\u201cBut 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,\u201d wrote Hochul, a fellow Democrat. \u201cI heard a leader who is focused on making New York City affordable \u2014 a goal I enthusiastically support.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul speaks at a news conference, Feb. 20, 2025, in New York.<\/p>\n
(Julia Demaree Nikhinson \/ Associated Press)<\/p>\n
The stunning success of Mamdani, a 33-year-old democratic socialist, in the race for New York City mayor has exposed divisions within the Democratic Party as it struggles to repair its brand more than half a year into Donald Trump\u2019s presidency. Hochul\u2019s endorsement is the latest sign that Democratic leaders who had been skeptical of Mamdani\u2019s left-leaning views are beginning to consolidate around him. <\/p>\n
Mamdani thanked Hochul for the boost, saying it\u2019s a sign that \u201cour movement is growing stronger.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cGovernor Hochul has made affordability the centerpiece of her work. I look forward to fighting alongside her to continue her track record of putting money back in New Yorkers\u2019 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,\u201d Mamdani said in a statement Sunday night. \u201cI\u2019m grateful to the Governor for her support in unifying our party \u2014 as well as the work she\u2019s done standing up to President Trump, securing free lunch meals for our kids, and expanding access to childcare.\u201d<\/p>\n
In recent weeks, the other candidates in the race \u2014 former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, incumbent Mayor Eric Adams and Republican Curtis Sliwa \u2014 have intensified their criticism of Mamdani over his platform and past statements ahead of the city\u2019s general election in November.<\/p>\n
U.S. House Republican Leadership Chair Elise Stefanik, a New York congresswoman, said Hochul\u2019s endorsement is a sign that the governor is moving left to shore up falling poll numbers. <\/p>\n
\u201cAt 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 \u2014 once again putting criminals and communists first, and New Yorkers LAST,\u201d Stefanik said in a Sunday statement. <\/p>\n
Mamdani soundly defeated Cuomo in the Democratic primary. Cuomo has since relaunched his campaign as an independent. Adams, a Democrat, skipped the primary to run as an independent in November. Sliwa ran unopposed in the Republican primary.<\/p>\n
Hochul served as lieutenant governor to Cuomo and replaced him after he stepped down in 2021 following a barrage of sexual harassment allegations. He denied wrongdoing during the campaign, maintaining that the scandal was driven by politics.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NEW YORK\u00a0\u2014\u00a0Gov. Kathy Hochul on Sunday urged New Yorkers to vote for Zohran Mamdani for mayor of New…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":227658,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5122],"tags":[112157,5229,101639,5706,3153,8771,122950,46753,12176,405,403,6985,85824,5226,5225,16361,5228,5227,6176,122949,67,586,132,5230,68,2969,5301],"class_list":{"0":"post-227657","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york","8":"tag-affordability-crisis","9":"tag-america","10":"tag-big-city","11":"tag-cuomo","12":"tag-governor","13":"tag-hochul","14":"tag-late-sign","15":"tag-leader","16":"tag-mayor","17":"tag-new-york","18":"tag-new-york-city","19":"tag-new-york-times","20":"tag-new-yorkers","21":"tag-newyork","22":"tag-newyorkcity","23":"tag-november","24":"tag-ny","25":"tag-nyc","26":"tag-race","27":"tag-significant-endorsement","28":"tag-united-states","29":"tag-united-states-of-america","30":"tag-unitedstates","31":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","32":"tag-us","33":"tag-usa","34":"tag-zohran-mamdani"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115206005502659114","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/227657","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=227657"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/227657\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/227658"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=227657"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=227657"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=227657"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}