After Zohran Mamdani efficiently accomplished his historic bid for mayor of the nation’s largest metropolis on Tuesday evening, he was joined onstage by his spouse Rama Duwaji.
In his speech, Mamdani thanked Duwaji, saying, “There is no such thing as a one I’d relatively have by my facet on this second and in each second.”
On Jan. 1, 2026, Duwaji will change into the primary girl of New York Metropolis, after her husband is sworn in because the first Muslim and first South Asian mayor, in addition to the town’s first mayor born in Africa.
Learn on for every thing to learn about New York Metropolis’s subsequent first girl.
Who’s New York Metropolis’s subsequent first girl, Rama Duwaji?
Duwaji is a 28-year-old Syrian artist. According to her website, her work may be seen largely in digital areas and has appeared in publications together with The New Yorker and The Washington Publish.
In an April interview with YUNG, Duwaji described her artwork as being borne from ardour.
“As of late, I concentrate on making artwork about my experiences and the issues I care about, and the group that kinds from conversations about my work — each on-line and in particular person — occurs organically,” she instructed the outlet. “I make my work for individuals who care concerning the issues I care about.”
New York Metropolis Mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani celebrates alongside his spouse Rama Duwaji throughout an election evening occasion in Brooklyn, New York Metropolis on November 4, 2025.
Shannon Stapleton/Reuters
Duwaji is ethnically Syrian and was born in Texas, transferring to Dubai across the age of 9, according to The New York Times.
Duwaji is a graduate of Virginia Commonwealth College in Richmond, Virginia. She has hung out in artist residencies in Lebanon and France, transferring to New York Metropolis in 2021. She earned her Grasp of Effective Arts from New York’s Faculty of Visible Arts in 2024.
Duwaji was publicly supportive of her husband throughout his marketing campaign for mayor.
On New York Metropolis’s mayoral main day, June 24, Duwaji posted an Instagram photo of a collection of photobooth snapshots with Mamdani, alongside the caption, “could not presumably be prouder.”
When did Rama Duwaji and Zohran Mamdani marry?
In October 2024, Mamdani shared a photo of his now-wife on Instagram, sporting what seemed to be an engagement ring.
“Mild of my life. 💍 #nasa #hardlaunch,” he wrote within the caption.
Democratic candidate for New York Metropolis mayor Zohran Mamdani talks spouse Rama Duwaji after profitable the 2025 New York Metropolis Mayoral race, at an election evening rally within the Brooklyn borough of New York Metropolis, November 4, 2025.
Jeenah Moon/Reuters
In a subsequent May 2025 Instagram post, Mamdani shared that he and his spouse had wed three months prior.
“Three months in the past, I married the love of my life, Rama, on the Metropolis Clerk’s workplace,” he wrote within the submit’s caption, sharing a number of wedding ceremony images of the couple, together with just a few snapshots of them within the New York Metropolis subway.
In an interview on The Bulwark’s “FYPod with Tim Miller & Cameron Kasky,” Mamdani shared that he and his spouse met on an relationship app.
“I met my spouse on Hinge, so there’s nonetheless hope in these relationship apps,” he mentioned.
What has Zohran Mamdani mentioned about his spouse Rama Duwaji?
In his Could Instagram submit, Mamdani opened up about his spouse, addressing what he described as political assaults in opposition to her.
New York Metropolis Mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani celebrates alongside his spouse Rama Duwaji throughout an election evening occasion in Brooklyn, New York Metropolis on November 4, 2025.
Angelina Katsanis/AFP by way of Getty Photos
“Now, right-wing trolls try to make this race — which ought to be about you –about her,” he wrote.
He continued, “Rama is not simply my spouse, she’s an unimaginable artist who deserves to be identified on her personal phrases. You may critique my views, however not my household.”
ABC Information’ Ivan Pereira contributed to this report
