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lite.cnn.com - on gopher - inofficial | |
ARTICLE VIEW: | |
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul endorses Zohran Mamdani in NYC mayoral race | |
By Gloria Pazmino, CNN | |
Updated: | |
8:46 PM EDT, Sun September 14, 2025 | |
Source: CNN | |
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul on Sunday endorsed New York City Democratic | |
mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani, calling him “a leader who is focused | |
on making New York City affordable” despite their disagreements. | |
Hochul’s endorsement, in The New York Times, makes her the and the | |
most powerful in the state to back the 33-year-old democratic | |
socialist’s campaign. It also on other high-profile Democrats | |
withholding their backing of Mamdani, notably House Minority Leader | |
Hakeem Jeffries and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, both Brooklyn | |
residents. | |
The governor’s endorsement breaks from more than two months of | |
cautious distance. She initially refused to endorse Mamdani after he | |
shocked former Gov. Andrew Cuomo in in June. | |
“In the past few months, I’ve had frank conversations with him. | |
We’ve had our disagreements,” she wrote. “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.” | |
Mamdani’s campaign focused on affordability and progressive agenda | |
items like free city buses, government-run grocery stores and taxing | |
the city’s wealthiest residents. | |
Following the primary, Hochul specifically cited concerns about | |
Mamdani’s proposal to tax the wealthy, saying she believed it would | |
encourage people to leave the state. Tax increases have to be passed by | |
the state legislature and signed into law by the governor. | |
Hochul’s endorsement is likely to carry significant political | |
implications for both her and Mamdani. It could help bridge the gap | |
between Mamdani’s left-wing support and the Democratic establishment, | |
including some who view Mamdani with skepticism due to his association | |
with democratic socialism and his criticisms of Israel. It could also | |
shore up Hochul’s standing with progressives ahead of her own | |
reelection campaign next year. | |
Notably, Hochul’s column did not mention Mamdani’s proposal to | |
raise taxes on the wealthy. It addressed their conversations about | |
antisemitism and providing resources to the New York Police Department. | |
“I’ve been glad to see him meet with Jewish leaders across the | |
city, listening and addressing their concerns directly. I look forward | |
to working together to make sure New Yorkers of all faiths feel safe | |
and welcome in New York City,” Hochul wrote. | |
Mamdani previously called to defund the police but if he is elected | |
mayor. He has also in which he called police racist and wicked. | |
Hochul, who served as lieutenant governor under Cuomo and ascended to | |
the top office following his resignation, took a swipe at her former | |
boss and the incumbent mayor, Eric Adams, who is also running as an | |
independent in the general election, for their perceived ties to | |
President Donald Trump. The president, a Queens native, has pushed to | |
to Mamdani, whom he has labeled a “communist.” | |
“Anyone who accepts his tainted influence, or benefits from it, is | |
compromised from the start,” Hochul wrote. | |
Mamdani issued a statement Sunday thanking Hochul for “her support in | |
unifying our party.” | |
“Governor Hochul has made affordability the centerpiece of her | |
work,” he said. “I look forward to fighting alongside her to | |
continue her track record of putting money back in New Yorkers’ | |
pockets and building a safer and stronger New York City where no one is | |
forced to leave just so they can afford to raise a family.” | |
This story and headline have been updated with additional developments. | |
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