Zohran Mamdani earns long-awaited endorsement from top Democrat as NYC mayoral race nears

“Zohran Mamdani has relentlessly focused on addressing the affordability crisis and explicitly committed to being a mayor for all New Yorkers, including those who do not support his candidacy,” said US. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries.

New York City Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani has finally landed the endorsement of U.S. Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., the minority leader of the United States House of Representatives.

For months, Jeffries appeared to show reluctance in endorsing Mamdani. The Democratic socialist, who is running on a platform for taxing the rich to address the city’s affordability crisis, has been characterized by President Donald Trump and Republicans as a “communist.”

Mamdani’s campaign for mayor of New York City garnered the most primary votes in the city’s history, signaling Democratic debate about whether the party should ideologically shift more progressive.

In a statement to The New York Times, Jeffries, a moderate, noted that he and Mamdani have “areas of principled disagreement.” However, he acknowledged that the 34-year-old state assemblyman won “a free and fair election” in the Democratic primary and said Democrats had to unite as they face an “existential” threat from President Trump.

“Zohran Mamdani has relentlessly focused on addressing the affordability crisis and explicitly committed to being a mayor for all New Yorkers, including those who do not support his candidacy,” said Jeffries.

The New York congressman added, “In that spirit, I support him and the entire citywide Democratic ticket in the general election.”

Jeffries’ endorsement comes one day before early voting in New York City, where Mamdani faces former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, who is running as an Independent candidate. Current Mayor Eric Adams, who trailed Mamdani in city polling, ended his campaign for re-election on Sept. 28.

Cuomo resigned in disgrace as New York governor in 2021 after an internal investigation concluded he created a “culture of fear, intimidation, and retribution” and a governor’s office that “accepted and normalized everyday flirtations and gender-based comments” by him.

Mamdani has yet to be endorsed by Jeffries’ Democratic leadership and New York counterpart in the U.S. Senate, Minority Leader Chuck Schumer. The mayoral candidate has met with both Jeffries and Schumer as the two leaders weighed their endorsements.

Trump, a vehement critic of Mamdani’s campaign and proposed policies, has already threatened to withhold federal funding from New York if Mamdani is victorious in the Nov. 4 general election.

On Tuesday, Trump told reporters at the White House, “It looks like we’re going to have a communist as the mayor of New York. It’ll be very interesting.”

The president added, “But here’s the good news. He’s got to go through the White House. Everything goes through the White House. At least this White House, it does. And we’ll have to see what happens.”