Bernie Sanders throws support behind 33-year-old Assemblyman with South Asian roots and Muslim identity in Democratic mayoral primary.
The battle for New York City’s Democratic mayoral nomination has turned into a tight race between two candidates. Former New York governor Andrew Cuomo is holding onto a narrow lead, but Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani is closing the gap. According to The New York Times, a fresh poll from the Marist Institute released Wednesday highlights this growing competition.
The survey found that 38% of likely Democratic voters planned to rank Cuomo first on their ballots, while 27% picked Mamdani. When tested using the city’s ranked-choice voting system, Cuomo stayed ahead of Mamdani by 10 percentage points by the seventh round. With less than a week until the June 24 primary, the poll highlighted rising support for Mamdani 33, a democratic socialist with South Asian and Muslim roots running on a populist economic message.
In comparison to Marist’s survey in May, Mamdani cut Cuomo’s lead in half by rallying progressive voters and building Latino support.
So far about 132,000 Democrats have already voted in an election that’s likely to see around 1 million participants. Democratic primary winners dominate the general election, but this year’s contest feels harder to predict.
On Tuesday, Mamdani got a major lift when Senator Bernie Sanders backed his campaign, as reported by Fox News. Sanders, a prominent figure on the American Left and former presidential candidate, joined Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in supporting Mamdani. With endorsements from two of the nation’s most influential progressive voices, Mamdani’s campaign gained solid momentum.
“We need leaders with a fresh approach to politics who will challenge big corporations and stand up for the working class,” Sanders said. He pointed to Mamdani’s plans, which include creating 200,000 affordable homes freezing rents across the city, providing free public bus rides, cutting fines and fees for small businesses, and introducing universal childcare along with city-run grocery stores.
Sanders shared on X known as Twitter, “The status quo isn’t enough in these dangerous times,” and linked to Mamdani’s post announcing the endorsement.
