David Hogg’s political group Leaders We Deserve is endorsing New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani ahead of Tuesday’s Democratic primary.
“We are here talking to voters on the third day of early voting,” Mamdani said in a video posted on the social platform X after Mamdani and Hogg introduce themselves. “And we’re so excited to let them know that our campaign has just been endorsed by Leaders We Deserve.”
“We’re really excited to support the campaign here to help make New York City affordable, help make sure that buses are faster and free at the same time, and that no New Yorker has to pay for child care,” Hogg says in the video.
Mamdani is running in a crowded field for New York City mayor, with recent polling showing him in second place in a tightening race, though former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) is shown in surveys still leading the pack.
Mamdani and City Comptroller Brad Lander have cross-endorsed each other as a bid to make sure Cuomo doesn’t come out ahead in Tuesday’s contest.
New York City uses ranked choice voting, meaning voters rank their candidates in order of preference; if no candidate outright receives more than half of the vote, the candidate with the least votes is eliminated, and any voters who placed the eliminated candidate as their first pick then have their votes allocated to their second choice.
The process plays out until one candidate receives more than half of the vote.
Incumbent Mayor Eric Adams (D), who previously faced a federal corruption indictment, is running as an independent and is viewed as an extreme long shot to win reelection.
Mamdani has previously touted Hogg on social media, sharing a photo of the two of them during his campaign earlier this week. The endorsement of Mamdani came on the same day that Rep. James Clyburn (D-S.C.) announced he was endorsing Cuomo, a noteworthy get as Cuomo courts Black voters in the city.
Hogg’s endorsement of Mamdani is his first one since he made the decision to forgo running for reelection as a Democratic National Committee vice chair amid controversy over his plans to back primary challengers to incumbents while serving as a DNC officer.
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