How Democrats are emulating Mamdani’s style online

By David Wright, CNN

(CNN) — New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani’s campaign set a blueprint with content engineered for an online electorate.

Now, all over screens in 2025, candidates are gesturing and leaning toward the camera. They might walk and talk through a busy street or store. There’s a warm camera filter, and quick cuts, as they move rapid-fire through a list of talking points and policies.

Here’s a look at how some Democrats are producing content echoing the Mamdani style.

The Mamdani aesthetic

Mamdani’s videos are instantly recognizable by the saturated colors that help them stand out on social feeds crowded with content.

The videos are also characterized by quick cuts and big gestures — a tendency Mamdani joked about in one spot: “My team says I move my hands too much,” he says.

It’s an aesthetic that’s worked for other Democrats, including a pair of progressives in Michigan’s Democratic Senate primary.

Former Detroit public health official Abdul El-Sayed scored a hit with a video using burgers to illustrate billionaire excess, similar to a Mamdani video that used mango lassis to explain New York’s ranked choice voting system. And state Sen. Mallory McMorrow earned her own viral moment with a video highlighting grocery prices, calling to mind Mamdani’s bodega tours.

Andrew Mamo, a Democratic strategist advising McMorrow and Texas state Rep. James Talarico, another 2026 US Senate contender, underscored the importance of visually engaging content.

“Understand that you’re not just competing against the other Democrats in the primary. You’re not just competing against the Republicans,” Mamo explained. “You are competing against dog videos and sports highlights and Netflix on your other television and someone FaceTiming you and your group chat for attention on your phone and on your laptop and on your iPad.”

The substance: affordability

Mamdani’s campaign insists that its relentless focus on affordability was equally important to the success. “The style is downstream from the substance,” said Andrew Epstein, a top campaign aide.

“Unless you have a message and an agenda that is directly relevant to people’s lives that speaks to the economic conditions in this country, that credibly presents itself as an alternative to this incredibly broken status quo and the alienation that so many people feel from mainstream politics — it’s not going to work,” Epstein said.

Roxie Richner, El-Sayed’s communications director, echoed the Mamdani team’s emphasis on the issues.

“I think at the end of the day, what resonates with people is the substance,” Richner said, pointing to one of El-Sayed’s videos in which “he explained the privatization of the Bay City bridges in Bay City, Michigan, in a way that people understood and that maybe folks in other parts of the state weren’t aware of it.”

And while many politicians have taken to addressing voters’ concerns about affordability, strategists pointed to the importance of getting specific, exemplified by Mamdani’s focus on everyday pressure points like rents and bus fares.

“It’s not the affordability crisis in this country — it’s, ‘I need new deodorant and it’s $13.99, when did deodorant get to be $13.99?” Mamo said. “If you’re sitting in a bar, that is how you would say that. And if you’re on video, you should say it the same way, if you’re explaining it to your neighbor or a stranger at the bar, it’s the same way you should talk on camera.”

Emulation, not imitation

Soon after losing to Mamdani in the Democratic primary this summer, rival Andrew Cuomo began producing videos in which he was walking and talking in soft-filter video. Mamdani’s team noticed.

“I mean, I want to say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, but in Andrew’s case, I think it’s a lot more pathetic than that, frankly,” Epstein said.

Other strategists underlined the importance of authenticity in campaign communications, with candidates across the country from different backgrounds facing a diverse array of issues.

“It has to be real to you,” Mamo said, pointing to the example of California Sen. Adam Schiff. “He’s a lawyer, a professor and an explainer. So their videos are lawyer-professor-explainer, Adam Schiff, lawyer-professor- explaining what’s going on in Congress.”

And Richner with El-Sayed’s campaign in Michigan said Tuesday’s election results demonstrated the party’s need for talented communicators.

“Whether it was bringing down utility prices in New Jersey, or it was making buses faster and free in New York, I think people are suffering in this moment, and they want to believe that things can be better, and they need leaders and messengers that can show them that,” she said.

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