An investigation finds she created graphics for a pro-Palestinian socialist campaign before Mamdani took office
A New Chapter in the First Lady Controversy
New details surfaced in late March about the political artwork of Rama Duwaji, wife of Mayor Zohran Mamdani, that deepened a controversy that had already generated weeks of headlines and press conference questions. An investigation by the New York Post, amplified by radio stations and news outlets across the country, found that Duwaji created graphics for the New York City chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America as part of the organization’s Palestine on the Ballot campaign during the 2024 election cycle. The campaign, organized around the website PalestineOnTheBallot.com, highlighted Democratic primary candidates who had rejected funding from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee and who had pledged support for the Not on Our Dime Act, legislation that Mamdani himself sponsored as a state Assembly member.
What the DSA Campaign Was
The Palestine on the Ballot initiative was a voter education and mobilization effort that created a digital tool allowing New York voters to enter their address and see their state legislative representatives’ positions on Gaza, ceasefire legislation, and AIPAC fundraising. The campaign was distributed on TikTok and Instagram. Duwaji’s illustrations, credited in the campaign materials with the phrase “Animation by Rama Duwaji,” depicted stylized voter imagery and accompanied calls for activists to support pro-Palestinian candidates in Democratic primaries. The campaign also included support for former Rep. Jamaal Bowman, who lost his primary race to George Latimer in a contest defined heavily by his critical stance toward Israel. The Not on Our Dime Act, which Mamdani championed in Albany, targeted registered charities accused of funding activities in Israeli-occupied settlements. It passed the state legislature but its final disposition remains contested.
The Private Person Question
The new details about the DSA campaign work became politically significant in the context of Mayor Mamdani’s repeated characterization of his wife as a private person who has held no formal position on my campaign or in my City Hall. Critics argue that this framing is difficult to sustain given the accumulating evidence of Duwaji’s active role in political organizing connected directly to causes that are central to Mamdani’s own political identity. City Hall has not contradicted the substance of the New York Post’s reporting on the DSA campaign artwork. A spokesperson declined to comment on the specific details. Mamdani has acknowledged that Duwaji helped shape the visual identity of his mayoral campaign and has said she did freelance design work through commercial channels without his administration’s direct involvement.
The Broader Pattern of Political Art
The DSA campaign discovery adds another layer to what is becoming a sustained public record of Duwaji’s political advocacy through her professional work. Earlier reporting established that she illustrated an essay in a collection edited by Susan Abulhawa, a Palestinian-American author whose subsequent public comments about the October 7, 2023 Hamas attacks Mamdani condemned as reprehensible. Separate reporting surfaced social media posts that Duwaji had liked, some of which were sympathetic to pro-Palestinian positions and critical of Israel’s military operations. All of the activities in question predated Mamdani’s November 2025 election victory. The Anti-Defamation League’s Mamdani Monitor has been updated to reflect both the illustration controversy and the social media history. The ADL’s New York Regional Director Scott Richman has publicly noted that the key unanswered question remains why Duwaji has not spoken publicly about any of these matters.
How Supporters and Critics Differ
The political valence of the DSA campaign work depends heavily on which lens one applies. For Mamdani’s supporters and DSA allies, the Palestine on the Ballot campaign was an entirely legitimate voter education effort rooted in constitutionally protected political advocacy. Duwaji’s contribution to it reflects her values as a Palestinian-American artist living in New York during a period of active conflict in Gaza. Her work was credited and public. For critics, the campaign work undercuts Mamdani’s framing of his wife as uninvolved in his political operations and raises questions about the administration’s transparency regarding the first lady’s activities and affiliations. The ADL Mamdani Monitor tracks this and related developments. The Jewish Council for Public Affairs has offered a more measured framework, arguing that Mamdani’s demonstrated willingness to condemn Abulhawa’s rhetoric is the more important signal and that vilifying an artist for political work done before her husband’s election risks normalizing the kind of guilt-by-association logic that has been used against many communities in American history. The ACLU has long defended the right of artists and advocates to take political positions without that advocacy being used to disqualify family members from public life. Whether Duwaji ultimately speaks publicly about her past work and present views will remain a defining open question of the Mamdani administration’s first year.
