Hakeem Jeffries endorses Zohran Mamdani for NYC mayor after 3-month wait

It took four months, but one of New York’s top Democrats has finally endorsed the Democratic candidate for mayor of New York City Zahran Mamdani.

As Election Day approached, Minority Leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries of New York, the top Democrat in the US House of Representatives, on Friday announced his support for Mamdani, the 33-year-old social Democratic state representative from the New York City borough of Queens, in a move Statement to the New York Times.

“Zahran Mamdani has been relentlessly focused on addressing the affordability crisis and has explicitly committed to serving as mayor for all New Yorkers, including those who do not support his candidacy,” Jeffries said.

“In that spirit, I support him and the entire Democratic ticket citywide in the general election,” Jeffries added.

Mamdani gets crucial endorsement in mayoral showdown in New York City

Democratic Socialist candidate Zahran Mamdani, who won the Democratic primary for mayor of New York City, speaks at a DC 37 union endorsement event on July 15, 2025, in New York City. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

Jefferies acknowledged in his statement that he had “areas of principled disagreement” with Mamdani.

Jeffries, whose district covers much of neighboring Brooklyn, became the second major New York State Democrat to endorse Mamdani, following his endorsement in late September from New York’s governor. Cathy Hochul.

Jeffries’ endorsement comes the day before early voting begins in New York City on Saturday.

The top two Democrats in the New York State Legislature supported Mamdani days after the governor announced her support.

Jeffries and Hochul’s endorsements could put intense pressure on the longtime Democratic senator. Chuck Schumer New Yorker, the Senate’s top Democrat, also wants to support Mamdani in the election in just over a week.

Mamdani shocked the political world last June with his convincing victory over the former New York governor. Andrew Cuomo And nine other candidates for the Democratic nomination for mayor of the country’s most populous city.

If elected, Ugandan-born Mamdani would become the first Muslim and first millennial mayor of the country’s most populous city. He is the favorite candidate in the latest public opinion polls in the mayoral race in the city dominated by Democrats.

Mamdani has a double-digit lead over Cuomo as of late New York City Public opinion polls.

Trump reveals a new title for Mamdani

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., speaks during his weekly news conference in Washington, D.C., on May 13, 2025. (Nathan Posner/Anadolu/Getty Images)

Guardian Angels co-founder Curtis Sliwa, who has become the Republican mayoral candidate in the Democratic-controlled city for the second election in a row, is a distant third in the polls.

The current mayor of New York, the embattled incumbent Eric AdamsHe had decided to run as an independent but announced late last month that he would not continue in office amid weak polls. president Donald Trump Consultants have floated management roles for both mayoral candidates.

This week, Adams endorsed Cuomo, even though the two repeatedly clashed earlier this year on the campaign trail.

Poll Position: How far is Mamdani ahead in the New York City mayoral race?

New York City mayoral candidates, from left to right: Zahran Mamdani, Eric Adams, Andrew Cuomo, Curtis Sliwa. (Getty Images)

Mamdani won the Democratic primary thanks to an energetic campaign that focused heavily on affordability and the high cost of living in New York City. He was backed by a huge grassroots army of supporters and support from major national progressive champions, including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez from New York and Senator Bernie Sanders from Vermont.

Mamdani made smart use of social media platforms, including TikTok, where he successfully engaged low-propensity voters. He proposed eliminating ride fares on New York City’s massive bus system, making the City University of New York “tuition-exempt,” freezing municipal housing rents, offering “free child care” for children up to age five and creating government-run grocery stores.

Mamdani has been harshly criticized by his rivals for his far-left platform, as well as his verbal attacks on Israel, his past critical comments about the New York City Police Department (NYPD), and his proposal to shift some responsibilities away from the NYPD and focus on social services and community programs.

“Assembly Member Mamdani promised to focus on keeping all New Yorkers safe, including the Jewish community that has faced a staggering rise in anti-Semitic incidents, as well as Black and Latino neighborhoods that have suffered from deadly gun violence for years,” Jeffries said in his statement on Friday.

Trump, a native New Yorker who now calls Florida home, has mocked Mamdani since his primary win as a “communist,” and earlier this month coined a new derogatory epithet.

“I call him my little communist,” Trump said during an extensive interview with Fox News on “Fox & Friends.” He’s the mayor of my little communist country.

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Republicans have worked overtime over the past three months to install a mayoral candidate among vulnerable Democrats in Congress who are up for re-election in next year’s midterm elections.

“Leader” Hakeem Jeffries has just knelt before the socialist left, and now the only place he is leading his party is down a cold, dark tunnel toward electoral humiliation. Every Democrat who owns the socialist agenda is now a willing accomplice in their party’s collapse.” Republican Congressional Committee National Press Secretary Mike Marinella told Fox News Digital in a statement.

Jeffries met Mamdani for the first time in July, and then they met for a second time last month. While Jeffries praised Mamdani’s focus on affordability during the campaign, neither meeting resulted in his endorsement.

Most House Democrats, including many progressives, have given Jeffries too much latitude and declined to criticize his lack of support.

One exception is Ocasio-Cortez, who said earlier this summer that “we use primaries to settle our differences, and once we have a nominee, we rally behind that nominee.”

Likewise, Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, a former House Democrat, criticized congressional leaders for failing to rally around Mamdani.

While Jeffries joined Hochul in endorsing Mamdani, New York State Democratic Party Chairman Jay Jacobs said that he — as an individual — would not endorse his party’s mayoral candidate.

Democratic Rep. Tom Suozzi, whose suburban swing congressional district includes a small portion of Queens, had previously announced he would not support Mamdani.

Rumors of the endorsement on Friday drew immediate criticism from Republicans, suggesting that Jeffries is giving in to pressure from his far-left base to endorse Mamdani despite his socialist policies that will almost certainly become a target during next year’s midterm elections.

“Hakeem bends the knee!!!” Maureen O’Toole, Eastern Regional Press Secretary for the Republican National Congressional Committee, Published on X.