With the United States—and the Democratic Party—facing a "fundamental choice" between politics dominated by corporations and billionaires or by the needs of ordinary Americans, U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders on Tuesday said that for 8 million people in New York City, there is "a clear choice as to the path forward."
With one week left until voting ends in the city's Democratic mayoral primary, the senator announced his endorsement for progressive Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani.
"Status quo politics is not good enough."
"How does New York effectively address the crises in affordable housing, education, crime, drugs, transportation, childcare, and many more?" said Sanders (I-Vt.) in a statement. "The answers will not be easy, but one thing I do know: They will not be solved by a Democratic establishment dependent on super PACs funded by billionaires who could care less about the needs of working families. We need a new politics and new leadership which is prepared to stand up to powerful corporate interests and fight for the working class."
The senator applauded Mamdani's push for free public buses, cutting fees for small businesses, and investments in citywide mental health services, which he plans to pay for "by asking corporations and the richest 1% of New Yorkers to pay their fair share in taxes."
Sanders' endorsement came two days after Mamdani joined Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) at a rally where the mayoral candidate said the election "isn't just about the future of our city, it's about the future of our democracy, whether billionaires and massive corporations can simply buy our elections."
"We know that this movement is more powerful than their money," he said.
Disgraced former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who resigned in 2021 over numerous sexual harassment allegations, has been leading in polls ahead of the primary, but a survey from Public Policy Polling showed Mamdani, who has focused his campaign on making the nation's largest city affordable for working people, in the lead last week.
Cuomo's lead has also narrowed considerably in other polls as Mamdani has called for a rent freeze for the city's 2 million residents who live in rent-stabilized apartments, a network of city-owned grocery stores to keep grocery prices low, no-cost childcare, and other policies aimed at making life in one of the nation's most expensive cities more affordable.
Corporate and real estate interests have ramped up spending against Mamdani as he's gained momentum and harshly rebuked Cuomo in public statements and debates, attacking the former governor's numerous past scandals, cuts he made to Medicaid, and his March 2020 policy of requiring nursing homes to admit patients who had tested positive for Covid-19.
Sanders noted that Mamdani "is funding his campaign largely through small-dollar donations, including more than 27,000 individual contributions."
Mamdani has also signaled strong opposition to President Donald Trump's mass deportation agenda, directly confronting border czar Tom Homan about immigration agents' abduction of Columbia University organizer Mahmoud Khalil, while Cuomo recently urged New Yorkers not to "overreact" with protests against Immigration and Customs Enforcement, even as he said the agency is "going to do things that are illegal and unconstitutional."
While the mayoral election will directly impact a relatively small number of Americans, progressive organizer Corbin Trent wrote in a column at Common Dreams on Saturday that "all change starts somewhere."
"This is where we find out if Democrats will transform or keep managing democracy's decline while the world burns," he wrote. "The clock's ticking."
"Every crisis we face—from troops in our streets to endless wars to families who can't afford basics—comes from the same source: a political system that serves power instead of people," Trent added. "Zohran represents a chance to try something different. That's why his potential success terrifies them more than Trump's authoritarianism. Fascists don't threaten their consulting contracts. Politicians who might actually deliver for working people do."
Warning that the U.S. faces a "pivotal and dangerous moment" in its history, Sanders said Tuesday that "status quo politics is not good enough."
"We need the kind of visionary leadership that Zohran is providing in this campaign," said the senator. "In my view, Zohran Mamdani is the best choice for mayor of New York City."
