Democratic mayoral nominee and Assembly Member Zohran Mamdani.
Photo by Lloyd Mitchell
Democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani is making a number of changes to his campaign team as he shifts from his far-left underdog status in the primary to a Democratic nominee intent on uniting his big-tent party in the November general election.
Mamdani, who is currently on a two-week jaunt to his home country of Uganda, has hired Maya Handa as his new campaign manager, his team announced on Friday. Handa will lead Mamdani’s general election organization after serving in the same role on state Sen. Zellnor Myrie’s (D-Brooklyn) failed Democratic primary campaign.
“Thrilled to join @ZohranKMamdani‘s team & keep fighting to make New York City affordable for all!” Honda posted on X Friday afternoon.
Myrie finished in the second round of ranked-choice voting in the primary with just 1% of the vote. While he is also a progressive, Myrie clearly ran to Mamdani’s right during that race, showing that hiring Handa could be part of his strategy to appeal to more moderate voters.
Prior to running Myrie’s campaign, Handa was a senior adviser to progressive former Westchester and Bronx Rep. Jamaal Bowman — a close Mamdani ally. She was also “national pipeline director” at Run for Something, an organization that recruits and trains young people to enter electoral politics.
Mamdani’s previous campaign manager and current chief-of-staff in the Assembly, Elle Bisgaard-Church, is shifting to a new role as his “chief adviser,” his team said.
The campaign is also bringing on Afua Atta-Mensah, who holds and has held leadership roles at progressive organizations including Community Change and Community Voices Heard, as its new senior political director.
Deandra Khan, a senior adviser to 32BJ SEIU President Manny Pastreich, will be Mamdani’s “director of labor and intergovernmental affairs,” according to the campaign. In that role, Khan will manage the campaign’s relationships with labor unions and elected officials.
32BJ SEIU is one of the city’s most powerful labor unions, representing 185,000 building service workers across the five boroughs. The union pivoted to back Mamdani shortly after he trounced its endorsed candidate in the primary: former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who is running in the general election on an independent line.
Mamdani is also shaking up his campaign’s communications team.
His new press secretary is Dora Pekec, who served in the same role on city Comptroller Brad Lander’s failed primary campaign. Lander is close political allies with Mamdani, and many view their cross-endorsement during the primary as key to Mamdani’s victory.
Obama White House veteran Jeffrey Lerner joined as Mamdani’s new communications director earlier this month. He replaced Andrew Epstein, who is now overseeing the team that produces Mamdani’s viral social media videos.
The staffing changes appear to be part of Mamdani’s push to appeal to moderate Democrats as he stares down a general election field that includes Cuomo, incumbent Mayor Eric Adams, Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa, and independent attorney Jim Walden.
Mamdani has spent the weeks since the primary trying to win over establishment Democrats and the city’s business community, who have been hesitant to embrace him due to his socialist branding and platform that relies on raising taxes on the wealthy.
Last week, he met with the dozens of business and tech leaders in order to assuage their concerns about his candidacy. He also had a confab with Democratic House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, who has yet to endorse him, in the representative’s Brooklyn district last Friday.
U.S. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Gov. Kathy Hochul have also held off on endorsing Mamdani.
However, Mamdani has already picked up support from most of the city’s powerful labor unions and some institutional pols, including Rep. Adriano Espaillat (D-Manhattan/Bronx) and Brooklyn Democratic Party Chair Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn.