Mamdani campaign takes in $13,000 from 170 foreign donors for mayoral race

New York City socialist mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani has received nearly $13,000 in donations from foreign sources, which could violate campaign finance laws.

According to a report by the New York Post, records show that at least 170 of the roughly 54,000 contributions to Mamdani’s campaign came from donors outside the United States. Under federal, state, and city law, only US citizens and permanent residents are allowed to contribute to political campaigns or political action committees. Candidates are required to return any illegal donations, and knowingly accepting foreign contributions can result in fines and imprisonment.

So far, Mamdani’s campaign has refunded $5,608 worth of foreign contributions but reportedly has yet to return 88 of the identified foreign donations. Among the refunded contributions was a $500 donation from Mamdani’s mother-in-law, Bariah Dardari, who listed her address as a hospital in Dubai where she works.

In a statement Saturday to the New York Post, Mamdani’s campaign said, “We will of course return any donations that are not in compliance with CFB law.” 

With less than one month before the election, Mamdani’s campaign currently has about $6.1 million on hand, having raised $4 million in private donations and another $12.7 million in public matching funds. Foreign donations to the campaign reportedly increased in June ahead of the Democratic primary, when Mamdani scored an upset victory over former Governor Andrew Cuomo.

Republican mayoral candidate Curtis Sliwa responded to the revelations, saying, “Where there’s smoke, there’s fire, so I would be very concerned,” suggesting there could be more undisclosed foreign money.

Sliwa has previously called on the Department of Justice to investigate Mamdani’s campaign, alleging that it may be benefiting from hard-to-track “dark money” funneled through foreign nationals.

“It’s very problematic, not just for Zohran Mamdani, but anybody who has these kinds of PACs, because it’s a license to illegally funnel money,” Sliwa told The Post. “And foreign countries know you don’t have to go to war against America. All you gotta do is manipulate the election.”

City filings last month also revealed that most of Mamdani’s campaign contributions have come from outside New York City. In recent weeks, his campaign raised over $1 million, doubling Cuomo’s $507,000 over the same period.