New York City Mayoral Candidate Zohran Mamdani has thanked New York Gov. Kathy Hochul for her endorsement of his candidacy, but did not include in his comments an endorsement of her for another term as governor.
“I’m grateful for the Governor’s support in unifying our party, her resolve in standing up to Trump, and her focus on making New York affordable,” Mamdani said in an internet post. “I look forward to the great work we will accomplish together. Our movement is only growing stronger.”
Mamdani’s comment stood in sharp contrast to the reaction from President Trump, who raised the possibility of withholding federal funds from the city while characterizing Hochul’s endorsement of Mamdani as shocking.
“This is a rather shocking development, and a very bad one for New York City,” Trump wrote in an internet post. “How can such a thing happen? Washington will be watching this situation very closely. No reason to be sending good money after bad!”
Hochul wrote an opinion piece for The New York Times in which she endorsed Mamdani.
“In the past few months, I’ve had frank conversations with him,” Hochul wrote. “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. I heard a leader who is focused on making New York City affordable — a goal I enthusiastically support.”
While Hochul did not mention Mamdani’s plan to raise taxes on rich people, she did bring up antisemitism and supporting the New York Police Department.
“I’ve been glad to see him meet with Jewish leaders across the city, listening and addressing their concerns directly,” Hochul wrote. “I look forward to working together to make sure New Yorkers of all faiths feel safe and welcome in New York City.”
A Marist Poll released Sept. 16 shows that Mamdani leads his closest competitor for mayor, Andrew Cuomo, among likely voters by 21 points. Mamdani gets 45% support, Cuomo receives 24% and Curtis Sliwa receives 17%. Current Mayor Eric Adams receives only 9% support and 5% are undecided.
Mamdani receives majority support (58%) among Democrats likely to vote while Cuomo only receives 23% from this group. Sliwa has similar support (54%) among Republicans. The Marist Poll found that if Adams were to drop out of the contest, Mamdani would receive 46% of likely voters’ support compared with 30% for Cuomo and 18% for Sliwa. In a hypothetical two-way contest between Mamdani and Cuomo, 49% of likely voters would support Mamdani, and 39% would back Cuomo. Seven percent would vote for another candidate, and 5% say they would be undecided.
Regardless of the candidate they support, 63% of likely voters citywide believe Mamdani will win the election, 20% believe Cuomo will win, 7% think Adams would win and 6% believe Sliwa will win.
The Marist Poll found that 55% of New York City adults think the quality of life in the city has gotten worse in the last year, while 13% believe it has gotten better, and 16% say the city’s quality of life has stayed the same. At the same time, 88% of adults citywide say the city is either not very affordable or not affordable at all. Only 12% of residents believe it is affordable or very affordable.
