House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries endorses Zohran Mamdani for mayor on Friday, solidifying Democratic support ahead of the election.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) endorsed Zohran Mamdani for New York City mayor Friday — ending a months-long will-he-or-won’t-he wait.
The Brooklyn congressman endorsed the Democratic mayoral front-runner in a statement to the New York Times, noting that while the two have “areas of principled disagreement,” the party needs to unite in the face of the “existential” threat from President Trump.
“Zohran Mamdani has relentlessly focused on addressing the affordability crisis and explicitly committed to being a mayor for all New Yorkers, including those who do not support his candidacy,” the top House Democrat wrote in the statement.
The move comes less than two weeks before the Nov. 4 election, and after Jeffries and other national Democratic leaders awkwardly avoided embracing Mamdani — a 34-year-old member of the Democratic Socialists of America — and his far-left agenda after his stunning primary victory in June.
But Jeffries’ reluctance appeared to thaw Thursday, when he told the Rev. Al Sharpton during an appearance on the civil rights leader’s radio show “Keepin’ It Real” that the endorsement would likely come Friday.
