New York Governor Kathy Hochul formally supported the candidate for the Democratic Mayor’s Office of New York City, Zohran Mamdani, on Sunday night, writing in an opinion article that is “sure that he has courage, urgency and optimism that the city of New York needs to carry it through the challenges of this moment.”
“In recent months, I have had conversations with him. We have had our disagreements,” Hochul wrote at the New York Times. “But in our conversations, I listened to a leader who shares my commitment to a New York where children can grow safely in their neighborhoods and where the opportunity is available to each family. I heard a leader who focuses on making New York city affordable, an objective that supports enthusiastically.”
The New York Mayor’s candidate, Zohran Mamdani, speaks during a press conference at St. James Park on September 10, 2025 at the Monx Borough in New York City. Mamdani held a press conference announcing the request of his campaign that urges FIFA to abandon the prices of dynamic tickets for next summer, cohosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico, with the final in the Metlife Stadium. A recent Sienna College survey shows that Mamdani is having a 22 -point advantage in the race for the Mayor of New York City. (Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images
Hochul said that she and Mamdani had discussed the police, fighting the anti -Semitism and economy of New York, and that it was important for her that the next Mayor of New York “would not be someone to give an inch to Donald Trump.”
“Zohran Mamdani and I will not be intrepid to confront the president’s extreme agenda, urgently, conviction and the challenge that New York defines. And we should never allow Mr. Trump to control our city as the king who wants to be … Zohran and I don’t see the eyes in everything, and we don’t expect us to do it,” Hochul wrote.
“I will always reserve the right to disagree honestly and discuss passionately. But I also believe that the state of New York and New York City are at their best when we join those who try to destroy ourselves,” he said.
Hochul had praised Mamdani after he won the primary of the Mayor’s Office in June, but had previously covered formally support him.
Hochul could have a significant influence on Mamdani’s agenda, since some of his policy proposals would need to buy the governor and the legislature to finance or increase taxes.
Mamdani’s main opponents in the mayor’s career are the headline mayor Eric Adams and former governor Andrew Cuomo, who are Democrats who run as independent.
Senator Chris van Hollen (D-MD.), In a speech on Saturday in Iowa, criticized New York Democratic legislators for not supporting Mamdani, saying that his hesitation was “politics without thorns.”
“Many Senate and chamber democratic members representing New York have been left out. That kind of policy without thorns is what people are fed up. They need behind him and support him now,” said Van Hollen.
Other important New York Democrats, including the senate minority leader, Chuck Schumer, and the majority leader, Hakeem Jeffries, have not yet supported a candidate in the race.
The support of the moderate Hochul occurs when Mamdani, a democratic socialist, has distanced himself from some past positions that his opponents have said are extremes.
Mamdani He told New York Times On Thursday, he would apologize for having called the New York Police Department “racist” in a publication on social networks in 2020.
In a statement that responds to the support of Hochul, Mamdani said he is waiting “to fight with her to continue her history of putting money in New York pockets and building a newer and stronger New York city where no one is forced to leave so that they can afford to raise a family.”
“I am grateful for the governor for his support for unifying our party, as well as the work he has done to President Trump, ensuring free lunch foods for our children and expanding access to children care,” he added. “There is a lot of work to be done, and our movement is only strengthening.”
