The power of promotional products in political campaigns continues to intensify as evidenced by Zohran Mamdani, the newly elected mayor of New York City, whose distinct logo has been seen on T-shirts, hats, bumper stickers and more branded merchandise throughout this election cycle.

It’s quite the phenomenon considering that Mamdani’s campaign doesn’t sell merch. Why? It hasn’t been allowed to.

Mamdani participated in New York City’s Public Matching Funds program through which the city matches individual donations under the condition that candidates abide by certain spending and contribution limits, according to OpenSecrets.

  • In March, Mamdani announced that he had reached the $7.9 million spending limit for the primary election.
  • In September, he announced that he had hit the same spending cap for the general election.


As a result, the campaign could no longer solicit monetary donations or revenue from merch sales. “We do not have plans to make any merch available for purchase at this time,” the campaign website says.

If There’s A Will, There’s A Way

However, Mamdani supporters both in the “Big Apple” and around the United States have been clamoring for branded merch.

That’s led to several unaffiliated groups, such as New Yorkers For Lower Costs and Hot Girls For Zohran, creating their own Mamdani-inspired swag for sale.

The latter sells T-shirts and tote bags. New Yorkers For Lower Costs, whose webstore is administered by Austin, Texas-based distributor Bright Blue Ink, offers tote bags, shorts (which are currently sold out), T-shirts, a can cooler and more.


Merchants on Etsy and Amazon are also cashing in on the merch craze. And supporters are scooping it all up – there were Zohran branded baseball caps, buttons, bandanas, berets, scarves and even a pimple patch during the election night party at the Brooklyn Paramount, Vanity Fair reported.

Unable to sell merch, the self-avowed democratic socialist decided to give it away, enticing volunteers with “Zetro cards.” When volunteers canvassed a certain number of times, they earned posters, T-shirts, beanies, tote bags, paper fans and other exclusive swag.

That’s not all – the campaign also hosted DIY gatherings throughout the city, where supporters could bring their own items to be decorated with Mamdani’s logo. (The campaign website offers templates for print-at-home posters and buttons.)

At one such event over the summer, hundreds of supporters waited in an hours-long line to get his logo printed on clothing, with “some passersby even ducking into nearby shops to buy ‘I Love NY’ shirts to have them screen printed on the spot,” GQ reported.

“He doesn’t have any merch on the website, and I’m big on merch,” a supporter, who wasn’t even eligible to vote, told GQ. “We just want to support him whichever way we can.”