Socialist Zohran Mamdani boasts WFP endorsement in NYC mayor's race: ‘We are right where we want to be'
Socialist Zohran Mamdani boasted Saturday he's the lefty candidate who'll beat ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo in next month's Democratic mayoral primary — while taking a victory lap for scoring a key endorsement from the Working Families Party.
'We are right where we want to be,' crowed the Queens assemblyman during a Brooklyn rally surrounded by WFP supporters.
'We are clipping at his heels, and we are going to beat him on June 24,' added Mamdani in a reference to the upcoming Democratic primary. Mamdani is polling second, behind only Cuomo, in the highly contested race.
'We're going to do so because we've built the most competent campaign in this cycle.'
The Working Families Party, which will have its own line in November's general election, announced Friday Mamdani is their top choice heading into the Democratic primary.
Socialist Zohran Mamdani boasted Saturday he's the lefty candidate who'll beat ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo in next month's Democratic mayoral primary — while taking a victory lap for scoring a key endorsement from the Working Families Party.
Michael Nigro for NY Post
The far-left party — which is pushing a slate of candidates in the Democratic primary in hopes of defeating Cuomo through the city's rank-choice voting system — tapped City Comptroller Brad Lander as its second choice, City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams third and state Sens. Zellnor Myrie and Jessica Ramos fourth and fifth, respectively.
Primary voters can pick up to five candidates in ranked order for the race. Mamdani is the huge favorite to get the WFP line in November, assuming he or Cuomo wins the Democratic primary.
Mamdani told supporters to follow the WFP's guidance and rank the other preferred candidates in the order selected by party honchos, urging them: 'Remember not to rank Andrew Cuomo.'
Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo is still the favorite to win next month's NYC Democrat mayoral primary.
Andrew Schwartz / SplashNews.com
'Over the next 24 days, we will make it clear to New Yorkers that we are going to win the city that they deserve and that we are finally going to send Andrew Cuomo back to the suburbs,' he added.
A PIX 11/ Emerson College poll released Wednesday had Mamdani holding his own with Cuomo for 10 rounds of ranked-choice voting before being eliminated with a nine-point spread, 54.4% to 45.6%.
With less than a month to the primary, only a small fraction of voters appear to be up for grabs, with 3.5% of voters still undecided, according to the survey conducted May 23 to May 26.
'These are serious times and [New Yorkers] know Andrew Cuomo is the only candidate in this race with the management experience and record of results to fix what's broken and put the city back on the right track,' said Cuomo spokesman Rich Azzopardi.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
9 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Cuomo campaign attorney goes after union that criticized him
NEW YORK — Andrew Cuomo's campaign attorney recently threatened a union that endorsed one of his rivals, issuing a cease-and-desist letter over its criticisms of the frontrunning New York City mayoral candidate, according to a copy of the letter obtained by POLITICO. Longtime election lawyer Martin Connor admonished the Manhattan-based Communications Workers of America Local 1180, alleging its campaign literature made 'false and defamatory claims' against the former governor. The union endorsed Cuomo opponent Adrienne Adams, the City Council speaker who stands to draw some votes away from the former governor's base of Black Democrats. A super PAC backing Cuomo has handily outspent Adams — and every other candidate — with $8 million so far, according to the media tracking firm AdImpact. Adams is expected to begin airing ads soon, following a $2 million cash infusion from the city's Campaign Finance Board Friday. A filer posted to the union's website — dubbed the 'top 10 reasons' not to support Cuomo — matches the issues outlined in Connor's letter. Among the lawyer's complaints laid out in the May 26 missive: The flier accused the ex-governor of never having been a New York City resident, claimed he settled a Department of Justice probe over sexual harassment allegations, charged his gubernatorial administration with covering up nursing home deaths during Covid and said he allowed a high tax rate on wealthy people to expire. And Connor took issue with the group claiming Cuomo is not a 'friend' of workers. Politically influential unions 32BJ SEIU and the Hotel and Gaming Trades Council are among the labor groups backing Cuomo — despite calling for his 2021 resignation. Adams has the backing of the CWA local and District Council 37, the largest public-sector union in the city that boosted her for Council speaker and once employed her chief of staff. Additional assertions in the union's flier — including Cuomo's push for a less generous pension tier, cost-saving labor contracts and the taxpayer money spent to defend him against sexual harassment allegations — were omitted from the letter. Connor threatened to contact elections officials and state Attorney General Letitia James — a Cuomo foe and Adams backer — 'for your deceptive and misleading claims which may interfere with legitimate voters seeking to exercise their franchise free of this sort of misinformation.' Union President Gloria Middleton declined to comment 'under the advice of my attorney.' Adams' campaign also declined to comment. Cuomo's hardball tactics — honed over a half-century of working on campaigns — are well-known and oft-reviled in New York's political world. 'It's no surprise that Adreiene Adams and her supporters are willfully distorting and lying about the governor — they've been doing it the whole campaign,' Cuomo spokesperson Rich Azzopardi said. 'New Yorkers should not be fed misinformation by people seeking to represent them — they deserve the truth and will be fighting Trumpian misinformation tactics every step of the way using every tool at our disposal.' The letter is an aggressive effort by Cuomo to silence supporters of a rival candidate before the June 24 primary, which polls show he is expected to win. It also underscores how the former governor's campaign is taking a combative posture when countering the scandals that drove him from office four years ago. Cuomo has insisted he did not purposefully hide Covid nursing home fatalities, but his administration was later found to have undercounted the number of people who died in the facilities during the initial months of the pandemic. Cuomo, who has touted his Covid leadership on the campaign trail, is reportedly under a Department of Justice investigation after a Republican-led House panel alleged he lied under oath that he personally edited a state report on the matter. Cuomo has denied lying to Congress, and on Sunday said he and his attorneys have yet to be contacted about the probe. Some of Connor's complaints are valid; others focus on rhetoric that Cuomo's critics frequently hurl at him. Cuomo is a New York City native. He grew up in Queens, though he spent the last two decades living in Westchester County and Albany before moving to Manhattan ahead of his mayoral run. Contrary to the union's flier, the former governor was not party to a DOJ settlement which was reached with his successor, Gov. Kathy Hochul, and he's denied any wrongdoing. The debate over the so-called millionaire's tax is more nuanced. In 2011, Cuomo faced pressure on his left flank to maintain a high tax surcharge set to expire at the end of that year. Cuomo negotiated a compromise that resulted in a lower tax for wealthy people, but at a higher rate if the surcharge had been allowed to expire. Cuomo's critics at the time derided the deal as a giveaway to millionaires. He embraced higher taxes on rich New Yorkers in 2021, citing the financial toll from Covid. Cuomo battled with labor leaders early in his first term as governor. He pressed public-sector unions for cost-saving contracts amid a financial crunch and threatened mass layoffs if the savings weren't achieved. He eventually secured the deals he wanted.
Yahoo
9 minutes ago
- Yahoo
New York mayoral candidate takes plunge, dropping $2M into catchy roller coaster ad
NEW YORK — Brad Lander rides Coney Island's famed Cyclone roller coaster while calmly taking notes on a legal pad in the second television ad of his mayoral campaign, pitching himself as a steady choice and hoping to improve his third-place standing three weeks before the election. The campaign is dropping $2 million on the 30-second ad, which will air on broadcast and cable channels and streaming services from Tuesday through the June 24 primary, Lander campaign spokesperson Dora Pekec said. It opens by taking a shot at the front-runner in the Democratic primary, Andrew Cuomo, as well as the sitting mayor. 'New York City feels like a lot lately. It's been a wild ride,' a narrator says over footage of people riding the iconic wooden coaster. 'But it won't change if we just swap Eric Adams for corrupt Andrew Cuomo.' The ad touts Lander's record as New York City comptroller, saying he's fought corruption, built affordable housing and taken on President Donald Trump and Elon Musk for clawing back $80 million in migrant funding from the city. The ad also shows Lander's goofy side, as the 'dad-joke'-loving Democrat bounces back and forth in the coaster while calmly munching on a hot dog. Lander's new ride may draw derision from rivals. His first ad showed him riding in a construction truck, leading Cuomo's team to call him 'Junkyard Brad' and compare him to children's character 'Bob the Builder.' Coney Island is a popular location for candidates this year — comptroller hopeful Justin Brannan, who represents the neighborhood in the City Council, also recorded an ad with the Cyclone. And in 2021, mayoral candidate Andrew Yang made a splash with his own Cyclone ad. With three weeks until the primary, Lander is seeking to climb in the polls and find the momentum he needs to turn around his chances. The Working Families Party gave Zohran Mamdani its number-one ranked endorsement on Friday, despite its long and close relationship with Lander. Its leaders instead encouraged supporters to pick Lander second. Mamdani, a democratic socialist lawmaker, consistently outperforms Lander in polls. Lander's new advertisement doesn't mention Mamdani, but the message emphasizing his experience and steadiness appear designed to present a contrast with the 33-year old legislator, whose limited experience has become a vulnerability on the campaign trail. The $2 million ad spend will eat up most of the $2.8 million balance Lander's campaign reported late last month. His team has already reported spending $4.7 million — more than any of his opponents in the race. As a result, he's entering the final month with significantly less to spend than Cuomo and Mamdani.
Yahoo
9 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Massachusetts Governor demands answers after ICE arrests Milford High School student
Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey took to social media Sunday evening to demand answers after ICE agents arrested a high school student heading to volleyball practice over the weekend. The student, 18-year-old Marcelo Gomes, is a junior at Milford High School in Milford, Massachusetts. In her post, Healey says she is "disturbed and outraged" and that she wants answers immediately explaining why the student was taken into immigration enforcement's custody. "I'm demanding that ICE provide immediate information about why he was arrested, where he is and how his due process is being protected," she s. Blue State Governor Sounds Off About 'Disturbing' Ice Operations On Affluent Liberal Islands In the post she blames the Trump admin for what she describes as an attempt to create fear. Read On The Fox News App "The Trump Administration continues to create fear in our communities, and it's making us all less safe," her post states. In her statement, Healey claims that the student was detained on Saturday without any warning or subsequent explanation provided to state officials. "Yet again, local officials and law enforcement have been left in the dark with no heads up and no answers to their questions," she said. The community gathered to protest outside of Milford on Sunday. Hundreds demanded Gomes be set free and that ICE stop harassing members of their community. Dem Governor Backs Ice Arresting 'Criminals' Despite Vowing To Use 'Every Tool' Against Trump Deportations U.S. Rep. Jake Auchincloss, a Democrat who represents Milford in Congress, attended the protest and made note on X that Gomes was "enrolled in honors classes, a coaching assistant for girls volleyball [and] player for boys volleyball, and a member of the school band." "This administration has its public safety priorities backwards. It pardons cop-beaters from Jan. 6 but detains high-school volleyball players. It makes gun-purchaser background checks harder while pushing for tax breaks to buy silencers for pistols. This reckless behavior does not make the residents of Milford safer, and I stand with the community in support of law [and] order," he wrote. Milford School District Superintendent Kevin McIntyre says that Gomes' detention is one of many apprehensions to take place in the southern Massachusetts community. McIntyre says the district cannot take any role in immigration enforcement, but they will "support all of our students and families, including those who are immigrants to the United States." "They are members of the community, students in our classrooms, athletes that compete representing Milford, musicians, artists, friends, and neighbors. We will do everything in our power to support our students and families during these difficult times," he said in his statement. Sunday morning was Milford High School's graduation and Healey says a day of celebration has now been tarnished. "My heart goes out to the Milford community on what was supposed to be a celebratory graduation day," she article source: Massachusetts Governor demands answers after ICE arrests Milford High School student
