Hakeem Jeffries endorses Zohran Mamdani for NYC mayor after 3-month wait

It took four months, but one of New York State’s top Democrats has finally endorsed the New York City Democratic mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani.

As Election Day approaches, New York Minority Leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, the top Democrat in the U.S. House of Representatives, announced his support for Mamdani, a 33-year-old democratic socialist state lawmaker from New York City’s Queens borough, on Friday. Statement made to the New York Times.

“Zohran Mamdani has been relentlessly focused on finding solutions to the economic crisis and is committed to being mayor for all New Yorkers, including those who did not support his candidacy,” Jeffries said.

“In that spirit, I am supporting him and all citywide Democrats in the general election,” Jeffries added.

Jeffries, whose congressional district covers much of neighboring Brooklyn, becomes the second major New York State Democrat to endorse Mamdani, following Gov. Kathy Hochul’s endorsement in late September.

MAMDANI RECEIVES SIGNIFICANT SUPPORT IN NYC MAYOR COMPETITIONS

Jeffries’ endorsement comes a day before early voting begins in New York on Saturday.

The top two Democrats in the New York State legislature backed Mamdani days after the governor announced his support.

Jeffries and Hochul’s endorsements could put intense pressure on longtime Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York, the top Democrat in the Senate, to support Mamdani in the election in just over a week.

Mamdani shocked the political world in June when she won the Democratic Party’s nomination for mayor of the nation’s most populous city against former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and nine other candidates.

If elected, Ugandan-born Mamdani would be the first Muslim and first millennium mayor of the country’s most populous city. He is clearly ahead in the latest polls in the mayoral race in the city where Democrats are in the majority.

Mamdani appears to have a large double-digit lead over Cuomo in recent polls in New York City.

TRUMP ANNOUNCED NEW NICKNAME FOR MAMDANI

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (DY) speaks at his weekly press conference in Washington, DC, on May 13, 2025. (Nathan Posner/Anadolu/Getty Images)

Guardian Angels co-founder Curtis Sliwa, who is the Republican mayoral candidate for the second consecutive year in the Democratic-majority city, is a distant third in the polls.

Current mayor of New York, embattled incumbent Eric AdamsHe had decided to run as an independent but announced late last month that he would no longer pursue office amid lackluster polling. President Donald Trump’s advisers had switched administration roles for both mayoral candidates.

This week, Adams endorsed Cuomo, although the two clashed repeatedly on the campaign trail earlier this year.

POLL POSITION: HOW BIG IS MAMDANI’S LEAD IN THE NYC MAYOR RACE?

New York mayoral candidates, from left: Zohran Mamdani, Eric Adams, Andrew Cuomo, Curtis Sliwa. (Getty Images)

Mamdani cruised to a Democratic primary victory thanks to an energetic campaign focused on affordability and New York City’s high cost of living. It was fueled by a massive grassroots army of supporters and the support of prominent national progressive champions. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Senators Bernie Sanders of New York and Vermont.

Mamdani has made smart use of social media platforms, including TikTok, while engaging with low-propensity voters. He proposed eliminating fees to ride New York City’s extensive bus system, making CUNY (City University of New York) “tuition-free,” freezing rents on municipal housing, offering “free child care” for children up to age 5, and establishing government-run grocery stores.

Mamdani has been heavily criticized by his opponents for his far-left platform, as well as his verbal attacks on Israel, his past critical comments about the New York City Police Department (NYPD), and his proposal to shift certain responsibilities away from the NYPD and focus on social services and community-based programs.

Trump, a New York native who now calls Florida home, has mocked Mamdani since her first victory as a “communist” and came up with a new, derogatory nickname earlier this month.

“I call him my little communist. He’s my little communist mayor,” Trump said in a lengthy interview on Fox News’ “Fox and Friends.”

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Republicans have worked overtime for the past three months to anchor the mayoral candidate to vulnerable congressional Democrats for re-election in next year’s midterm elections.

“‘Leader’ Hakeem Jeffries has just bent the knee to the socialist left, and now the only place he can run his party is a cold, dark tunnel into electoral humiliation. Every single Democrat owns the socialist agenda and is now a willing accomplice in the collapse of their own party,” Mike Marinella, national press secretary for the National Republican Congressional Committee, said in a statement to Fox News Digital. he said.

Jefries first met Mamdani in July; A second meeting took place last month. While Jeffries praised Mamdani’s emphasis on affordability during the campaign, neither meeting resulted in an endorsement.

Most House Democrats, including many progressives, gave Jeffries wide latitude and refused to criticize his lack of support.

Those exceptions include Ocasio-Cortez, who said earlier this summer that “we use our primaries to resolve our differences, and once we have a candidate, we rally behind that candidate.”

Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, a former House Democrat, similarly chided congressional leaders for failing to rally around Mamdani.

While Jeffries joined Hochul in supporting Mamdani, New York State Democratic Party chairman Jay Jacobs said he would not support his party’s mayoral candidate individually.

And Democratic Rep. Tom Suozzi, whose suburban congressional district covers a small portion of Queens, had previously said he would not support Mamdani.

Rumors of his confirmation on Friday drew immediate criticism from Republicans, who argued that Jeffries was bowing to pressure from his far-left base to support Mamdani despite his socialist policies, which will surely make him a target in next year’s midterm elections.

National Republican Congressional Committee Eastern District Press Secretary Maureen O’Toole said, “Hakeem is taking a knee!!!” Published on X