Democrats are in \u201cabsolute panic\u201d over Zohran Mamdani\u2019s stunning New York City Democratic mayoral primary win \u2014 fearing he could be \u201ctoxic\u201d for the party but worried about possible primary challenges if they don\u2019t endorse him, sources told The Post.<\/p>\n
Congressional Dems are \u201cafraid\u201d of Mamdani supporters setting up opponents to incumbents, including Reps. Dan Goldman, Jerry Nadler and even Grace Meng and Adriano Espaillat \u201ccould be a target,\u201d a New York Democratic source said Monday.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not hesitancy, it\u2019s absolute panic and fear \u2013 and fear that not only are\u00a0they saddled with (Gov.) Kathy Hochul\u2019s\u00a0very bad polling numbers, now they have to deal with the toxic impact of Zohran Mamdani in the outer boroughs and suburbs,\u201d the source said.<\/p>\n
Hochul, and the other Dem leaders, now find themselves in a bind and many have held off on publicly endorsing the mayoral nominee \u2014 nearly a week after he bested former Gov. Andrew Cuomo by 70,000 votes in the first round of the ranked-choice primary.<\/p>\n
Zohran Mamdani has not received support across the spectrum. Derek French\/SOPA Images\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n
The avowed socialist\u2019s shocking win has garnered national attention, sparking talk of a new, left-wing political movement in the Big Apple and beyond.<\/p>\n
While several top Democrats have congratulated Mamdani for the race he ran focused on affordability, many have hedged or dodged when asked about whether they would endorse him, including the governor.<\/p>\n
\u201cI mean, I\u2019m allowed to have all the conversations I want to make a decision,\u201d Hochul said when pressed about her decision on whether to endorse during an unrelated event Monday.<\/p>\n
Hochul said she had the \u201cfirst of what I consider being many conversations\u201d with Mamdani on Sunday.<\/p>\n
A source close to Hochul explained endorsing Mamdani could be toxic for the governor as she eyes re-election next year and needs to stay in moderate Democrats\u2019 and Republicans\u2019 good graces.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe can\u2019t endorse him. That\u2019ll be the election. She\u2019ll lose Long Island,\u201d the source said.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe has to be a middle-of-the-line Democrat to win. Not just her, but any national Dems who stand with Mamdani will have to answer for it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rep. Torres refused to endorse Mamdani on CNN Monday. Matthew McDermott<\/p>\n
She\u2019s not the only Dem worried about how Mamdani\u2019s socialist and anti-Israel stances could play outside the city.<\/p>\n
\u201cObviously we\u2019re not thrilled, but he won democratically, and fair and square and excited tons of new voters,\u201d a New York Democratic congressional staffer\u00a0said.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut yes there are concerns,\u201d the source said. \u201cHopefully he moderates.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mamdani, a virtual unknown Queens assemblyman when he launched his campaign last year, skyrocketed to political stardom running on a platform including free buses and childcare and taxing the ultra-wealthy and businesses to pay for it \u2013 though he would need the state legislature\u2019s approval. \u00a0<\/p>\n
But he\u2019s raised eyebrows and sparked outrage over comments about Israel, including repeatedly refusing to condemn the phrase \u201cglobalize the intifada\u201d as the conflict in Gaza drags on.<\/p>\n
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-Brooklyn)\u00a0declined to sign off on Mamdani<\/a>, calling on him to \u201cclarify\u201d his position on the use of the pro-Palestinian rallying cry many see as antisemitic.<\/p>\n Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer also has yet to publicly support Mamdani. <\/p>\n Gov. Hochul said she is having conversations with the Dem socialist. Susan Watts\/Office of Governor K<\/p>\n Fellow New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand has drawn scrutiny from Mamdani supporters for calling on him to denounce the \u201cglobalize the intifada\u201d phrase, saying she wasn\u2019t ready to endorse him yet.<\/p>\n Several Democrats in vulnerable battleground districts have also distanced himself from the Democratic nominee \u2014 potentially putting them on a collision course with lefty candidates in next year\u2019s primaries.<\/p>\n House Reps. Tom Suozzi and Laura Gillen, both of Long Island, have\u00a0outright criticized Mamdani.<\/a><\/p>\n A Democratic New York state lawmaker found cruel irony in the far-left\u2019s growing frustration over establishment pols not jumping to endorse Mamdani.<\/p>\n \u201cWhile I believe the establishment should rally around him, I find it rich that some of his supporters are shaming those that aren\u2019t \u2013 but didn\u2019t say a peep when angry Bernie Bros cost us the presidency in 2016,\u201d the pol, who did not want to be named, said \u2014 in reference to supporters of Sen. Bernie Sanders during his Democratic presidential primary run against Hilary Clinton. <\/p>\n \u201cThey can\u2019t have it both ways.\u201d<\/p>\n Other congressional Dems have also left voters wondering if they would officially back Mamdani, who will be on the general election ballot with GOP candidate Curtis Sliwa, Mayor Eric Adams, Attorney Jim Walden and Cuomo.<\/p>\n Mamdani has been pressed to condemn the phrase \u201cglobalize the intifada. Getty Images<\/p>\n Goldman, a Manhattan Democrat, sidestepped the question during the Pride March Sunday when asked by The Post<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ll see what happens,\u201d said Goldman, who previously said Mamdani has to make clear he\u2019d proactively take steps to protect Jewish New Yorkers against the rise of antisemitism. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Bronx Rep. Ritchie Torres\u00a0said on CNN Monday<\/a>: \u201cI have not endorsed the assemblyman, we spoke on Sunday and we had a mutually respectful conversation.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have profound differences of opinion,\u201d said Torres, a staunch Zionist who previously supported Cuomo. \u201cThere was no discussion of an endorsement, but there is a discussion of a commitment to continuing the dialogue.\u201d \u00a0<\/p>\n Every morning, the NY POSTcast <\/a>offers a deep dive into the headlines with the Post\u2019s signature mix of politics, business, pop culture, true crime and everything in between. Subscribe here!<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Mamdani\u2019s campaign has been reaching out to politicians and groups in hopes of broadening his support heading into November, according to sources.<\/p>\n Some elected officials have quickly gotten behind Mamdani, including Nadler (D-Manhattan) and state Attorney General Letitia James.<\/p>\n Queens Borough President Donovan Richards, who stayed neutral in the primary, said the candidate has contacted him to set up a meeting.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve seen the\u00a0slogans,\u201d he told The Post. \u201cI want to see tangible ways he can help Queens.\u201d<\/p>\n The city\u2019s Central Labor Council, AFL-CIO, which makes up 300 unions and 1 million members, announced Monday it overwhelmingly voted to endorse Mamdani following his primary win \u2014 a tough hit to both Cuomo and Adams.<\/p>\n Rep. Goldman is also not endorsing Mamdani yet. AP<\/p>\n Political consultant John Tomlin told The Post that Mamdani\u2019s comments on \u201cglobalize the intifada\u201d has made it harder to show the lefty love.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t think Mamdani is a hateful person, but it\u2019s really hard to present this image of equality among all people and defend a statement that is extremely hurtful to Jewish New Yorkers,\u201d said Tomlin, senior managing director at Actum.<\/p>\n He added the Republican Party will work to paint Mamdani as a \u201cbogeyman\u201d in hopes of hurting Dems nationwide.<\/p>\n \u201cThey did it to [former mayor Bill] de Blasio, they already doing it to Mamdani and they\u2019re gonna try paint every Democrat who has to run, particularly in the suburbs and win votes in the suburbs, they\u2019re gonna try to tie them to Mamdani as much as possible,\u201d Tomlin said.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u2014 Additional reporting by Carl Campanile, Ryan King and Steven Vago <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Democrats are in \u201cabsolute panic\u201d over Zohran Mamdani\u2019s stunning New York City Democratic mayoral primary win \u2014 fearing…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":29150,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5122],"tags":[5229,7033,7097,5371,5248,405,403,5226,5225,5228,5227,5341,80,67,586,132,5230,68,5621,1154,2969,5301],"class_list":{"0":"post-29149","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-democrats","10":"tag-endorsements","11":"tag-kathy-hochul","12":"tag-metro","13":"tag-new-york","14":"tag-new-york-city","15":"tag-newyork","16":"tag-newyorkcity","17":"tag-ny","18":"tag-nyc","19":"tag-nyc-mayoral-election-2025","20":"tag-politics","21":"tag-united-states","22":"tag-united-states-of-america","23":"tag-unitedstates","24":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","25":"tag-us","26":"tag-us-house-of-representatives","27":"tag-us-news","28":"tag-usa","29":"tag-zohran-mamdani"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114776550175026665","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29149","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=29149"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29149\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29150"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29149"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29149"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29149"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}