiction. “In New York City, there’s a lot of discontent,” he said. Rising costs, unaffordable child care — “And then there’s Joe Biden saying the economy’s doing great. Maybe for the top 1%, but for everyone else? We’re getting crushed.”
He grew up in South Ozone Park, spending weekends in Flushing’s Afghan enclave — nicknamed Qalacha, or “fortress.” His dad drives for Uber. His mom works double shifts in a nursing home. “Material well-being comes first,” he said. His goal is simple: retire his parents. After working in finance he moved back to Queens and began volunteering for Mamdani. “People who’ve been on EBT, WIC checks — that’s my world.”
Umit Muradi is a canvassing team lead for Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani’s mayoral campaign in Southeast Queens, Sept. 25, 2025. Credit: Alex Krales/THE CITY
Rudnicki, now in his thirties, says he grew disillusioned during the Obama years, when the changes he’d hoped for never came. “Good things happened, sure, but international. Violence in the name of capitalism, military defense programs — that really soured me.”
What initially drew him back into politics was hearing about things like improved bus service and expanded child-care programs — policies that, unlike what he was taught growing up, seemed to have people’s lives in mind. “That’s really where it hit me: these are the people trying to help those most in need. The people who don’t have time to achieve the quote-unquote American dream or the New York dream as well. That’s where it really got me.”
Talking With Mom and Dad
In Athens Square, Mamdani’s volunteers move in pairs. Each canvasser carries a script, a list of their assigned streets and an app that tracks every knock, every conversation. The app does more than log addresses; it maps carefully designed “universes” of voters, lists the campaign has prioritized for door-knocking and phone banking. Volunteers hit not only “hard doors” where voters are hostile to their candidate, and undecideds, but also those already leaning toward Mamdani — to bolster not only their support but the volunteers’ morale.
“You might knock on a door already marked for Zohran and have a nice conversation,” Morańda said, gesturing toward a Mamdani campaign sign in a nearby window.
Morańda knows how to read the neighborhood and tailor her pitch accordingly. “I know what a rent-stabilized building looks like,” she said. “I lead with the rent freeze.” If she sees a stroller on the sidewalk, she’ll talk about universal child care. A building far from the subway station means the promise of free buses comes first.
Morańda’s background in housing campaigns and work for upstate Assemblymember Sarahana Shrestha — whose win helped pass the Public Renewables Act — shapes her approach. “That’s when I really saw how elections could create real change for the working class,” she said. The focus wasn’t on labels. “When I canvassed for Sarahana in rural Ulster County, I never once said she was a socialist. People care about the issues. If the label scares them, I want them to vote for her because she cares.”
Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani canvass field leader Magdalena Moranda speaks with volunteers outside Mimoza Cafe in Astoria, Queens, Sept. 25, 2025. Credit: Alex Krales/THE CITY
She credits Bernie Sanders with making “socialism” a more approachable term, helping volunteers explain it to parents who fled Europe’s socialist regimes. Rudnicki notices the difference when relatives visit from Europe, invariably comparing the social safety nets they left behind to the inequalities they see in the U.S.
Within Morańda’s family, the distinction is a continued source of tension. Her father calls universal health care “socialism,” while her mother calls it “basic human rights.”
“She loved Bernie,” Morańda said of her mom. “For her, what’s standard in Europe isn’t socialism.”
Khachaturian unpacks the nuance: European social safety nets coexist with capitalism, softening its edges, while U.S. democratic socialism, as embraced by Mamdani supporters, aims for systemic change adapted to immediate needs. Maradi echoes this practical approach: “I see a lot of things in real socialism that didn’t work.” However, he adds: “Socialism doesn’t mean an authoritarian regime.”
This distinction is crucial in the debate, says Khachaturian. He grew up in southern Brooklyn, the child of Russian parents from Georgia, and observes the divide between older generations who lived under real socialism — marked by universal literacy and economic stability, but also political repression — and the aspirational socialism of today’s youth. “There weren’t many opportunities to have a real conversation about those things,” he said about his upbringing. “Unless you were looking for someone to explain why they were wrong.”
For some, however, the conversation is slowly shifting. Morańda’s mother still dislikes the word “socialism” — but, Morańda notes, “she likes all these socialist ideas.” Umit Muradi echoes the same approach, trying to appeal with practical gains.
Maradi’s father was skeptical at first. “My father was like, this guy wants free buses. He was saying in Farsi, ‘This is crazy.’” But over time, something began to change. Maradi’s father, who encountered a cross-section of New York’s communities every day as an Uber driver, found himself hearing more about Mamdani — conversations sparked by passengers and fellow drivers. Eventually, his father called before the Democratic primaries: “I need you to go vote for Zohran Mamdani.”
For Morańda, tensions still bubble during phone calls or parental visits to her apartment in Astoria. “Because my mom doesn’t know I’m in DSA or involved in all these ways, I don’t think she understands how busy I am,” Morańda said. “I don’t think she gets why my room is messy, why I have less time to do laundry.”
Every so often, Morańda’s mother teases her. “She’ll make a joke: ‘Oh, you’re still out trying to change the world?’ And I’m like, ‘Yes.’”
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