Zohran Mamdani’s supporters in Congress are calling for the Democratic Party to unite behind its nominee for New York City mayor, but they’re also not pressuring party leaders to endorse Mamdani.
“The message is Democratic unity,” Rep. Yvette Clarke said, later adding, “I’m a Democrat and I’m inclined to support the Democratic candidate.”
But Clarke stopped short of sharing her thoughts on whether House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer or New York Gov. Kathy Hochul — some of the nation’s highest-profile Democrats — should back Mamdani.
“That’s their personal decision and decisions they have to make with their constituencies,” she told NOTUS.
Rep. Adriano Espaillat, who endorsed former Gov. Andrew Cuomo in the primary but announced last week that he will support Mamdani in the general election, also doubled down on his support for the state assemblyman on Monday.
“He’s the nominee and I’m going to support him,” Espaillat told reporters. But he added that he didn’t want to “speak for others” when asked about his city colleagues.
While Jeffries, Schumer and Hochul have defended Mamdani against attacks from President Donald Trump — and against racist and Islamophobic rhetoric that emerged from members of Congress in both parties after his primary win — they’ve stopped short of endorsing him for November’s general election.
Jeffries is set to meet with Mamdani in New York City at the end of this week, he told reporters on Monday, though he did not specify if he will make an endorsement after the meeting.
It seems unlikely that Jeffries will back one of Mamdani’s opponents. Jeffries told reporters on Monday that he has “no plans” to have any conversations with Cuomo or with Mayor Eric Adams, who is running as an independent amid low approval ratings and unpopular policies.
Cuomo said Monday that he officially plans to stay in the race, running on the self-formed “Fight and Deliver” third-party line.
While sources familiar with his campaign told The New York Times that Cuomo will drop out in September if he is not the leading challenger against Mamdani, Cuomo did not say that in the video in which he announced he will continue his candidacy.
His announcement drew criticism from the lawmakers who have spent the New York City race so far calling out the former governor for his support from billionaires and his scandal-ridden career.
“Everyone has a right to run, and he will come before the voters and make his case,” Rep. Nydia Velázquez said. “But there is a contradiction … of trying to discuss affordability issues and then having a super PAC that was funded by billionaires.”
Cuomo could be a complicating factor in the race in many ways. Cuomo lost to Mamdani by more than 12 percentage points in the primary, but New York City holds closed primaries, and up to 1 million independents could vote in the general election. He has close ties to older voters and Black communities in the city, which experts have speculated could give him a leg up.
Even lawmakers who aren’t pushing party leaders to jump in for Mamdani are sensing the threat.
“There’s clearly some divides out there among the electorate. If there wasn’t, I don’t think you’d see Gov. Cuomo jump in,” Clarke said.
Still, Democratic leaders in Washington and New York have faced pressure to fall in line from local groups and leaders.
Multiple New York City chapters of the Democratic group Indivisible wrote a letter to Jeffries, Hochul, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, Schumer and state Democratic Party leader Jay Jacobs asking the Democrats to endorse Mamdani. “If we are to stand up to nefarious and compromised leaders like Eric Adams, we need to do so as a united front,” the letter read. Other progressive groups and politicians have echoed the sentiment.
In Congress, calls for a united front have been eclipsed by concerns about how Mamdani will combat antisemitism and the fact that he is a democratic socialist.
It’s led some members — like Rep. Dan Goldman, who told NOTUS that he had no comment on the race on Monday — to evade taking much of a stance at all, even amid larger calls for Democrats to come together on the national stage.
Mamdani’s strongest supporters in Congress have been trying to advocate for him with leaders.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who is hosting a breakfast event with Mamdani in Washington this week, wrote in a post on social media after the primary that Democrats should “unite and rise above our differences to support working people and welcome new, promising leaders.”
Velázquez, who endorsed Mamdani in the primary election along with two other Democratic candidates, echoed that sentiment to NOTUS on Monday.
“I think that it is important for them to have a conversation, so that we are on a path to unite the body and see where we can coalesce, and to respect that there might be disagreements, but our Democratic Party is a big tent,” Velázquez said.