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House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries on Friday ended months of speculation about why he was on the sidelines by endorsing Zoharan Mamdani, the Democratic candidate for mayor of New York City.
Jefferies, the top Democrat in the House of Representatives who is vying to become House speaker in the next Congress, had not yet endorsed Mamdani, despite the assemblyman defeating former Governor Andrew Cuomo in the June party primary.
But his statement revealed that Jeffries had had a change of heart.
He added, “Zohran Mamdani has a relentless focus on addressing the affordability crisis and is clearly committed to being a mayor for all New Yorkers, including those who do not support his candidacy.”
But Jeffries also expressed his support in his statement.
“For decades, working-class neighborhoods of color have been hurt by gentrification and housing displacement,” he said. “This must change. I support our nominee’s strong commitment to building a city where everyday New Yorkers can live. As needed, this must include a meaningful partnership with the private sector to dramatically increase the supply of affordable homes.”
The race between Cuomo and Mamdani has turned into a feud, with Cuomo targeting Mamdani’s religion, while the New York Knicks have taken out a cease-and-desist letter after Mamdani released an ad. Making his campaign logo look like the Knicks’,
Shortly after losing the primary, Cuomo, who resigned from the governorship in 2021 after New York Attorney General Letitia James released a report detailing Cuomo’s history of sexual misconduct, announced he would run in the race as an independent.
Cuomo has failed to garner enough support and continues to lag behind Mamdani. As a result, many Republicans and business leaders have pressured Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa to oust him. But Sliwa has boldly criticized people pressuring him to drop out of the race, noting how Cuomo lost the Democratic primary.
Most polling shows Mamdani as the front-runner, with a Fox News poll showing him winning a majority, while Cuomo has about a third of support. Sliwa received slightly less than 20 percent of the votes.
Earlier this week, following the mayoral debate, Cuomo received the endorsement of current Mayor Eric Adams despite months of bitter words.
Cuomo launched his run largely after Adams faced impeachment last year, although the corruption case was dismissed after the Trump administration took office. Adams would drop out of his endorsement in September.
The race between Cuomo and Adams has also become increasingly personal and devolved into Islamophobia.
during An interview with conservative radio host Sid RosenbergThe host told Cuomo that Mamdani, who is Muslim, “would be cheering” if there was a September 11, 2001-scale attack on New York City.
In response, Cuomo said, “That’s another problem.” Cuomo’s comments were strongly condemned by many Democrats.
Till now, since Mamdani Scored an improbable victory against Cuomo.Many Democrats have praised him, but have refrained from endorsing him. Some people have stopped doing this partly because of his refusal in an interview bulwark Condemning the phrase “globalization of the intifada”.
Jefferies’ statement referred to fighting anti-Semitism in New York in response to increasing attacks on Jewish people in Israel’s war in Gaza following the attacks on October 7, 2023.
“Assemblyman Mamdani promises to focus on keeping every New Yorker safe, including the Jewish community, which has faced a staggering increase in anti-Semitic incidents, as well as Black and Latino neighborhoods, which have grappled with deadly gun violence for years.” He said.
Jeffries praised Mamdani’s decision to keep New York Police Department Commissioner Jessica Tisch in her job.
“Like any mayor, there will be areas of agreement and areas of principled disagreement,” he said. “Still, the stakes are existential.”
In the same vein, he has received support from other leaders, including Representatives Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, Nydia Velazquez and Adriano Espaillat, Chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.
In September, Governor Kathy Hochul, who took over the governorship after Cuomo resigned, endorsed Mamdani. Lieutenant Governor Antonio Delgado, who is running against Hochul for the Democratic nomination for governor, also endorsed Mamdani.
But so far, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) have withheld their endorsement of Mamdani, while not endorsing Cuomo either.
Early voting begins Friday in New York City. This is one of the five major elections to be held next month.
In addition, New Jersey will hold a gubernatorial election, Virginia will hold elections for governor and other statewide offices, Pennsylvania will hold elections for the state Supreme Court and California will hold a referendum to allow the legislature to redraw congressional districts in response to Texas redrawing its map to shore up Republicans.