Sept. 15 (UPI) — With less than two months before the New York City mayoral election, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has endorsed fellow Democrat Zohran Mamdani to lead the city.
Hochul, also a Democrat, issued her endorsement Sunday, penning a New York Times opinion piece.
“The question of who will be the next mayor is one I take extremely seriously and to which I have devoted a great deal of thought,” she said.
“I am endorsing Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani.”
Mamdani is the frontrunner in the four-person race that includes incumbent Mayor Eric Adams and former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo running as independents and Republican Curtis Sliwa.
Recent polling shows Mamdani has 43% of the support of respondents compared to 28% for Cuomo.
The New York State assemblyman is a democratic socialist democrat who is campaigning on a platform to implement a rent freeze, make bus transit free, offer free childcare for those aged 6 weeks to 5 years and raise the corporate tax rate while taxing the wealthiest New Yorkers a flat 2% tax.
In her essay, Hochul said they discussed several issues, including the New York Police Department, which, according to Hochul, they agreed on the importance of ensuring strong leadership.
The announcement came days after Mamdani told The New York Times in an interview that he intended to apologize for a comment he made in 2020 calling the NYPD “racist,” among other insults.
Hochul also said that New York needs leaders who are willing to put aside their differences in order to stand up against President Donald Trump.
“Mr. Mamdani and I will both be fearless in confronting the president’s extreme agenda — with urgency, conviction and the defiance that defines New York,” the governor said.
“And we must never allow Mr. Trump to control our city like the king he wants to be. Anyone who accepts his tainted influence or benefits from it is compromised from the start.”
Mamdani, in a statement on X, on Sunday night thanked Hochul for her endorsement, saying he is grateful for the governor’s support “in unifying our party, her resolve in standing up to Trump and her forces on making New York affordable.
“I look forward to the great work we will accomplish together,” he said.
“Our movement is only growing stronger.”