11 Lessons from Mamdani’s NY Campaign

How did Mamdani build and train a base of 100,000 volunteers to win? 

What was actually happening in the field? And what can organizations and campaigns learn from his victory?

I went to New York to participate in the Mamdani campaign. I wanted to see for myself what the Mamdani campaign was doing in the field and on the doors. I knew he was an impressive communicator and had a brilliant social media presence, but I was particularly interested in how they recruited and trained 100,000 volunteers and knocked on 3 MILLION doors? What was their training like? What were voters saying? 

I learned that Mamdani’s campaign was a master class in merging good communication and good organizing, all in ways that I hadn’t seen before. Every campaign can learn from his field campaign. 

Here are my 11 Takeaways from Doorknocking for Mamdani in NY

1. They trained all volunteers to ask every supporter at the door to volunteer. Everyone was given the opportunity to do more than vote, and when given the opportunity many said yes. On my first day, I asked 12 supporters to volunteer. 1 said yes, 3 said maybe, and 8 said not at this time. The campaign trained us to get their updated contact information (phone/email) directly in the Minivan app we used so they got automatic volunteer opportunities right away. The 4 yes/maybes willingly updated their phone and email info, which was incorrect or missing in Minivan.

2. They created an intentional volunteer community dynamic among fellow canvassers. One canvass debriefed at a local bar, and the campaign tapped into the hunger for community among the volunteers. This kept people coming back and bringing their friends. The vibe was positive, fun, and centered on a shared mission.

3. They told every volunteer that the campaign was one step in a long struggle for justice. This prepared people for the next step while educating/reminding their base that electoral politics or Mamdani himself was not going to accomplish what we want: we will need all of us organizing for the long term.

4. They used relational organizing to boost their volunteer base. Volunteers were encouraged to bring friends to volunteer and they did. There was a lot of relational organizing, likely untracked, between voters. By the time I knocked on their door, many had made up their mind, and were enthusiastic about voting for Mamdani. 

5. They did an after Shift Evaluation Survey on google docs: After door knocking, we returned to a location and were asked to fill out a survey about our experience. It was a nice touch because it gave volunteers an opportunity to communicate with the campaign anything that they found was particularly helpful on the doors or any problems that came up. You got the feeling that the campaign was training doorknockers but also listening to our experiences to improve the campaign.

6. They did intentional, smart pairing of canvassers. The canvass lead took stock of who was a first time door knocker, and who spoke Spanish to pair people up appropriately. When I was in a building with my team member we knocked on different doors, but I could circle back to the identified Spanish speakers. Those who were willing to go on their own were also encouraged to do so, maximizing door knocks.

7. They spent time in training on how to talk with more people. In New York this means getting into large buildings with lots of voters. They spent 5 minutes on tactics on getting into buildings in the area. This was smart and increased our contact rates. For example, in a building with a doorman, if the doorman gives you a hard time, casually mention that Mamdani is endorsed by the doorman union.

8. Volunteers shared why they were doorknocking in trainings. The canvass leads always started the training inviting everyone to introduce themselves talking about why they were volunteering today. With a group of 20 was a bit time consuming but was moving, especially as people shared how they are impacted by the affordability crisis. This helped build a strong team dynamic, and centered the issues we were collectively fighting for.

9. They used gigantic WhatsApp groups to communicate and build excitement. I was suspicious about this at first, because of bad experience with organizing WhatsApp groups that eventually went sideways. It was a way to keep people informed, and it was well monitored- if the chat was positive they would keep it going, if someone started going on a tangent, they would make it so only admins could post, and then open it back up later. The way they monitored it kept it positive and focused.

10. The scripts were very positive, simple, and focused on the affordability crisis, clear policies that you could remember: fast and free buses, rent freeze, affordable child care.

11. The campaign had a SI SE PUEDE spirit, a strong belief that a robust and well trained volunteer base was the path to win against an entrenched corrupt political system backed by billionaires.

To hear more detail, examples, and stories, check out my YouTube Video 

In Solidarity,

Harley