Faith Leaders Can Now Endorse. Will That Swing the N.Y.C. Mayor's Race?
'Weeping may endure for the night, but joy comes in the morning,' Mr. Mamdani said, a reference to Psalm 30:5, a scripture that is especially popular in Black churches. 'And it has been night for far too long in this city.'
Mr. Mamdani did not come to the gathering on June 28, for the National Action Network, explicitly seeking an endorsement from the faith leaders in the crowd. But under a new rule change from the I.R.S., he and his opponents in the mayoral race may be able to secure one without tax repercussions.
The I.R.S. said in a court filing last week that houses of worship could endorse political candidates to their congregations without losing their tax-exempt status. The move was initially seen as the agency's formal termination of a longstanding but spottily enforced rule against campaigning from the pulpit.
But in New York, the ruling could also open up a new front in the city's heated mayoral race, offering candidates the chance to formally consolidate support from not only faith leaders but their congregations.
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