Jeffries endorses Mamdani for NYC mayor just before early voting starts

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (DY) was hesitant to support Zohran Mamdani in the New York City mayoral race until the final hour.

“As you know, early voting starts tomorrow,” a reporter told Jeffries at 11:06 a.m. Friday. “Are you ready to support Mamdani?”

“Stay tuned,” Jeffries replied.

“What more do you need to hear at this point?” asked another writer.

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“Same answer,” Jeffries said. “I did not refuse to endorse. I refused to explain my situation, and I will do so momentarily, some time before early voting.”

Early voting started on Saturday in New York. True to his word, Jeffries made his position clear in a statement early Friday afternoon, throwing his political clout behind Mamdani.

“Zohran Mamdani has been relentlessly focused on finding solutions to the economic crisis and has publicly committed to being Mayor for all New Yorkers, including those who did not support his candidacy,” Jeffries said. “The communities I represent in Brooklyn are being ravaged by this extreme version of the Republican Party. In this environment, we have a clear obligation to push back against the national nightmare that Republican extremism has visited on the American people.”

Jeffries concluded his support with this important sentence: “I support the Democrats’ support.”

In some ways, this was the least newsworthy sentence in Jeffrie’s statement. It may be unreasonable to think that the top Democrat in the House of Representatives from New York City would not support his hometown’s Democratic candidate for mayor.

It would have been bigger if Jeffries had not supported Mamdani.

We don’t know for sure what Jeffries was thinking for so long. But we understand the rift within the Democratic Party between centrist Democrats and the far left. That’s why Republicans are shouting from the Empire State Building that Mamdani is a “socialist” or even a “communist.” Republicans secretly don’t like the fact that Mamdani is the Democratic nominee. And they embrace the fact that Mamdani has made some Democrats squirm as the party tries to reach moderate voters while also grappling with the candidate’s left-wing views.

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“What we are witnessing is essentially the end of the Democratic Party as we know it,” said House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La. “Hakeem Jeffries finally relented. He capitulated and supported the socialists running for mayor of New York. House Democrats showed the world what they truly believe. There is no room for them anymore. [centrists] and the moderates in their party.”

Republicans also claim that Democrats are “shutdowning the government” because Jeffries and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (DY) have heard footsteps coming from the left and are afraid of a primary challenge. In Schumer’s case: Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y.

“They decided to save their own skins that they had to support the Marxist Mamdani,” Johnson predicted. “In an unprecedented move, they also decided to shut down the government in an unprecedented move.”

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) immediately jumped on Jeffries after he “swallowed” and supported the “socialist” Mamdani. (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

When asked on MSNBC over the weekend why it took him so long to endorse Mamdani, Jeffries said she wasn’t “someone I knew before she got the Democratic nomination.”

Jeffries added that he wanted to “sit down and have a little chat” with Mamdani.

But the confirmation issue has been a rocky road for Jeffries since Mamdani won the Democratic nomination for mayor on June 25.

On the day Mamdani won the primary, Jeffries stated that he “congratulated Zohran Mamdani on his decisive primary victory.”

However, Jeffries did not confirm this.

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“We spoke this morning and planned to meet in downtown Brooklyn shortly,” Jeffries said.

Four days later, ABC’s Jonathan Karl asked Jeffries if he had backed Mamdani yet.

The answer was no.

Republicans simultaneously blame Democratic leadership for the ongoing shutdown, as both Jeffries and Schumer face potential primary challenges from the left. (Kevin Lamarque/Reuters)

“He worked harder, he was better at communicating and he organized the opposition better. And that’s obviously why he was successful,” Jeffries said.

“So what’s stopping you from supporting him right now?” asked Karl.

Jeffries replied, “We don’t actually know each other very well. Our territories don’t overlap. I’ve never had an extensive conversation with him.”

And so it continued throughout the summer and into the fall. Reporters frequently peppered Jeffries with questions about whether he would be a possible support or obstruction. And Jeffries was always cautious.

In fact, resistance to confirmation has fueled speculation that Jeffries has reservations about Mamdani. This is to say nothing of the potential headaches Mamdani could create for the party as it tries to woo undecided voters.

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“What does he need to do to secure your approval?” he asked CNN’s Dana Bash on Aug. 24.

“(Rep.) Yvette Clarke, chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, and I plan to meet with him in the next few days. I look forward to that conversation,” Jeffries said.

“What do you want to hear from him? What’s missing? I mean, it’s pretty unusual for a top Democrat like you to withhold your support for your party’s candidate for mayor of New York,” Bash countered.

“I don’t think we’re withholding an endorsement. We’re having a conversation about the future of New York City,” Jeffries said.

In addition to voicing his concerns publicly, Jeffries claims he “raised several issues privately” with Mamdani. (Nathan Posner/Anadolu/Getty Images)

Bash questioned whether Jeffries supported Mamdani because he “did not condemn using or supporting the term ‘globalizing the Intifada.'”

“Just as I have raised many of the issues with him privately, I have also raised some of the concerns I have publicly,” Jeffries said.

So there were actually “concerns”.

“What about your young voters, your energetic young voters who helped put Mamdani where she is, and now they want you to represent their will and support her?” asked a Jeffries reporter at the Capitol on Oct. 6.

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“I think I’ve answered these questions many times and will have more to say before early voting,” Jeffries said.

On October 9, Jeffries received further questions about Mamdani.

“We’re in the middle of a government shutdown,” Jeffries said when asked about possible plans for support. “I have more to say about the mayor’s race ahead of early voting in NYC, which begins later this month.”

Jeffries has now endorsed Mamdani. And that should answer all questions, right?

Suspicious.

New York City Democratic mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani makes remarks in the Bronx on Friday, October 24, 2025, in the Bronx in New York City. (Fox News Digital/Deirdre Heavey)

Republicans attacked Jeffries’ confirmation decision. Moderate Democrats and many pro-Israel voters groaned. Yes. Jeffries may need to establish a comfort level with Mamdani and clarify the questions the Minority Leader has. But ultimately Jeffries may have had no choice but to approve. Failure to ratify would have torn the party apart. Jeffries probably had to evaluate what was more at stake: supporting the left and not angering them, or supporting the middle and losing them.

In politics, everything is a calculation. Jeffries did the math for himself, New York City, and his party.

Yes, Republicans will blame Jeffries for this decision. But they would still try to tie Jeffries to Mamdani. Fair or not.

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It is doubtful that Mamdani will win or lose the mayoral race with Jeffrie’s support.

But refusing to confirm would highlight the rift within the Democratic Party. And that could trigger more questions than Jeffries has already asked about whether he’ll support it.