New York’s Democratic leadership offers tentative support for Zohran Mamdani

Even in a race against a 33-year-old leftist Democratic nominee, New York City Mayor Eric Adams might not have the institutional backing he’s hoping for come November. 

Already, less than 24 hours after Assembly Member Zohran Mamdani’s stunning victory in the mayoral primary, several establishment Democratic heavyweights like Gov. Kathy Hochul, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer are signaling they may back the democratic socialist in the general election. Even Brooklyn Democratic Party Boss Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn, a longtime Adams ally who’d jumped ship to former Gov. Andrew Cuomo in the Democratic primary, endorsed Mamdani in the early hours of Wednesday morning, asking people with reservations to “put them aside in this moment and come together.”

“I think it shows that this is one of the dominoes to fall and others are going to come,” Democratic strategist Yvette Buckner said of Bichotte Hermelyn. “At the end of the day, everybody likes to be behind a winner.”

Many institutional power-brokers – including party bosses, prominent electeds and labor unions whose power didn’t really matter in the primary after all – are looking at their choices. They can get behind the talented and jubilant Mamdani, who despite his leftist politics and lack of experience is the clear choice of the primary electorate. They can wait to see whether a very deflated Cuomo decides to make a go of it in the general election. Or they can go back to the moderate, scandal-scarred incumbent mayor after largely abandoning him for Cuomo. Having already jumped on the Mamdani train, electeds like Attorney General Letitia James, Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Nydia Velázquez, and Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso know where they stand. 

The choice is clearly fraught. Almost immediately after the primary, very online lefties started tracking whether New York’s Democrats had embraced Mamdani. On the right, GOP Rep. Mike Lawler put Democrats on blast – urging them to come out and explicitly say whether they back Mamdani, who he called a “radical, antisemitic socialist.” 

Cuomo petitioned for an independent “Fight and Deliver” ballot line in the November election, a contingency plan his adviser called “an insurance policy” for the unlikely event he lost the primary. But on election night, the former governor, who was backed by tens of millions of dollars of PAC spending, seemed uncommitted to running a general election campaign. “I want to look at the numbers as they come in,” Cuomo said. “I want to give some thought about… the best way to help the city.”

Neither Hochul, Jeffries nor Schumer officially weighed in on the mayoral race before primary election night. Hochul, who clashed with Cuomo as she took over for him when he resigned in 2021, declined to criticize him openly as he ran for mayor. “My nature is to work with whoever is sitting in office, whether it’s the president of the United States, other governors or mayors,” Hochul said in January, when Cuomo’s run was still unofficial. 

There was speculation that Hochul supported City Council Adrienne Adams’ run behind the scenes, but she never did so publicly. On election night, the moderate governor released a statement that left no doubt about whether she would question the results: “Today, voters made their voices heard, demanding a more affordable, more livable New York City. I hear them loud and clear,” she wrote on X. 

Jeffries, who holds significant sway over the state Democratic apparatus and has clashed repeatedly with the Democratic Socialists of America, also acknowledged Mamdani’s feat. “Congratulations to Zohran Mamdani on a decisive primary victory,” Jeffries wrote on X. “Assemblyman Mamdani ran a strong campaign that relentlessly focused on the economy and bringing down the high cost of living in New York City.” He added that he had spoken with Mamdani Wednesday morning and planned to meet with him that day. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer also said he spoke with Mamdani on Wednesday, though his statement was slightly more measured. “I have known  @ZohranKMamdani since we worked together to provide debt relief for thousands of beleaguered taxi drivers & fought to stop a fracked gas plant in Astoria,” Schumer said on X. “He ran an impressive campaign that connected with New Yorkers about affordability, fairness, & opportunity.” Rep. Adriano Espaillat, who endorsed Cuomo in the primary, also congratulated Mamdani for his win. Praising Mamdani for building coalitions and mobilizing underrepresented New Yorkers, so did Rep. Grace Meng. 

A spokesperson for Mamdani’s campaign did not respond to a request for comment prior to publication. 

With so much incentive to back the person most likely to be the city’s next mayor, labor unions will also face some challenging discussions in the coming weeks – though that might also go Mamdani’s way. District Council 37, the city’s largest municipal union, already ranked Mamdani second in their slate of endorsements. The United Federation of Teachers ultimately decided against endorsing in the primary, citing lack of agreement though many members wanted to back Mamdani. And while powerful municipal unions the Hotel and Gaming Trades Council and 32BJ SEIU supported Cuomo, one Democratic strategist familiar with the thinking of a number of labor unions said they think both will end up backing Mamdani – the Democratic nominee. That’s what happened during the 2013 New York City mayoral race. When the union’s preferred candidate Christine Quinn lost the Democratic primary, HTC pivoted and endorsed former Mayor Bill de Blasio in the general election. 

“As odd as it may seem at this point going with Zohran, supporting him as the Democratic nominee is the politically safer bet and easier to explain then supporting an independent candidacy – even one being waged by a sitting mayor,” they said. “Zohran was the crazy bet going into the primary that a lot of people wanted to do, but just couldn’t pull the trigger on ultimately. He now becomes the easiest bet to justify.”

It’s still too early to count Adams out entirely, even if there is little precedent for an independent candidate to win on the citywide level. Unlike Cuomo, retail politics – that ability to build support on the ground, in communities  – is one of Adams’ great strengths. This is something Mamdani did particularly well, playing a massive role in his victory. The Orthodox Jewish community, a key voting bloc, will likely prefer Adams to Mamdani. The mayor has announced a number of policy announcements in recent months intended to resonate with Jewish voters, like creating an office to combat antisemitism and signing an executive order that recognized the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s definition of antisemitism. The New York Times also recently reported that Adams was privately urging Orthodox Jewish leaders to not back Cuomo in the primary. There’s also the city’s business community. Kathryn Wylde, CEO and president of the Partnership for New York City, told City & State last week that the city’s business sector is “terrified” of Mamdani becoming mayor.

“Eric Adams has a shot, however Zohran Mamdani has the wind at his back,” Buckner said.