Just one year ago, Zohran Mamdani was a little-known assemblyman in New York best known for his work delivering debt relief to the city’s taxi drivers. In just over 12 months, Mamdani has transformed into a progressive political icon with a national profile envied by his contemporaries in US politics. Mamdani’s improbable rise owes much to a circle of key advisers and political allies, many of whom share a background in progressive, left-wing politics. Elana Leopold, transition executive director, from left, Melanie Hartzog, transition co-chair, and Zohran Mamdani, mayor-elect of New York, at Flushing Meadows Corona Park in the Queens borough of New York on Wednesday. (Bloomberg) Of them, Mamdani’s senior adviser Elle Bisgaard-Church is widely regarded as the most influential. Like Mamdani, Bisgaard-Church is just 34 years old and a member of the Democratic Socialists of America. She managed Mamdani’s successful primary campaign against former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, who was initially heavily favoured to win the race. Bisgaard-Church is also credited with keeping the campaign laser-focused on affordability and quality of life …