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Did Zohran Mamdani miss 50 percent of scheduled work days and when were these reports made?
Executive Summary
Multiple June 2025 news reports claim that Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani missed roughly 50 percent of New York State Assembly roll-call votes, framing that absenteeism as equivalent to missing half of his scheduled work days while he campaigned for New York City mayor. Those specific reports appeared in mid-June — notably June 4 and June 17, 2025 in the sampled dataset — but the available coverage in this dataset does not include official Assembly roll-call logs or a definitive accounting distinguishing excused from unexcused absences, leaving the headline figure reported by outlets supported by secondary reporting rather than primary legislative records [1] [2] [3].
1. What critics claimed and where the 50% figure came from — a straightforward allegation that grabbed headlines
News items in June 2025 reported that Zohran Mamdani missed approximately half of Assembly roll-call votes, linking those absences to his simultaneous mayoral campaign and using roll-call participation as a proxy for days “on the job.” The AOL piece dated June 17, 2025 explicitly states the about-50% absence rate and treats roll-call participation as evidence of missed scheduled work days [1]. Other outlets in the dataset echoed similar percentages and published criticisms on June 4 and June 17, 2025, signaling a concentrated media narrative over that two-week span [2] [3]. The coverage tied absenteeism to a political storyline: campaigning outside Albany coincided with lower roll-call activity, a point opponents used to question commitment to legislative duties [2] [3].
2. What the dataset confirms and what it does not — clear reporting, unclear primary proof
The assembled analyses confirm multiple June 2025 news reports stating the same headline figure, but also underscore an important evidentiary gap: the dataset lacks the primary legislative roll-call records or an official Assembly statement validating the precise numeric claim. The fact-check entry in the dataset notes the news reports but highlights that official roll-call datasets and the distinction between excused versus unexcused absences are absent from the materials provided, which prevents a definitive verification [3]. Several authoritative biographical or policy-focused pages about Mamdani that were checked do not mention a 50% absence claim at all, illustrating that the allegation was primarily a media-driven narrative during the campaign cycle rather than a universally documented administrative finding [4] [5] [6].
3. Timing and sourcing: when the claims were published and how different outlets treated them
The dataset shows clustering of the absenteeism claims in early to mid-June 2025, with at least one report dated June 17, 2025 and others referenced as June 4 and June 17, 2025 in secondary analyses [1] [2] [3]. Publications that raised the 50% figure used Assembly roll-call participation as the metric, but the dataset does not include the raw roll-call spreadsheets or time-stamped attendance logs from the Assembly. Media outlets differ in tone and emphasis: some presented the statistic as a direct indictment of Mamdani’s work habits while other outlets and biographical resources did not address attendance, focusing instead on his policy agenda or background, which highlights variations in editorial focus and potential political agendas within the coverage [1] [2] [5].
4. What's missing from the public accounting — context that would change how the figure reads
Critical contextual details are missing from the materials provided: the raw roll-call data for the relevant session dates, records showing whether absences were excused (e.g., legislative business, medical reasons) versus unexcused, and a timeline mapping campaign events to specific missed votes. The fact-check analysis explicitly notes that without those primary sources, the 50% headline remains an aggregated characterization by journalists rather than a fully substantiated administrative finding [3]. Additionally, some sources in the dataset emphasize Mamdani’s legislative priorities and committee work, suggesting that roll-call attendance alone may not capture other forms of legislative activity or constituent service that occurred concurrently [5] [6].
5. Bottom line — did he miss 50% of scheduled work days, and when were the reports made?
Based on the dataset provided: multiple mid-June 2025 news reports stated that Zohran Mamdani missed roughly 50% of Assembly roll-call votes, which those outlets equated with missing about half of his scheduled days in office; the prominent dates in this sample are June 4 and June 17, 2025 [1] [2] [3]. However, the materials available here lack the primary Assembly roll-call records and authoritative clarifications about excused absences necessary to conclusively verify the numeric claim, so the figure should be treated as a widely reported allegation supported by secondary reporting in June 2025 rather than an independently confirmed fact grounded in the Assembly’s official attendance logs [3].