Despite differences, Hochul backs Mamdani for mayor

After months of speculation, Gov. Kathy Hochul on Sunday evening officially offered her endorsement of Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic nominee for New York City mayor. Hochul penned an op-ed in The New York Times offering her thinking behind the endorsement, in which she made it clear that her backing of Mamdani doesn’t necessarily mean that he’ll have any easy wins in Albany – but that fighting back against President Donald Trump takes precedence.

In the op-ed, the governor highlighted areas of agreement between herself and Mamdani, the democratic socialist who shocked the city when he won the Democratic primary in June, calling affordability the “No. 1 concern” she shares with the candidate. And she emphasized the need to fight against policies coming out of Washington. “Zohran Mamdani and I will both be fearless in confronting the president’s extreme agenda – with urgency, conviction, and the defiance that defines New York,” Hochul wrote. 

But as the governor herself pointed out, the pair seem like “unlikely allies.” Hochul offered little indication that she supported any particular specifics of Mamdani’s agenda, such as increasing taxes on the wealthy to fund things like universal childcare and free buses. She directly referenced the ideological differences between the pair at least three times in the op-ed. “I didn’t leave my conversations with him aligned on every issue,” she wrote, after earlier noting that she and Mamdani have had their disagreements. A spokesperson for Hochul’s campaign did not offer additional details on what the endorsement means for Mamdani’s Albany agenda.

In the past, when asked about the possibility of endorsing Mamdani, Hochul has said repeatedly that she does not support raising income taxes on the rich or otherwise taking measures that would make the city less desirable to the wealthy and to businesses – a point she brought up again in the op-ed. “I emphasized to him my belief in keeping and attracting businesses so that New York remains the center of the global economy and we create even more good-paying jobs for our residents,” the governor wrote. 

Hochul touched on other matters that she discussed with Mamdani that he has been criticized over, including public safety and antisemitism. “I urged him to ensure that there is strong leadership at the helm of the (New York City Police Department) – and he agreed,” she wrote, adding that she was glad to see him meet with Jewish leaders.

Why did Hochul decide to endorse a candidate whom she also took pains to adequately distance herself from? One could say that Hochul went off of vibes. “New York needs leaders who will put aside differences, stand up and fight back against Mr. Trump,” she wrote. Hochul cited her embrace of the “Happy Warrior, can-do spirit that meets any challenge undaunted,” and that she has seen the same energy from Mamdani. She wrote of the need for unity, even as she “reserve(s) the right to disagree honestly and to argue passionately.”

Hochul’s endorsement of Mamdani could also serve to benefit herself as she fends off both a primary challenge from the left from Lt. Gov. Antonio Delgado and a general election fight likely against Rep. Elise Stefanik. In a Democratic primary, backing Mamdani can help her among progressives in New York City who might otherwise consider supporting Delgado, bolstering her results in a crucial part of the state. As for the general, the choice to endorse the likely next mayor may stand to help bolster turnout in the city, which is particularly important since Hochul’s performance in the suburbs and upstate were lackluster in 2022. But endorsing a democratic socialist for mayor could give ammunition to Stefanik, who has already put out a statement bashing Hochul for “bend(ing) the knee to the Communist Antisemite Zohran Mamdani.”

Many had wondered why Hochul, the leader of the state Democratic Party in New York, took so long to offer her endorsement of the party’s  official nominee in the race for mayor. But with her new op-ed, she still acted before the party’s other top leaders in Congress – House Minority Leader Hakeem Jefferies and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer. Both Jeffries and Schumer have said they’ve spoken with Mamdani, but neither have yet offered a similar message of party unity that Hochul seemed to have begrudgingly given after she “devoted a great deal of thought” to the matter.

Hochul’s decision also puts her in stark opposition to some of her fellow moderates in the state, including Rep. Tom Suozzi, her onetime gubernatorial opponent. Suozzi has said that Mamdani and other Democratic socialists should leave the Democratic Party, arguing that the party’s acceptance of them is doing irreparable damage to Democrats’ image and message, to the benefit of Republicans.

For his part, Mamdani welcomed the governor’s support and emphasized the need to bring the party together.“I’m grateful to the Governor for her support in unifying our party – as well as the work she’s done standing up to President Trump, securing free lunch meals for our kids, and expanding access to childcare,” he said in a statement. “There’s so much work left to do, and our movement is only growing stronger.”