Strange Things About Zohran Mamdani And Wife Rama Duwaji's Marriage

Rama Duwaji is an artist, illustrator, and the wife of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani. In late 2025, after 34-year-old Mamdani received more than 1 million votes, New York saw its first Muslim mayor. With Syrian roots, Duwaji became the city's youngest and first Arab-American first lady of New York City. Amid Trump's immigration crackdown, the multicultural pair ignited a sense of hope for New Yorkers, and Duwaji's soft inauguration glam captivated the city. But their diverse origins are not the only unique aspect of their marriage.

Politicians often parade their partners throughout their campaigns to win more votes, but the 28-year-old opted to stay out of the limelight and distanced herself from her husband's campaign online. However, as a professional illustrator who has worked with the likes of VICE, the Tate Modern, and Spotify, it's no surprise to learn that Duwaji was actually the brains behind the bold branding for Mamdani's mayoral race. Not only does the first lady of New York have stunning style, but Duwaji also has no shame in admitting that she met her husband on the dating app, Hinge. "I almost didn't swipe right," Duwaji once quipped in an interview (via Times of India). But after seeing that his bio noted both housing justice and halal cart politics, Duwaji knew that it was meant to be.

In a world where the "opposites attract" adage feels like it's dying out, Duwaji and Mamdani have drawn attention to how important politics are when it comes to dating. Research shows that more than 60% of Americans believe that having differing political views from their partner is a dealbreaker. Alongside habitual questions like "Do you smoke, drink alcohol, or take drugs?" Hinge asks its users to share their political stance on their dating profiles. Singles can select the following options: political, moderate, liberal, conservative, or other. According to the fundraising co-chair for Democratic Socialists of America's New York chapter, Abby Beauregard, the first lady's dating app success has reignited interest in dating among leftists and Democratic millennials in New York.

But it's not just Democrats who want to date someone with similar political opinions. In 2022, John McEntee, a former political aide who served in the first Trump administration, co-founded a dating app, dubbed The Right Stuff, in a bid to match up single Republicans. Among singles, data suggests that more than 80% of Republicans are currently dating other Republican voters, and fewer than 8% of Republicans have chosen to date Democrats. While the platform was criticized for its lack of female users and for only supporting heterosexual matches, with 40,000 downloads in its first six weeks, the app clearly filled a gap in the dating market.