Hakeem Jeffries endorsed Mamdani

By Victor Feldman
CQ-Roll Call

(CQ-Roll Call) House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries on Friday offered a long-awaited endorsement of Democrat Zohran Mamdani for New York City mayor, four months after the state assemblyman won an upset primary victory.

“As with any Mayor, there will be areas of agreement and areas of principled disagreement. Yet, the stakes are existential,” Jeffries, who represents a Brooklyn district, said in a statement announcing his support for the self-described democratic socialist.

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

The late endorsement comes as early voting in the city is set to begin Saturday.

Mamdani clinched the Democratic nomination this summer, finishing ahead of former Gov. Andrew Cuomo and nine other candidates after ranked choice tabulations, 56 percent to 44%.

He will face Cuomo again in the Nov. 4 general election, with the former governor running on a third-party line. Incumbent Mayor Eric Adams ended his reelection bid last month, but it was too late to take his name off the ballot. He has since endorsed Cuomo. Also in the race is the Republican nominee, activist Curtis Sliwa, who has resisted calls for him to drop out and endorse the former governor.

Mamdani, who would become the city’s first Muslim mayor if elected, has drawn criticism from rank-and-file elected Democrats over past comments on Israel and Gaza. He has accused Israel of committing “genocide” in Gaza and said he would arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if he enters New York City. His refusal to condemn the phrase “Globalize the Intifada” made headlines, although he told business leaders after the primary that he would not use the phrase and would discourage others from doing so.

“Assemblyman Mamdani has promised to focus on keeping every New Yorker safe, including the Jewish community that has confronted a startling rise in antisemitic incidents as well as Black and Latino neighborhoods that have battled deadly gun violence for years,” Jeffries said in his statement Friday.

The House Democratic leader’s decision to back Mamdani comes after monthslong game of cat and mouse. Since the primary, Jeffries has at various points signaled he could issue an endorsement and said he had spoken with Mamdani several times. But he evaded answering questions regarding why he was delaying formally backing his party’s nominee in the race.

“I have not refused to endorse. I have refused to articulate my position, and I will momentarily, at some point in advance of early voting,” Jeffries told reporters Friday at the Capitol, hours before his announcement.

Jeffries is the latest and most high-profile national Democrat to put aside concerns over the 34-year-old Mamdani’s candidacy to lead the nation’s largest city. Last month, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul threw her support behind the nominee in the form of a guest essay for The New York Times. Mamdani also has the backing of six of the 12 House Democrats who represent parts of New York City.

Notably, New York’s two senators, Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, who chairs Senate Democrats’ campaign arm, have not issued endorsements in the race. Their reluctance is a likely sign of broader concerns within the party over Mamdani’s positions on Israel and his embrace of progressive policies, such as a temporary rent freeze and a 2% tax hike on wealthy New Yorkers.

Some in the party’s moderate wing have voiced anxiety that his policy prescriptions are simply too far to the left and that he could become a useful foil for national Republicans to tie other Democrats to Mamdani.

On Friday, the National Republican Congressional Committee seized on Jeffries’ endorsement as an opportunity to do just that.

“So-called ‘Leader’ Hakeem Jeffries has officially surrendered to Zohran Mamdani and the socialist mob now running the Democrat Party,” NRCC spokesman Mike Marinella said in a statement.

The committee also announced a paid ad campaign targeting Democrat-held battleground districts in New York and New Jersey over Jeffries’ decision.

Some moderate New York Democrats are already distancing themselves from the mayoral nominee. New York State Democratic Party Chair Jay Jacobs has said he won’t endorse Mamdani, while Long Island Rep. Laura Gillen called him the “absolute wrong choice for New York” and accused him of promoting “a deeply disturbing pattern of unacceptable antisemitic comments.”

Recent public surveys show Mamdani enters the final days of the race with a comfortable lead over Cuomo, with Sliwa polling a distant third. Unlike the primary, ranked choice voting will not be used in the general election.

Mary Ellen McIntire contributed to this report.

Notes from APS Radio News

In the meantime, Mr. Mamdani decried Cumo’s recently made remarks as being racist.