Last month, a few days after the Primary Democrat mayor of New York, the minority head of the Hakeem Jeffries room, Dn.y., sat on an interview with ABC News. When asked if he would approve of the Zohran Mamdani state assembly in the general elections after Mamdani has indeed won the primary in a shocking upheaval, Jeffries refused. “We don’t really know each other,” said the Congress member. But he added that he impatiently awaited a “seated” with Mamdani to clarify his vision and his positions on various questions.
Jeffries and Mamdani had this seat on Friday, but thereafter, the Democratic chief has always refused to approve the Democratic candidate to the mayor of New York, who includes the Jeffries congress district. Politico reported that Mamdani had left the meeting on Friday “about an hour later with only the promise of another meeting”.
Mamdani clearly knows how to exploit Cuomo’s weaknesses.
Jeffries and a few other best Democrats in New York, including the leader of the Senate minorities, Chuck Schumer, and Governor Kathy Hochul, continue to retain the official mentions of their party candidate for the mayor, even if Mamdani won more votes than any candidate throughout the primary in New York history. It is indeed a tactic of pressure on Mamdani to moderate his positions after having run as a democratic socialist proud and refuse to retreat from his criticisms of Israel.
While the deputy is preparing for the general elections, more mentions of Democratic leaders would certainly not hurt in a competition which includes two eminent democrats – the former governor of New York Andrew Cuomo and the mayor of New York Eric Adams – operating as independent.
But Mamdani probably doesn’t need Jeffries and the company’s mentions to win the race. The absence of their endorsements could, theoretically, give it a slight boost by rejecting its devoted base.
After starting the year with the recognition of the name of Little Citywide, Mamdani is largely considered to be the favorite of the race and constantly leads the polls. He will be registered on the Democratic Party line in November, in an extremely blue city, after winning a primary which is widely considered as the de facto general elections. And in this competitive and overcrowded election, he beat his opponents, beating Cuomo 12 points during the classified vote.
Mamdani therefore clearly knows how to exploit Cuomo’s weaknesses. As for his other opponents in the general elections, Adams is deeply unpopular in New York. The Republican candidate, Curtis Sliwa, is not a serious threat to a democratic city and was bombed in the last elections. In addition, Mamdani’s three opponents are likely to eat in the part of each other’s votes as they argue to monopolize the position of defending New York against socialism.
Mamdani would also have more to fear from Schumer and others could not support him if he was not winning any Approval of Democrats. However, he has the support of several New York Democrats, including representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and representative Jerrold Nadler, one of the most eminent Jewish leaders in the city. Mamdani also won powerful unions that had approved Cuomo in the Democratic primary, as well as local parties organizations.
If Jeffries and other best democrats finally refuse to have the new rising star of their party approved, that could only make an additional confirmation at the Mamdani base – which includes a huge army of volunteers – that it is the real business. And he would cement the anti-Establishment aura which catapulted him to his first victory.
