Mamdani, Lander cross-endorse each other in bid to defeat Cuomo in New York City mayor's race
NEW YORK (WABC) -- Former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo remains the front runner in polls for the New York Democratic mayoral primary, but Zohran Mamdani is nipping at Cuomo's political heels.
Now, with the relatively new ranked choice voting system, we are seeing another new phenomenon emerge of candidate alliances and cross endorsements.
Just the day before early voting is set to begin in the New York City primary election, Mamdani and Brad Lander announced they will cross-endorse each other on Friday.
Both candidates hope their combined efforts will defeat Cuomo, who most polls put as the frontrunner in the race. The primary is Tuesday, June 24.
"I'm proud to stand here and say that I ask my supporters to rank me number one and to rank Brad Lander number two," Mamdani said.
The assemblymember and city comptroller stood side by side for a news conference on Friday.
"I believe it will help me to win, he believes it will help him to win and we both believe it will help us together to stop Andrew Cuomo," Lander said.
In 2021, Andrew Yang endorsed Kathryn Garcia but she did not return the favor.
Yang's support helped deliver a second-place finish for Garcia, behind Mayor Eric Adams.
"One of the worst mayors in history was elected largely because the other top two contenders in the race, Kathryn Garcia and Mia Wiley, failed to cross-endorse each other. We are not going to make that mistake again," Lander said.
Cuomo, Momdani and Lander engaged in political combat in Thursday night's debate sponsored by Spectrum NY1 News, WNYC Gothamist and The City.
Cuomo argued only he is tough enough and has the experience to stand up to President Donald Trump.
"He's never dealt with the City Council, he's never dealt with the Congress, he's never dealt with the State Legislature. He's never negotiated with a union. H's never built anything," Cuomo said.
Mamdani countered: "I have never had to resign in disgrace. I have never cut Medicaid. I have never stolen hundreds of millions of dollars from the MTA. I have never hounded the 13 women who credibly accused me of sexual harassment."
Former Mayor Mike Bloomberg, meanwhile, is backing Cuomo and just donated $5 million to a super PAC supporting Cuomo.
The Cuomo campaign said they are not surprised by the cross-endorsement and they still believe Cuomo has the most experience to run New York City.
Trip Yang is a Democratic strategist not affiliated with any campaign, and says the race is getting tighter.
"Andrew Cuomo probably has a 60 percent chance of winning today. If it was last week, it was probably 80%. So this race is getting closer and closer," Yang said.
Yang said he wouldn't be surprised if by next week it's a 50/50 split because in a lot of polling, many Lander supporters rank Cuomo second.
The city's Democratic mayoral primary, on June 24, has in some ways narrowed into a contest between Cuomo and Mamdani, with the two opposing politicians amassing endorsements and gathering momentum as the election nears.
Mamdani has run an energetic campaign centered on lowering the city's astronomical cost of living, proposing a bold slate of populist ideas that have turned him into a liberal darling and won him the endorsement of progressive star U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
Cuomo, who is in the midst of a political comeback after resigning as governor over a sexual-harassment scandal, has long been the favorite, bringing fundraising prowess, the power of a political dynasty and a long record of accomplishments to the contest.
(The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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