National Climate Group Endorses 'Working-Class Champion' Zohran Mamdani for NYC Mayor

In a first for the national branch of the youth climate group, the Sunrise Movement announced Tuesday that they have endorsed state Assemblymember and democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani in the New York City mayoral race, citing his "bold vision" for confronting the climate emergency and his campaign's focus on making the city more affordable for working people.

The national Sunrise Movement has not previously offered a mayoral endorsement, according to a spokesperson for the group. Their support for Mamdani follows an earlier endorsement of him by Sunrise Movement NYC in March.

"Zohran embodies the kind of bold, people-powered leadership that Sunrise was built to fight for," said Aru Shiney-Ajay, executive director of the Sunrise Movement, on Tuesday. "He's shown us what it looks like to take on the fossil fuel industry, offer a transformative vision for climate policy, and stand unapologetically with working-class communities. This is the leadership New York City—and our whole movement—needs to meet the climate crisis head-on."

Michael Magazine, elected partnerships lead of Sunrise NYC added that "Zohran is a true climate, youth, and working-class champion."

While affordability, not climate, has been the central focus of Mamdani's campaign, the candidate recently told The Nation that "climate and quality of life are not two separate concerns. They are, in fact, one and the same."

His campaign proposes a plan called Green Schools for a Healthier New York City, which pledges to rehab hundreds of public school buildings with renewable energy infrastructure and HVAC upgrades, remake hundreds of asphalt schoolyards into green spaces, and create at least 15,000 union jobs for people who build, maintain, and run New York City schools. It also proposes using 50 schools to serve as resilience hubs, a year-round resource for community members who can use the space during extreme weather events for shelter and to receive aid.

Mamdani has also made free, fast city buses a core plank of his campaign.

Mamdani, who began the race with relatively little name recognition, has risen in polls to the number two spot. He has garnered endorsements from New York City's largest public employee union AFSCME District Council 37, the NYC chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America, Jewish Voice for Peace Action, and the Muslim Democratic Club of New York City, to name a few.

Many organizations backing Mamdani have endorsed a slate of candidates because of New York City's rank choice voting system, which allows voters to select multiple candidates on their ballot as opposed to one.

In their release on Tuesday, the national Sunrise Movement did not opt to endorse a slate, but noted that Sunrise Movement NYC is "urging voters to rank a full progressive slate—and to reject Andrew Cuomo—in the upcoming election."

The recommendation not to rank mayoral candidate and former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who has consistently polled at number one, aligns with the aims of the "DREAM" campaign (which stands for Don't Rank Eric or Andrew for Mayor). The DREAM campaign, which is also targeting candidate and current Mayor Eric Adams, is backed by United Auto Workers Region 9A, another Mamdani endorser, and the political action committee New Yorkers for A Better New York Today.

The group is urging voter unity around keeping Cuomo and Adams off ballots, and hoping that their campaign will cut into Cuomo's formidable lead, and further destabilize Adams' position in the race.

Mamdani has become a viable contender in the race in part because of an impressive ground game. Last week, the campaign announced that volunteers have so far knocked on over 220,000 doors across the city.

According to the Sunrise Movement, Sunrise Movement NYC is mobilizing "neighborhood teams" to canvass and turn out voters for Mamdani.