New pro-Mamdani PAC targets Black homeowners

A new independent expenditure group hopes to help Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani improve his margins with Black homeowners, a demographic he struggled with during the Democratic primary. 

On Monday, the progressive advocacy group New York Communities for Change – one of Mamdani’s earliest endorsers – launched a new independent expenditure committee called Livable Future PAC. It’s led by Pete Sikora, who also serves as NYCC’s climate and inequality campaigns director. Sikora told City & State the PAC aims to raise and spend about $50,000, which will fund at least two full-time staffers focused on messaging and canvassing.

Mamdani’s campaign already has an army of volunteer canvassers. During the primary, more than 30,000 canvassers and phonebankers knocked on New Yorkers’ doors 1.6 million times. So why the need for a separate PAC?

As an independent expenditure committee, Livable Future PAC can’t legally coordinate with the Mamdani campaign, so there’s a potential for the PAC to duplicate the campaign’s canvassing work. However, Sikora believes that Mamdani’s volunteer operation tends to be concentrated in neighborhoods where the democratic socialist already has a good deal of support, creating a gap that the PAC can fill in neighborhoods that are less friendly to Mamdani.

“The (independent expenditure) effort will target African-American and Caribbean-American voters in order to increase Mamdani's votes and decrease Cuomo's votes,” Sikora wrote in an email. “Specifically, we will be canvassing and tabling in 2 target neighborhoods: Wakefield in the Bronx and East Flatbush/Canarsie in Brooklyn.”

In both of the neighborhoods that Livable Future PAC is targeting, former Gov. Andrew Cuomo ran about 35 points ahead of Mamdani in the primary. But Sikora believes these voters could be won over by messaging focused on how Mamdani’s pro-climate policies, particularly his support for enforcing the Local Law 97 energy efficiency mandate, could help lower their utility bills and decrease pollution in their communities.

“Cuomo would cost New Yorkers thousands of good jobs, raise our utility bills and increase pollution by millions of tons, if elected, while Mamdani would further job creation, make energy bills more affordable, and lower pollution through policies to maximize energy efficiency,” Sikora said, describing the PAC’s pitch to potential voters.

Rich Azzopardi, a spokesperson for Cuomo’s campaign, dismissed Livable Future PAC’s attempt to shift Black voters away from Cuomo and toward Mamdani.

“It’s no surprise, as this petty group of paid protesters has been lying about the Governor’s record for years,” Azzopardi said in a statement. “The governor’s relationship with these communities reaches back decades and they’re not going to be swayed by this disingenuous bull – nor are they going to support an inexperienced defund the police, pro-prostitution socialist who now spends his days running away from the press and failing to even show up for the legislative job he is currently elected to.”

The latest polls show Black voters breaking for Mamdani over Cuomo by double digits. Among Black voters, a YouGov/CBS poll conducted Sept. 7 to 13 showed Mamdani with a lead of 15 points over Cuomo, while a Marist College poll conducted Sept. 8 to 11 showed Mamdani with a lead of 21 points.

In addition to convincing voters to back Mamdani, canvassing homeowners to highlight Mamdani’s pro-climate policies could help NYCC build support for more local laws aimed at increasing energy efficiency.