New York

Kathy Hochul endorses Zohran Mamdani’s bid for mayor

Author: Nick Reisman Source: Politico

September 15, 2025 at 09:15

Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul endorsed Zohran Mamdani's bid for mayor. | Julia Nikhinson/AP Photo

The moderate Democratic governor lauds the hard left nominee’s affordability push.

NEW YORK — Gov. Kathy Hochul endorsed Zohran Mamdani’s bid for New York City mayor Sunday — an establishment seal of approval for the 33-year-old democratic socialist.

“In the past few months, I’ve had frank conversations with him. We’ve had our disagreements,” Hochul wrote in a New York Times op-ed. “But in our conversations, I heard a leader who shares my commitment to a New York where children can grow up safe in their neighborhoods and where opportunity is within reach for every family. I heard a leader who is focused on making New York City affordable — a goal I enthusiastically support.”

Hochul, a moderate Democrat who’s running for a second full term next year, had been under pressure from her party’s left flank to endorse the upstart candidate after his shocking primary win in June. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, both Brooklyn Democrats, have faced similar entreaties to lend their support to the party’s nominee.

That pressure intensified this month after President Donald Trump’s unprecedented intervention into the race became public. The Trump team dangled potential jobs in front of incumbent Mayor Eric Adams in an effort to get him out of the race in order to clear a path to victory for ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who trails Mamdani by double digits in most recent polls. Adams has insisted he will remain in the race, and, in recent days, Trump has said he expects the front-running Mamdani will win.

Hochul’s endorsement follows extensive talks this summer between the Buffalo-born governor and Mamdani, a Queens state assembly member.

Hochul opposes Mamdani’s goal of raising taxes on rich New Yorkers to fund much of his agenda, like free bus fare and day care. If elected, that would likely pose a problem for Mamdani, given the fact that any tax hike ultimately must be approved in Albany. Hochul, a staunch Israel supporter, is also at odds with Mamdani over the Jewish state. Mamdani reiterated to The New York Times last week he would arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if he traveled to New York City.

Hochul, though, has her own political calculus driving the decision to back Mamdani. The governor, who has middling poll numbers, must contend with a restive left-leaning base as she prepares to run for re-election; her lieutenant governor, Antonio Delgado, is challenging her for the Democratic nomination.

She is also supporting Mamdani over Cuomo, who selected her in 2014 as his running mate. Cuomo resigned in disgrace in 2021, and Hochul has moved to distance herself from her old boss.

The endorsement carries political risks, though. Republicans are already making the hard left Mamdani a central figure of their campaigns. Swing seat House Democrats on Long Island, including Reps. Tom Suozzi and Laura Gillen, have been critical of the mayoral candidate’s policies and rhetoric.

“In a four-way race, Kathy Hochul just endorsed an avowed communist and anti-Semite for Mayor of the City of New York,” New York Republican Chair Ed Cox said. “It’s no wonder Kathy Hochul’s New York continues to lead the nation in outmigration: New Yorkers are fleeing Democrats’ worst-in-the-nation tax and regulatory regime, as well as their open embrace of extremism.”