The far-left political operation propelling Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani’s bid for New York City mayor is reportedly backed by millions from billionaire financier George Soros and a constellation of Democratic-aligned dark money groups, according to financial disclosures and watchdog analyses.
Mamdani, a self-described democratic socialist who has made opposition to “dark money” a centerpiece of his campaign, has nonetheless benefited from Soros’s Open Society Foundations (OSF) and several other major Democratic donors. Since 2016, OSF has directed an estimated $37 million into New York’s Working Families Party and similar progressive groups that aim to push the Democratic Party further left.
The Working Families Party, which uses New York’s unique fusion voting laws to cross-endorse Democratic candidates, has played an instrumental role in boosting Mamdani’s mayoral candidacy. The organization’s influence has been magnified through substantial outside spending from Soros-linked nonprofits and political action committees.
Critics argue the arrangement exposes a double standard. “While Zohran Mamdani attacks job creators and rails against wealth, the truth is he’s benefiting from millions in support from billionaires and the very non-profit network he pretends to stand apart from,” said New York Mayor Eric Adams, a Democrat.
Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa went further, accusing Mamdani of “targeting only billionaires who don’t support his agenda.”
Mamdani’s support network extends deep into the national Democratic establishment. Former President Barack Obama personally congratulated him after his primary win, according to campaign officials, while Patrick Gaspard, Obama’s former political director and past president of the Open Society Foundations, has also lent his backing. David Axelrod, another top Obama adviser, praised Mamdani’s “idealism” and urged Democrats to “embrace” his brand of progressive activism.
Financial records reveal that much of Mamdani’s recent success has been aided by super PACs flush with Silicon Valley money. It was reported in July that over $2 million in independent expenditures poured into the city’s Democratic primary on Mamdani’s behalf. A forensic investigation by accountant Sam Antar found that most of the funding came from a small circle of tech billionaires and high-dollar Democratic donors.
The Working Families Party National PAC served as one of Mamdani’s main financial backers, spending $539,616—roughly three-quarters of its total $701,792 outlay—attacking former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, Mamdani’s opponent in the Democratic primary.
Another pro-Mamdani entity, New Yorkers for Lower Costs, functioned as his campaign’s positive messaging arm. It spent $893,877 of its $1.3 million in expenditures promoting Mamdani’s candidacy, with the remainder used to target Cuomo.
The pattern mirrors a broader strategy by progressive groups aligned with Soros to reshape Democratic politics in deep-blue states through extensive funding networks and aligned messaging operations.
For Mamdani, whose rhetoric often centers on curbing the influence of wealth in politics, the revelations present a potential liability. Yet his campaign shows no signs of retreat. “Our movement is powered by ordinary New Yorkers,” Mamdani said recently, “not corporate interests.”
Still, as outside money continues to flow from some of the Democratic Party’s wealthiest patrons, Mamdani’s critics insist the socialist candidate has become precisely what he claims to oppose—a vessel for elite influence cloaked in populist language.
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