3 weeks ago
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Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) has endorsed Zohran Mamdani for New York City’s mayor, giving the progressive state assemblyman a hopeful boost mere weeks ahead of the Democratic primary that former Gov. Andrew Cuomo has dominated in the polls.
“Assemblymember Mamdani has demonstrated a real ability on the ground to put together a coalition of working-class New Yorkers that is strongest to lead the pack,” Ocasio-Cortez told The New York Times Thursday, ahead of the release of a formal endorsement. “In the final stretch of the race, we need to get very real about that.”
In a statement recognizing her endorsement, Mamdani hailed Ocasio-Cortez as a “once-in-a-generation leader who has led the fight for working people in Congress.”
MADISON SWART via Getty Images
“On June 24, with [Ocasio-Cortez’s] support and this movement behind us, we will do the same,” he said, referring to the race’s fast-approaching primary.
Mamdani, 33, is similar to Ocasio-Cortez, 35, in that he is a New York City Democratic Socialist, a millennial and a person of color who has quickly risen in popularity through grassroots efforts in their shared borough of Queens.
He has vowed to freeze rent increases on rent-stabilized apartments, offer free childcare, open city-run grocery stores to reduce food prices, and make city buses free.
While Cuomo has dominated his competitors in polling since early 2025, Mamdani has surged in recent weeks ― gaining 23 points in one recent poll ― while holding tight to a second-place rank among the nine Democratic candidates.
YUKI IWAMURA via Getty Images
In the primary’s first debate Wednesday night, Mamdani and his competitors railed at Cuomo over campaign donations he’s received from the ultra-rich, which Mamdani said put him in the pocket of those who elected President Donald Trump. They also highlighted the sexual misconduct accusations that led to Cuomo’s 2021 resignation.
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Cuomo, who has denied the sexual misconduct accusations and influence by political donors, meanwhile, attacked Mamdani as too inexperienced and green to lead.
“Donald Trump would go through Mr. Mamdani like a hot knife through butter,” Cuomo said. “He’s been in government 27 minutes. He passed three bills, that’s all he’s done.”
Incumbent New York City Mayor Eric Adams is running for reelection as an independent and did not participate in the debate.
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