Polls are notoriously fickle things, but recent ones in the New York City mayoral race have been fairly consistent: socialist candidate for New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani, after ten rounds of ranked-choice voting simulation, is within ten points of front-runner former governor Andrew Cuomo.

Mamdani entered the race in low single digits, a little-known and relatively new assemblyman from Queens. Out of nearly a dozen candidates who are running, it’s now essentially a two-person race between Mamdani and Cuomo, the most famous politician in New York State.

There are many reasons why Mamdani has taken off, including his unflagging focus on affordability in a city amid a crushing cost-of-living crisis. But one of the most important is the campaign’s army of thousands of volunteers.