Obama calls NYC mayoral frontrunner Zohran Mamdani ahead of Tuesday election
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Three days before the New York City mayoral election, former President Barack Obama called prominent Zohran Mamdani to offer his support.
The 64-year-old Democrat offered to be a “sounding board” for Mamdani, a Democratic socialist who maintains her lead in the poll race.
“Zohran Mamdani appreciated President Obama’s words of support and his speeches about the importance of bringing a new kind of politics to our city,” Mamdani spokeswoman Dora Pekec told Fox News Digital.
Mamdani’s main rivals are former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, who is running as an independent, and Republican Curtis Sliwa.
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Three days before the New York City mayoral election, former President Barack Obama called prominent Zohran Mamdani to offer his support. (Neil Constantine/NurPhoto via Getty Images; Kyle Mazza/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Sliwa’s campaign told Fox News Digital they had no comment on the call.
Cuomo lost to Mamdani in the Democratic primary last summer.
The phone call between Mamdani and Obama took place on the same day Obama was also campaigning for Abigail Spanberger in Virginia and Mikie Sherrill in New Jersey. Both Democrats are in close gubernatorial races in their respective states.
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New York City Democratic mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani is the frontrunner in Tuesday’s election. (Deirdre Heavey/Fox News Digital)
Both women are Democratic candidates for governor.
“Your campaign is impressive to watch,” Obama told Mamdani in the 30-minute private conversation, according to The New York Times, which cited two people familiar with the conversation.
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Virginia Democratic gubernatorial candidate Abigail Spanberger joined former President Barack Obama during a campaign event in Norfolk, Virginia, on Saturday. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)
Obama did not officially endorse Mamdani after promising not to interfere in municipal races, the paper said, adding that this was the second meeting between the two men since the Democratic primary.
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Obama spoke to Mamdani as some establishment Democrats, such as New York Sen. Chuck Schumer, kept their distance from the progressive leader.
