Hakeem Jeffries endorses Zohran Mamdani for New York City mayor

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries endorsed Democratic candidate for New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani on Friday.

“Zohran Mamdani has been relentlessly focused on solving the affordability crisis and has explicitly committed to being a mayor for all New Yorkers, including those who do not support his candidacy,” Jeffries, D-N.Y., said in a statement Friday. “With that in mind, I support him and the city’s entire Democratic slate in the general election.”

Jeffries also predicted that “as with any mayor, there will be areas of agreement and areas of principled disagreement,” but added that “the stakes are existential,” in the context of an ongoing Trump administration.

In a statement after the endorsement, Mamdani said, “I welcome Leader Jeffries’ support and look forward to building city government and building a Democratic Party, steadfastly committed to our affordability agenda – and to fighting Trump’s authoritarianism.” »

“Our movement to turn the page on the politics of big money and small ideas is growing stronger every day,” he added.

The endorsement comes after Jeffries sidestepped questions about whether he would support Mamdani since the state lawmaker surprised his party in June when he won the Democratic nomination for mayor, defeating former Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

Cuomo has since launched an independent campaign for mayor, hoping to beat Mamdani and Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa in next month’s general election.

Jeffries, for months, hesitated when asked why he didn’t support a candidate in the general election for mayor.

Earlier this week, on Sunday, Jeffries told ABC News’ “This Week” that he and Mamdani had had “good conversations” since the primary but declined to formally endorse him.

“We had some really good conversations over the last few months before the government shutdown that were forward-looking, community-based and focused particularly on his efforts to make New York City more affordable,” Jeffries told ABC News. “This is the right issue to focus on. It’s why he won the primary decisively. And I look forward to continuing this conversation next week.”

At the U.S. Capitol on Friday, Jeffries disputed the claim that he “refused to support” anyone in the race.

“I have not refused to endorse. I have refused to express my position, and I will momentarily, at some point before early voting,” Jeffries told reporters, a day before early voting began in the five precincts.

In June, just after Mamdani won the primary, Jeffries told ABC News that he wasn’t yet ready to support Mamdani, adding, “We don’t really know each other that well.” »

At the time, Jeffries also raised concerns about criticism Mamdani had received from some members of the New York Jewish community over his support for Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and his decision not to condemn the phrase “Globalize the Intifada,” which some Jewish leaders have called anti-Semitic.

“As it relates to the Jewish communities that I represent, I think our candidate will have to convince people that he is prepared to aggressively combat the rise of anti-Semitism in New York City, which is an unacceptable development,” Jeffries told ABC News at the time.

After winning the primary, Mamdani still refused to condemn the phrase “Globalize the Intifada,” telling NBC News’ “Meet the Press” that mayors should not “police the police’s speech.” But the New York Times later reported that Mamdani told business leaders he would “discourage” the use of the phrase.

Other Democratic leaders were also slow to support Mamdani.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., has yet to endorse the Democratic mayoral candidate. New York Governor Kathy Hochul did so in September, after months of deliberations.

In a guest essay by The New York Times detailing her support, Hochul emphasized that she and Mamdani agreed that affordability should be the priority of New York’s next mayor.

She also wrote: “I had frank conversations with him. We had our disagreements,” and added: “We discussed the need to urgently and unequivocally combat the rise of anti-Semitism.”

Democratic leaders, including those who supported Mamdani and those who did not, praised the Democratic candidate for running a primary and general election campaign focused on the issue of affordability.

Mamdani’s key campaign promises include a plan to temporarily freeze rents for rent-stabilized housing in New York, make buses free in the city and raise taxes by 2% on the wealthiest New Yorkers.

National and state Republicans said Jeffries’ support amounted to the entire Democratic Party tying up with the Democratic Socialist candidate for mayor, suggesting that Mamdani and his agenda would be a campaign theme away from New York in next year’s midterm elections.

“So-called ‘leader’ Hakeem Jeffries has officially surrendered to Zohran Mamdani and the socialist mob that now runs the Democratic Party,” National Republican Congressional Committee spokesman Mike Marinella said in a statement. “Their far-left takeover has ignited Democrats’ hopes of taking back the House and turned their agenda into pure electoral poison. Every Democrat is a willing accomplice in the collapse of their own party.”