Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said Wednesday he had spoken with New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, following the 34-year-old’s electoral win in the Senate leader’s hometown.
Schumer repeatedly passed up opportunities to endorse Mamdani after several conversations between the two New Yorkers. On Tuesday, Schumer declined to say whom he voted for in the mayoral election, sharing only that he looked forward to “working with the next mayor to help New York City.”
The Senate Democratic leader said at a Wednesday press conference that he and Mamdani “had a very, very good conversation” in which they discussed their shared commitment to New York City.
“I congratulated him on running a very, very good campaign, and the issue that he has stressed is being stressed by Democrats across the country, from one end of America to the other, the high costs that the Trump administration is imposing on us and their failure to do anything about it,” he said.
Schumer and some other New York Democrats were reluctant to stand behind Mamdani throughout the race even as he emerged as the clear front-runner, with some in party leadership worrying that the democratic socialist could provide easy fodder for Republicans who seek to paint the party as a bastion of socialism.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, originally from Buffalo, endorsed Mamdani shortly after his primary win and campaigned with him. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries — another New York City native — ultimately expressed support for the candidate before the start of early voting.
