Zohran Mamdani lands key endorsement in New York City mayoral race

It took nearly three months but the top Democrat in New York state has completely endorsed New York City Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani New York City deserves a mayor who will stand up to Donald Trump and make life more affordable for New Yorkers That s ZohranKMamdani New York Gov Kathy Hochul reported Sunday evening in a social media post The governor's endorsement is considerable as it may help Mamdani secure the backing of other key members of the party's establishment And it will likely put more pressure on two other top Democrats in New York State who are still withholding their backing of Mamdani - Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries the top two Democratic Party leaders in Congress Mamdani in a report declared he was grateful to the Governor for her encouragement in unifying our party as well as the work she s done standing up to President Trump securing free lunch meals for our kids and expanding access to childcare TRUMP REVEALS NEW NICKNAME FOR MAMDANIHochul communicated her aid for Mamdani the -year-old democratic socialist state lawmaker from Queens who shocked the political world in June with his convincing win over former Gov Andrew Cuomo and nine other candidates to capture the Democratic Party's mayoral nomination in the New York Times In the past meager months I ve had frank conversations with him We ve had our disagreements the governor 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 encouragement POLL POSITION JUST HOW LARGE IS MAMDANI'S LEAD IN THE NYC MAYORAL RACE The Ugandan-born Mamdani if elected would become the first Muslim and first millennial mayor of the nation's majority populous city He is the clear frontrunner in the latest populace opinion polls in the mayoral race in the Democrat-dominated city Mamdani is sitting on -point margin leads over Cuomo and the rest of the field in surveys circulated last week from Quinnipiac University and New York Times Siena College And a survey from Emerson University and the Hill also indicates Mamdani comfortably ahead by double digits CUOMO SHAKES UP CAMPAIGN IN BID TO TAKE DOWN MAMDANIGuardian Angels co-founder Curtis Sliwa who for a second straight referendum is the Republican mayoral nominee in the Democrat-dominated city was a distant third in the polls with embattled incumbent Mayor Eric Adams who is running as an independent after deciding to skip the Democratic primary amid anemic polling further down in fourth place Both Sliwa and Adams have repeatedly committed to staying in the race in latest weeks amid multiple reports that Trump's advisors floated administration roles for both mayoral hopefuls if they dropped out On Sunday following a new record that Adams would drop out in the coming days the mayor's spokesman fired back Let me be perfectly clear any rumor or tweet suggesting Mayor Adams is stepping down this week is complete bulls--- spokesman Todd Shapiro wrote in a comment These lies are being spread by desperate opponents who can t match the mayor s record his campaign capacity or his advocacy across this city Mamdani surged to the Democratic primary success thanks to an energetic campaign that put a major focus on affordability and New York City's high cost of living It was fueled by a grassroots army of supporters and backing from top national progressive champions including Rep Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and Sen Bernie Sanders of Vermont Mamdani made smart use of social media platforms including TikTok as he engaged low-propensity voters He proposed eliminating fares to ride New York City's vast bus system making CUNY City University of New York tuition-free freezing rents on municipal housing offering free childcare for children up to age and setting up government-run grocery stores Mamdani has been heavily criticized by his rivals for his past critical comments of the New York City Police Department NYPD and his proposal to shift certain responsibilities away from the NYPD and focus on social services and community-based scheme Hochul in recent times commented an apology from Mamdani was in order and the mayoral hopeful informed the New York Times a couple of days ago that he intended to apologize Hochul explained that in her conversations with Mamdani she made it very clear that our police officers should have every reservoir to keep our streets and subways safe I urged him to ensure that there is strong leadership at the helm of the N Y P D and he agreed The governor also addressed Mamdani's past critical comments about Israel We discussed the need to combat the rise of antisemitism urgently and unequivocally I ve been glad to see him meet with Jewish leaders across the city listening and addressing their concerns directly Hochul noted Hochul's endorsement may not only benefit Mamdani but could also help the governor shore up patronage from the Democrats' progressive base as she seeks re-election next year Mamdani praised Hochul for her focus on tackling affordability 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 he declared CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APPBut Republican Rep Elise Stefanik of New York a top Trump ally who is expected later this year to launch a run for governor took aim at Hochul At the exact moment when New Yorkers are looking for strong leadership from their Governor with a majority opposing Zohran Mamdani Kathy Hochul embraces this raging Communist who will destroy New York making it less affordable and more dangerous - once again putting criminals and communists first and New Yorkers LAST Stefanik argued in a comment