Zohran Mamdani, a Democratic candidate running in the New York mayoral election, was found to have received illegal foreign funds as campaign money. A review of filings by the New York City Campaign Finance Board (CFB) confirmed that the Mamdani campaign accepted about $13,000 (about 18.2 million won) in foreign donations.
The New York Post reported on the 12th (local time) that among roughly 54,000 donations to the Mamdani campaign, at least 170 came from individuals with addresses outside the United States. U.S. federal law strictly prohibits campaign contributions from noncitizens or non–lawful permanent residents, and candidates must immediately return illegal donations once identified.
According to the report, the campaign's donations included $500 from mother-in-law Dr. Baria Dardari, who resides in Dubai. Dr. Dardari is a pediatrician at a hospital in Dubai and donated in January; the campaign is said to have returned the amount the same day. However, many of the remaining foreign donations have not yet been refunded.
CFB records show the Mamdani campaign has not yet returned 88 foreign donations totaling $7,190. The campaign said, "We will return all contributions that do not comply with CFB rules," but offered no separate explanation for the delay in refunds.
Foreign donors included tech professionals, doctors, professors, and students of various nationalities such as Canada, Germany, and Australia. James Pearlaud, an environmental scientist at the University of Tasmania in Australia, donated $2,100, and Ugur Masit, a software engineer in Mülheim am Main, Germany, donated $250. Donors also included Dr. Ahmed Enbiya of Calgary, Canada, and developer Jundai Bates Kobashigawa of Montreal.
Republican mayoral candidate Curtis Sliwa criticized, saying, "Where there's smoke, there's fire," and "The foreign money is likely much larger than this." Sliwa said he requested a formal investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice, suggesting foreign funds may be flowing into the Mamdani campaign through a "super PAC (superPAC; independent expenditure–only committee)." He strongly condemned it, saying, "You can rig an election with money instead of guns."
The Mamdani campaign is currently operating with a total of $16.7 million, including $4 million in individual donations and $12.7 million in public matching funds. According to the New York Post, the campaign has spent about $6.1 million of that on electioneering. With less than a month left until election day, the controversy over illegal funds has erupted, increasing the likelihood of a setback in the race.
Mamdani is a progressive democratic socialist from Queens, New York. He has drawn support from the progressive camp by putting housing stability for low-income residents and social welfare front and center, but was recently criticized by independent candidate Andrew Cuomo for "claiming to support the vulnerable while living in 'rent-stabilized dwellings' where low-income people live, thereby taking affordable housing from the poor." To prevent such problems going forward, Cuomo said he would craft a bill to require income screening when selecting tenants for rent-stabilized dwellings and would name the bill the "Zohran Act" after Mamdani, a pointed, indirect attack on Mamdani.