Who Is Mahtab Khan?
Mahtab Khan (he/him) is a Gen Z activist, tenant, and community organizer from Jamaica, Queens. He is a Berniecrat and Democratic Socialist inspired by his role model Bernie Sanders. Mahtab is now running for New York State Assembly District 24 in his hometown of Jamaica, Queens where he was born and raised. A proud product of New York City public schools, Mahtab is a first-generation college graduate and second-generation immigrant who earned dual degrees from CUNY John Jay College in 2019, receiving a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and a Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice, along with double minors in Law and Human Rights. His lived experience as a working-class New Yorker, second generation immigrant, as well as Bangladeshi American Muslim has shaped his commitment to public service and social justice.
Mahtab’s excitement and passion for activism began at a young age, when he was inspired by the historic election of President Barack Obama in 2008 breaking the ultimate racial barrier becoming the first minority to become elected President, which even then he understood watching Obama's speeches on television with family throughout his campaign and presidency. His commitment to community service deepened since childhood through the guidance of his late father who was his biggest supporter, a community leader, former NYC taxi cab driver, and a hardworking parent for their working class family. This commitment was deepened at Francis Lewis High School, where he participated in the Jacob Javits Law Academy and JROTC programs and volunteered in the community regularly. While attending CUNY John Jay College, Mahtab graduated with a dual degree in Political Science (B.A) and Criminal Justice (B.S) as well as with double minors in Law and Human Rights. In college Mahtab was involved in student leadership and advocacy. He founded and served as President of the campus UNICEF Club, served as Senior Class Representative for the Class of 2019, and participated in multiple college committees advocating for student rights, including the fight for #FreeCUNY and equitable campus budget allocations. During college, Mahtab also participated in Model United Nations, serving as a delegate to the Conference of the Parties (COP) committee, where he advocated for international cooperation on climate change and support for the Paris Agreement. He later joined the New York Model Senate Program as the Model Senator for District 13, currently represented by State Senator Jessica Ramos. Through this program, he attended the SOMOS Conference and went on to intern in Senator Ramos’ office during the summer of 2019, where he helped develop legislative ideas and strengthened relationships between the office, community organizations, and religious institutions. Since college, Mahtab worked on several campaigns.
Mahtab’s organizing experience led him to become a delegate for his role model Senator Bernie Sanders’ 2020 presidential campaign, where he petitioned, canvassed, and organized as part of a nationwide grassroots movement. That experience inspired him to run for office himself. In 2020, Mahtab launched a grassroots campaign for District Leader as a first time candidate and Progressive Democrat, losing by only about 400 votes in a closely contested race losing by an 8.5% margin despite running against a well-funded incumbent named David Weprin who comes from a wealthy and privileged family as well as a political dynasty. In 2022, he was elected as the youngest Judicial Delegate in New York State Assembly District 24. Since then he became the parliamentarian of Bangladeshi American Advocacy Group (BAAG) where he mobilized Bangladeshi community to become more civically engaged advocating for legislation at the state level and participating in elections as voters or volunteers. In 2020 and 2024, Mahtab was also a field organizer campaign staffer for Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's campaign mobilizing volunteers as well as volunteers to participate in the election in support of AOC.
Mahtab is now running as a Democratic candidate for New York State Assembly dedicating his run to his late father who wanted him to continue this dream. Assembly District 24 includes Jamaica, Briarwood, Oakland Gardens, Queens Village, Hollis, and Richmond Hill. One of the main reasons why have been running for office since 2020 is because there is a huge gap between our elected officials and the folks in my community due to language barrier issues as well as immigration issues that prevent them from accessing resources provided by New York. Marginalized communities here in my District have also been ignored. He is also running because the district is still lacking meaningful representation from BIPOC, immigrant, working-class, and marginalized communities, who have been under served, under funded, under resourced, and under represented for far too long.
However, Mahtab's decision to run for New York State Assembly District 24, sparked from his inspiration of his other role model Zohran Mamdani, who was elected as the first South Asian and Muslim Mayor, being outspoken and principled on issues that deeply mattered to his community as well as the working class and everyday New Yorkers. His opponent once again is David Weprin who happened to endorse Andrew Cuomo for Mayor of NYC out of all the other candidates despite knowing Cuomo’s record of mismanagement of state funds, involvement in the nursing home deaths during COVID while writing a book as Governor, and sexual assault which prompted him to resign. Weprin also organized two anti-Zohran rallies where Islamophobic, racist, and divisive rhetoric was used towards the only Muslim candidate for Mayor of NYC, while representing a district with a huge immigrant community that supported and heavily voted for Zohran Mamdani for Mayor. This shows just how out of touch Weprin is from the largely immigrant community he serves and why Mahtab seeks to hold him accountable by challenging him for this seat.
As a candidate for State Assembly, Mahtab’s top priorities include housing justice, public safety rooted in community investment, and protections for immigrant communities. He is also committed to fighting for environmental justice, human rights, universal healthcare, as well as free public colleges and fully funded public schools. Mahtab believes elected officials must be held accountable to the people they serve for the common good and that transparency within the Queens Democratic Party is essential to restoring trust in government.
Mahtab is running a people-powered, grassroots campaign to be a voice for the working class and immigrant community, bringing true representation to the table. He aims to bridge the gap between everyday New Yorkers and the government. He believes the next generation deserves a chance to lead and that real change is only possible when young, immigrant, and working-class communities are included in decision-making process. We need to give the next generation a chance to lead and be able to hold government officials accountable, ensure that there is transparency, and that we pass meaningful legislation to address the needs of everyday working class New Yorkers. The New York State Assembly primary election will take place on Tuesday, June 23, 2026, and Mahtab encourages all eligible voters to participate by voting and volunteering on his campaign. It's time for change and for us to bring representation to the table. The establishment will continue to keep the status quo and say that we can't change the system, but together we'll tell them “Yes We Khan”.
#YesWeKhan #KhanForNY #RepresentationMatters #Queens #SouthEastQueens #Briarwood #Jamaica #Hollis #QueensVillage #OaklandGardens #RichmondHill #NewYork
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What Work Has Mahtab Khan Done In The Community?
-Mobilized Bangladeshi community members as the Parliamentarian for Bangladeshi American Advocacy Group and advocated for important legislation for the Bangladeshi community in Albany such as for recognition for Eid being a statewide holiday, Halal + Kosher food for public schools, DEI programs for underserved + underrepresented community members, etc. From 2022-2025 I served as a board member for Bangladeshi American Advocacy Group (BAAG) Inc. where I advocated for legislation for the Bangladeshi community as well as worked towards empowering and mobilizing Bangladeshi community members to advocate for themselves and our community as a whole.
-As Secretary of the Muslim Democratic Club of New York helped Muslim New Yorkers to become civically engaged in local politics, receiving voter education in being informed of candidates running in races we were interested in getting involved with, and mobilizing them to participate in elections whether as a voter or as a volunteer.
-Helped address climate change and advocated for environmental justice legislation such as Build Public Renewables Act (BPRA) with civic organizations in NYC + Albany.
-Helped advocate for immigrant rights as well as access universal heath care with New York Immigration Coalition in Albany.
-Provided mutual aid work services to the community by delivering groceries, medication, hand sanitizer, and PPE like masks and gloves to community members.
-Has been a strong proponent of language accessibility in political campaigns as well as for governmental offices.
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Campaigns Mahtab Khan Volunteered For:
-Cynthia Nixon for NY Governor in 2018
-Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez for Congress since 2018
-Tiffany Caban for Queens District Attorney in 2019
-Bernie Sanders for the Presidential Primary of 2020
-Job Biden for President in the General Election of 2020
-Moumita Ahmed for NY City Council in 2021
-Felicia Singh for NY City Council in 2021
-Shahana Hanif for NY City Council since 2021
-Kristen Gonzalez for NY State Senate in 2022
-Jumaane Williams for NY Governor in 2022
-Yusef Salam for NY City Council in 2023
-Claire Valdez for NY State Assembly 2024
-Kamala Harris for President in the General Election of 2024 to help secure the Working Families Party ballot line while in the Primary Election of 2024 I mobilized mosques and Muslim community members all across NYC for Leave It Blank NY campaign for Presidential Primary of April 2024 to pressure the Biden administration to shift (although this was mainly to pressure the administration the to shift on foreign policy, this also allowed Biden to step down and allowed for Kamala Harris a chance to run for President)
-Zohran Mamdani for State Assembly since 2020 and for Mayor of NYC in 2025
About Me:
