Espaillat Endorses Mamdani for Mayor, After Backing Cuomo and Adams

[BeyondGeography]

Zohran Mamdani, the front-runner in the New York City mayor’s race, will be endorsed on Thursday by Representative Adriano Espaillat, the city’s most powerful Latino leader and one of the most influential among voters. His support follows endorsements for Mr. Mamdani from other prominent New York Democrats, including Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and major unions as he seeks to broaden his coalition ahead of the general election in November.

…Landing the backing of Mr. Espaillat, who is the first Dominican American member of Congress and who represents northern Manhattan and the Bronx, is significant for symbolic and practical reasons. He is the latest member of the New York congressional delegation to back Mr. Mamdani, joining Representatives Nydia Velázquez and Jerrold Nadler and Ms. Ocasio-Cortez. Others, most notably Representative Hakeem Jeffries, the House minority leader, and Senator Chuck Schumer, the Senate minority leader, have not endorsed anyone in the race. Mr. Espaillat also enjoys a deserved reputation as someone who can command voters to the polls in his district. Representative Ritchie Torres, a Democrat who represents a neighboring district, called him a “turnout machine.”

The endorsement is also a sign that former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo’s supporters are continuing to abandon him. Mr. Espaillat had endorsed Mr. Cuomo ahead of the Democratic primary in June. Mr. Cuomo also lost Keith L.T. Wright, the Manhattan Democratic chairman, and Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn, an assemblywoman who leads the Brooklyn Democrats.

…Mr. Mamdani thanked Mr. Espaillat for his support and said that the congressman had been “on the front lines of the fight against Donald Trump’s authoritarian administration…We both recognize the only way we can protect our city is by standing firm in our values and standing up for the working-class and immigrant communities who define us,” he said. The endorsement follows another bestowed on Mr. Mamdani on Wednesday, by the United Federation of Teachers. In accepting the union’s support, Mr. Mamdani seemed to deliberately call out Mr. Jeffries, Mr. Schumer and another prominent Democrat who has yet to endorse him: Gov. Kathy Hochul.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/10/nyregion/espaillat-endorse-mamdani.html?searchResultPosition=1

[dutch777]

1. Not sure endorsements will have much effect on the election at this point. I guess looking for party loyalty is...

...something to note, but I don't recall any election in my 50 years of voting where an endorsement or lack of one from anyone or any group influenced who I voted for.

[BeyondGeography]

2. It's significant that Cuomo is bleeding support

Particularly among individuals and organizations that can generate turnout.