As Dem Establishment Backs Cuomo, Calls Grow for NYC Mayor Race to Be 'Referendum' on Party's Direction
"Cuomo winning will not only legitimize the Islamophobia that has dominated this race... but would also prove that you really can just waltz in and buy an election," said one observer.
With two days to go until the last day of voting in New York City's mayoral primary, two last-minute endorsements for disgraced former Gov. Andrew Cuomo from top Democratic establishment figures underscored how the election's impact could reach far beyond the city's borders.
"This NYC mayoral primary NEEDS to be a referendum on the direction of [the] Democratic Party itself, as well as a repudiation of the uninspiring dinosaurs who run it," said writer Ashley Reese in response to former President Bill Clinton's announcement of support for Cuomo.
In a move that was called "predictable" by several observers, Clinton said he would endorse the former governor—who resigned amid numerous allegations of sexual harassment—and record a robocall telling voters that Cuomo "knows how to get things done."
The announcement came two days after progressive state Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani walked the length of Manhattan and met with voters across the borough, after biking through Brooklyn with city Comptroller Brad Lander, another mayoral candidate who recently cross-endorsed with Mamdani—calling on voters to rank them first and second on their ranked-choice voting ballots.
On Friday, the centrist Democratic think tank Third Way published a memo saying it was "deeply alarmed" by Mamdani's candidacy, which has gained national attention as the democratic socialist has surged in polls and released viral online videos promoting his plans to freeze rent for rent-stabilized tenants and to open government-run grocery stores to keep prices on essential goods low.
Third Way said it was concerned about Mamdani's affiliation with the Democratic Socialists of America and highlighted what they said were "extreme" policy proposals embraced by the DSA, including demands to:
- Guarantee publicly available water, energy, transit, food, and other necessities for all, free of charge;
- Provide free and democratic public college and, where viable, free private college for all;
- Establish public ownership and funding of our healthcare system; and
- Dramatically slash U.S. military spending to a level sufficient for a genuine national defense, not the projection of power outside the country.
"If a DSA member like Mamdani were to win the Democratic nomination for New York City mayor—or, worse, win the general election in November—it would be terrible for the city," reads the Third Way memo. "Do New Yorkers really want socialist city-run grocery stores?"
According to an April survey by the Climate & Community Institute and Data for Progress, they do. Two-thirds of New Yorkers said they support the creation of municipal grocery stores, five of which would be run alongside private stores under Mamdani's plan, including 72% of Democratic voters. Eighty-five percent of respondents said they were paying more for groceries than they were last year.
Cuomo, whose donors include billionaires who also supported President Donald Trump, has consistently been in first place in most polls ahead of the Democratic primary election, but Mamdani has gained momentum while relying largely on small-dollar donors and has doubled his support among some groups of voters, including Latinos.
Politico reporter Emily Ngo said the race has emerged as a "proxy battle" between Democratic centrists and progressives nationally, with Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) urging New Yorkers to back Mamdani.
In the last days of the race, progressives have accused Cuomo of embracing Islamophobic attacks on Mamdani. The former governor said Mamdani's refusal to condemn the phrase "globalize the intifada," which includes the Arabic word for uprising and has been associated with the fight for Palestinian rights, could "fuel hate" and "murder." He also attacked Mamdani at a debate for saying Israel has a right to exist as a country "with equal rights."
"Cuomo winning will not only legitimize the Islamophobia that has dominated this race, or highlight the fact that the party doesn't care about women's safety, but would also prove that you really can just waltz in and buy an election," said Reese. "Cuomo must lose on principle."
Despite signs that voters are responding positively to Mamdani's call for "a city we can afford," Third Way executive vice president Matt Bennett insisted in an interview with Politico on Saturday that a Mamdani victory would allow Republicans to attach the Democratic Party "to ideas that are outside of the mainstream" on a national level.
The Third Way memo was released as another high-profile endorsement for Cuomo, from U.S. Rep. James Clyburn (D-S.C.), was announced. The congressman said Cuomo—who recently suggested protests against the Trump administration's immigration raids at workplaces in Los Angeles were an "overreaction"—would "play an important role in the future of the national Democratic Party" and had the "character to not just serve New York, but help save the nation."
Progressive organizer Aaron Regunberg said Clyburn's endorsement was a display of "geriatric Democratic elites" pushing to "hold onto their power" at the expense of their voters.
"Since November, the party has been plagued by battles over whether it has moved too far to the left," wrote Mara Gay at The New York Times on Thursday. "But there are signs that Mr. Mamdani is gaining support not only among the far left but also among those who have long voted for establishment Democrats. One poll showed him eating into Mr. Lander's base in brownstone Brooklyn, an area of middle-class families, young professionals, and moneyed homeowners. It appears a growing number of Democrats don't see Mr. Mamdani’s vows to provide free buses and free child care and to increase taxes on the wealthy as threatening or outlandish. They see them as necessary."
Musician and journalist Jesse Brenneman allowed that establishment Democrats may have reason to worry about Mamdani's growing appeal to New Yorkers.
"If a popular, non-party-aligned left politician gets elected and tries to follow through on popular reforms it could lead to people thinking the same thing could happen elsewhere," said Brenneman, "the Democratic Party's worst nightmare."
