Hakeem Jeffries meets with Zohran Mamdani, but no endorsement yet for NYC mayor
NEW YORK − Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic nominee for New York City mayor, is still working to get endorsements from his party's leaders weeks after he upended Big Apple politics.
On July 18, the 33-year-old state assemblyman and democratic socialist met with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, a Brooklyn Democrat, Mamdani's campaign announced. They spoke for an hour in East New York, in Jeffries' congressional district.
Both gave lukewarm nods about the meeting as Jeffries, the top House Democrat, has yet to endorse a candidate for mayor following Mamdani's upset victory in the June Democratic primary. Staffers described their conversation as 'candid' and 'constructive,' focused on addressing affordability in the notoriously expensive city, which was Mamdani's central pitch to voters.
'Their hour-long conversation was candid and constructive, focused on the cost of living crisis facing New Yorkers and the importance of Democrats taking back the House in 2026,' Jeffrey Lerner, a spokesperson for Mamdani's campaign, said in a statement. 'As a next step, both agreed to reconvene soon with additional members of the New York City delegation, along with key community leaders.'
Mamdani's upset in the June 24 primary against former Gov. Andrew Cuomo sent shockwaves among New York's Democratic establishment. Like Jeffries, Gov. Kathy Hochul and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, who is from Brooklyn, haven't endorsed Mamdani.
'Leader Jeffries and Assemblyman Mamdani discussed a variety of other important issues, including public safety, rising antisemitism, gentrification and the importance of taking back the House in 2026,' Justin Chermol, a spokesperson for Jeffries, said in a statement.
Mamdani's July 18 meeting with Jeffries — at an undisclosed office space — came two days after Mamdani went to Washington, D.C. In the capital, Mamdani was joined by fellow democratic socialists Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Sen. Bernie Sanders, who are both icons of the Democrats' left wing and endorsed Mamdani in the primary.
Looking toward the November general election, Cuomo has opted to run as an independent, jockeying for a centrist lane against embattled Mayor Eric Adams, as they try to defeat Mamdani. All will face the Republican nominee for mayor, Curtis Sliwa, who has vowed not to drop out.
Eduardo Cuevas is based in New York City. Reach him by email at emcuevas1@usatoday.com or on Signal at emcuevas.01.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
20 minutes ago
- Yahoo
4 Blue States Where Energy Costs Could Go Up the Most Under Trump's ‘One Big Beautiful Bill'
The 'One Big Beautiful Bill' (OBBB), signed into law on July 4, contains policies that will increase oil and gas leasing and repeal clean energy tax credits. This will result in higher energy costs — costs that will be passed on to consumers. Wholesale electricity prices are expected to increase 25% by 2030 and 74% by 2035. Electricity rates paid by consumers are expected to increase between 9%-18% and household energy costs are anticipated to go up $170 annually by 2035. Find Out: Read Next: Many Republican-led states are expected to bear the brunt of higher energy costs primarily because, unlike some Democrat-led states, they generally don't have their own policies to develop renewable energy. But a few blue states should brace for impact. A new analysis by the Energy Innovation Policy & Technology, LLC found that four majority Democrat states will be among the 20 to see the biggest annual increases to household energy costs by 2035. 4. Colorado Annual energy cost increase per household by 2035: +$310 Learn More: 3. California Annual energy cost increase per household by 2035: +$320 2. Maryland Annual energy cost increase per household by 2035: +$350 1. Minnesota Annual energy cost increase per household by 2035: +$410 More From GOBankingRates 3 Reasons Retired Boomers Shouldn't Give Their Kids a Living Inheritance (And 2 Reasons They Should) This article originally appeared on 4 Blue States Where Energy Costs Could Go Up the Most Under Trump's 'One Big Beautiful Bill'
Boston Globe
21 minutes ago
- Boston Globe
Republicans and Democrats call for more information on Epstein case
Trump and many of his allies vowed to release a trove of files in the case, including a so-called 'client list' that many involved in the case insist never existed. But the release of some documents earlier this year offered no new revelations. And the Justice Department said this month that it had closed the case and would not release more documents, concluding that there was no client list. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up One of Epstein's former lawyers, Alan Dershowitz, said in an interview on 'Fox News Sunday' that the grand jury testimony was unlikely to contain the information that has most interested Trump's supporters. Advertisement Trump has encouraged his base to move on. But the backlash seemed to be on his mind Sunday morning, when he accused 'Radical Left Democrats' of exposing the 'Jeffrey Epstein Hoax.' Burchett also took up Trump's argument Sunday, saying that Democrats had the chance to release the materials when former president Joe Biden was in office. Advertisement At the same time, Burchett is one of 10 Republicans who have signed on to an effort to force a vote on whether the administration should release the files. The procedural maneuver would require a majority of House members, and Burchett said he was not sure if it would succeed. 'I have no earthly idea,' he said on CNN. 'You know this town buries secrets.' Democrats in Congress have seized on the divide that has opened up between Trump and his supporters, trying to force votes on measures that call for the release of Epstein-related files and pressing for hearings. They have rejected Trump's efforts to redirect the blame to them. 'The president blaming Democrats for this disaster, Jake, is like that CEO that got caught on camera blaming Coldplay,' said Senator Amy Klobuchar, Democrat of Minnesota, to CNN's Jake Tapper, referring to a viral video that showed the married CEO of a tech company with his arms around a woman who is not his wife. Klobuchar, instead blamed the public's clamoring for the files on right-wing politicians, including Trump, who she said had sown distrust in federal prosecutors over the case. 'People have a reason that they want to know what's in there,' Klobuchar said. 'They believe the president when he said there's stuff in there that people should see.' Several former federal prosecutors told the Associated Press that the Justice Department request to unseal grand jury transcripts in the prosecutions of Epstein and his former girlfriend, imprisoned British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell, is unlikely to produce much, if anything, to satisfy the public's appetite for new revelations about the financier's crimes. Advertisement Attorney Sarah Krissoff, an assistant US attorney in Manhattan from 2008 to 2021, called the request 'a distraction.' 'The president is trying to present himself as if he's doing something here and it really is nothing,' Krissoff told the Associated Press in a weekend interview. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche made the request Friday, asking judges to unseal transcripts from grand jury proceedings that resulted in indictments against Epstein and Maxwell, saying 'transparency to the American public is of the utmost importance to this Administration.' Krissoff and Joshua Naftalis, a Manhattan federal prosecutor for 11 years before entering private practice in 2023, said grand jury presentations are purposely brief. Naftalis said Southern District prosecutors present just enough to a grand jury to get an indictment but 'it's not going to be everything the FBI and investigators have figured out about Maxwell and Epstein.' 'People want the entire file from however long. That's just not what this is,' he said, estimating that the transcripts, at most, probably amount to a few hundred pages. 'It's not going to be much,' Krissoff said, estimating the length at as little as 60 pages 'because the Southern District of New York's practice is to put as little information as possible into the grand jury.' 'They basically spoon feed the indictment to the grand jury. That's what we're going to see,' she said. 'I just think it's not going to be that interesting. ... I don't think it's going to be anything new.' This article originally appeared in
San Francisco Chronicle
21 minutes ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
Kansas Republican senate president announces 2026 gubernatorial bid
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas Senate President Ty Masterson entered the race for governor on Sunday as the 2026 Republican primary field gets more crowded. Republicans are keen to recapture the governor's office in GOP-leaning Kansas after Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly narrowly won a second four-year term in 2022. Kelly is term-limited and cannot run again. Masterson, a small-business owner, has been a state senator representing a district in eastern Kansas since 2009. He became Senate president in 2021. He previously served in the Kansas House of Representatives from 2005 to 2008. Other Republicans in the 2026 governor's race include Secretary of State Scott Schwab, who built his public profile pushing back against unfounded election conspiracy theories, and former Gov. Jeff Colyer. Colyer was elevated to the office for about a year in 2018 after former Gov. Sam Brownback resigned. He failed to get past the primary in that year's gubernatorial election, then entered the 2022 governor's race but dropped out early after being diagnosed with prostate cancer.
