Mamdani taps Bernie Sanders campaign veterans for top City Hall comms roles
Turning to the national progressive movement to supplement his senior staff, Mayor Mamdani is tapping a few veterans of Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders’ 2020 presidential campaign for communications positions at City Hall.
Anna Bahr, who has been communications director in Sanders’ U.S. Senate office since 2024, will be hired for the same position at Mamdani City Hall, she confirmed Monday evening to the Daily News. Before joining Sanders’ government office, she worked at Left Flank Strategies, a progressive political consulting firm she helped launch after serving as deputy national press secretary on the Vermont senator’s 2020 presidential campaign.
“Mayor Mamdani models a different type of government — not one funded by billionaires and run by consultants, but one that champions the needs of working people,” Bahr said. “This is what New Yorkers deserve and I’m proud to be a part of this team.”
Joe Calvello, another former Sanders 2020 presidential candidate, is also joining City Hall as Mamdani’s press secretary, two sources familiar with the matter confirmed. Cavello most recently served as an advisor to Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman, a position from which he resigned in 2024 after the senator underwent a political transformation that involved abandoning many elements of his progressive personality in favor of adopting more moderate positions.
The hires, which were first reported by The New York Times and are expected to be formally announced Tuesday, highlight the ideological alignment of Mamdani and Sanders, both of whom are democratic socialists and consider each other political peers.
Last week, Sanders swore in Mamdani at his public inauguration, and the new mayor has long said he considers the senator his greatest political inspiration.
In his new role, Bahr will oversee the entire communications strategy of the Mamdani administration.
Calvello will be the chief spokesperson for Mamdani’s government, overseeing the city hall press office, with a portfolio focused on national issues, according to sources.
Dora Pekec, one of Mamdani’s top campaign representatives, will be the administration’s chief spokesperson on municipal issues, while several other campaign communications veterans, including Lekha Sunder, will also remain, sources said. Julian Gerson, Mamdani’s campaign speechwriter, also retains this role on the government side.
Neither Bahr nor Calvello have experience in New York City government, according to their resumes, although they both held senior positions in the mayor’s offices of Los Angeles and Chicago, respectively.
According to sources familiar with the matter, another person Mamdani considered to become his press secretary was Bill Neidhardt, who served in the role under former Mayor Bill de Blasio.
