Zohran Mamdani, who holds a lead in polling ahead of New York City’s mayoral election on Tuesday, reportedly received a call on Saturday from his fellow Democrat Barack Obama – and the former president offered to be a “sounding board” if his advantage turns into victory.
Obama also praised the campaign Mamdani had run against his main independent rival, former New York governor Andrew Cuomo, and the Republican nominee, Curtis Sliwa.
The call was first reported by the New York Times and then confirmed to Reuters by Mamdani’s spokesperson.
“Zohran Mamdani appreciated President Obama’s words of support and their conversation on the importance of bringing a new kind of politics to our city,” Mamdani’s spokesperson, Dora Pekec, said.
Mamdani, a Uganda-born state assembly member, has polled well ahead of Cuomo and Sliwa before Tuesday’s general election. A recent Atlas poll estimated Mamdani (40%) had about a six-point edge over Cuomo (34%) and a 16-point advantage over Sliwa (24%).
Cuomo, who resigned as governor amid sexual harassment allegations, is running as an independent after losing to Mamdani in the Democratic primary. Sliwa is the founder of the Guardian Angels, a non-profit organization dedicated to unarmed crime prevention.
Mamdani, a democratic socialist, shocked political observers on 24 June with a convincing victory in the primary. Since then, his candidacy has won endorsements from party holdouts such as former vice-president Kamala Harris and the New York governor, Kathy Hochul, and he has received a steady stream of financial backing from small donors.
Mamdani’s policies range from hiking taxes on New York City’s wealthiest, raising the corporation tax, freezing stabilized apartment rental rates and increasing publicly subsidized housing. The finance community has expressed concerns that the city’s competitiveness will suffer if Mamdani wins the mayoral election.
Meanwhile, his rise is a two-sided coin for Democrats on the national stage, who know they need to appeal to young voters but could become more vulnerable to Republican attacks due to Mamdani’s criticism of Israel and his democratic socialism.
Mamdani was out late into the night on Saturday dropping in on bars and nightclubs campaigning, with Sunday marking the last day of early voting, as the New York Times reported. One video reported on by the Times showed him standing behind a DJ booth and saying into a microphone, “Are we ready to beat Andrew Cuomo?” He was met with cheers, the video showed.
For his part, Obama on Saturday rallied alongside the New Jersey Democratic gubernatorial candidate, Mikie Sherrill, who is competing in a closely contested race against Republican Jack Ciattarelli. He also attended a rally for the Virginia Democratic gubernatorial candidate, Abigail Spanberger.
Reuters contributed to this report
