NYC's battle of 'Hot Girls': When an Influencer’s campaign exposed Andrew Cuomo’s sexual harassment report

As Zohran Mamdani’s historic victory as New York City’s first Muslim mayor came to fruition, making him the 111th mayor after defeating former Governor Andrew Cuomo and Republican Curtis Sliwa, an unexpected subplot played out in the final stretch of the campaign: The emergence of “Hot Girls for Zohran,” a movement driven by young women seeking change, was met by a rival “Hot Girls for Cuomo” campaign, launched by conservative influencer Emily Austin. What followed was an ironic spectacle, a classic case of a copycat campaign gone wrong Zohran Mamdani’s rise in the mayoral race wasn’t just a victory of ideas, but of a movement. Unlike other campaigns that rely heavily on top-down strategy, Mamdani’s appeal lay in his ability to tap into an undercurrent of frustration felt by many youn