{"id":545474,"date":"2026-01-26T22:59:11","date_gmt":"2026-01-26T22:59:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/545474\/"},"modified":"2026-01-26T22:59:11","modified_gmt":"2026-01-26T22:59:11","slug":"ny-dem-hopefuls-who-dodged-publicly-aligning-with-mamdani-now-welcome-backing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/545474\/","title":{"rendered":"NY Dem hopefuls who dodged publicly aligning with Mamdani now welcome backing"},"content":{"rendered":"

At least two Dem candidates seeking to challenge<\/a> GOP\u00a0Rep. Mike Lawler in New York City\u2019s suburbs now say they\u2019d welcome an endorsement from\u00a0far-left Big Apple Mayor Zohran Mamdani \u2014 after previously ducking the issue<\/a>.<\/p>\n

New York congressional hopeful Effie Phillips Staley was filmed Jan. 13 \u2014 two weeks after Mamdani\u2019s inauguration \u2014 covering her face and refusing to answer when asked about a potential Mamdani endorsement by someone in a Republican group outside a candidates\u2019 forum.<\/p>\n

But her campaign has since told The Post she\u2019s on board with Mamdani\u2019s potential backing \u2014 even boasting that her affordability platform is similar to that of the Democratic Socialist mayor, who stunningly swept into office with his November election win.<\/p>\n

At least two Dem candidates seeking to challenge GOP\u00a0Rep. Mike Lawler now say they\u2019d welcome an endorsement from\u00a0Mayor Zohran Mamdani after previously ducking the issue. James Messerschmidt<\/p>\n

Congressional hopeful Effie Phillips Staley was filmed two weeks after Mamdani\u2019s inauguration, refusing to answer about a potential Mamdani endorsement, but her campaign has since said she\u2019s on board with his potential backing. Instagram\/effieforcongress<\/p>\n

\u201c\u201cZohran Mamdani created genuine excitement within the Democratic Party, and expanded the electorate in a way that no other establishment Democrat seems willing to do,\u201d Phillips Staley\u2019s campaign gushed in a statement.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe did it by connecting with working people who are fed up with government policies that benefit the ultra-wealthy and well-connected at the expense of everyone else.<\/p>\n

\u201cEffie\u2019s agenda, which includes a cash assistance program for first time home buyers, universal childcare from birth to kindergarten and an end to ICE\u2019s terror, comes from the same philosophy that got Mamdani elected: create a government that serves people first, not the ultra rich and special interests,\u201d her camp said.<\/p>\n

Another Democratic candidate, Peter Chatzky, also had previously dodged questions about a Mamdani endorsement outside the Jan. 13 event but then told The Post on Sunday, \u201cI probably would [accept Mamdani\u2019s backing]. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s energetic He ran a very impressive campaign,\u201d Chatzky said. \u201cHe focused on affordability. It\u2019s a problem in [Lawler\u2019s] district as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 17th House District runs through Rockland County, portions of northern Westchester County and parts of Putnam, and Dutchess counties.<\/p>\n

\u201cI probably would [accept Mamdani\u2019s backing],\u201d candidate Peter Chatzky, who had previously dodged questions about a Mamdani endorsement, said. Facebook\/Peter Chatzky For Congress<\/p>\n

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Another candidate, Beth Davidson, reached Sunday, still kept her distance from Mamdani.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not seeking endorsements from elected officials from New York City,\u201d Davidson said.<\/p>\n

But Lawler\u2019s campaign pounced on those who did.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not seeking endorsements from elected officials from New York City,\u201d Beth Davidson (right) said. Facebook\/Beth Davidson<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s time for every Democrat candidate in NY-17 to join Congressman Lawler in rebuking Zohran Mamdani or join Effie Phillips in embracing him and his extreme agenda,\u201d Lawler campaign manager Ciro Ricccardi said. CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u201cEffie Phillips is a radical leftist, but at least she has the guts to admit it publicly,\u201d said Lawler campaign manager Ciro Ricccardi.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s time for every Democrat candidate in NY-17 to join Congressman Lawler in rebuking Zohran Mamdani or join Effie Phillips in embracing him and his extreme agenda. Hudson Valley voters deserve a straight answer.\u201d<\/p>\n

During the Jan. 13 forum hosted by the left-wing activist group Indivisible, a Republican political attendee had asked five candidates if they would welcome a Mamdani endorsement.<\/p>\n

Four of the five declined to comment at all, and one other gave a vague answer.<\/p>\n

Mamdani\u2019s camp did not respond to a Post request for comment Monday.<\/p>\n

The lower Hudson Valley seat is considered a swing district.<\/p>\n

The non-partisan Cook Political Report recently changed the rating <\/a>for the Lawler seat from \u201clean Republican\u201d in November to \u201ctoss-up.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"At least two Dem candidates seeking to challenge GOP\u00a0Rep. Mike Lawler in New York City\u2019s suburbs now say…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":545475,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5122],"tags":[5229,17543,5248,239993,22809,405,403,5226,5225,5228,5227,80,67,586,132,5230,68,5621,1154,2969,5301],"class_list":{"0":"post-545474","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-hudson-valley","10":"tag-metro","11":"tag-midterm-elections-2026","12":"tag-mike-lawler","13":"tag-new-york","14":"tag-new-york-city","15":"tag-newyork","16":"tag-newyorkcity","17":"tag-ny","18":"tag-nyc","19":"tag-politics","20":"tag-united-states","21":"tag-united-states-of-america","22":"tag-unitedstates","23":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","24":"tag-us","25":"tag-us-house-of-representatives","26":"tag-us-news","27":"tag-usa","28":"tag-zohran-mamdani"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115963885410338782","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/545474","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=545474"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/545474\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/545475"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=545474"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=545474"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=545474"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}