Rep. Hakeem Jeffries and Sen. Chuck Schumer are still keeping Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani at arm’s length as they focus on the 2026 midterm elections amid the hope Democrats can retake Congress and stop President Trump’s right-wing agenda in its tracks.
As the November mayoral election edges closer, the Democratic congressional leaders appear to be in no hurry to embrace the progressive Mamdani, whose pro-Palestinian stance and plans to fund his affordability agenda by boosting taxes have made him a lightning rod for criticism from national Republicans and a number of moderate Democrats.
“They are probably weighing the potential blowback from swing districts nationally from the perceptions of progressive politics,” said Basil Smikle, a Columbia University professor and Democratic strategist.
Gov. Kathy Hochul, facing a re-election campaign of her own, has likewise kept her distance from Mamdani.
A source close to Jeffries conceded that he is laser-focused on flipping the House, which could act as “the firewall against Trump” if Democrats win and install him as House Speaker. But they disputed the idea that any possible Jeffries endorsement of Mamdani would boost Republicans in suburban or heartland swing districts where the midterms will be won or lost.
“They’re always going to have a bogeyman. If it’s not Zohran it’s (Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez). If it’s not AOC it’s Nancy Pelosi,” the source said. “At the end of the day, people in Omaha, Nebraska, or Des Moines, Iowa, are worried about their own families and their hometowns, not who’s going to be mayor of New York.”
Most recently. Jeffries declined to appear in public with together after holding a second “constructive” meeting with Mamdani since the youthful Queens assemblyman’s emphatic Democratic mayoral primary win, this one behind closed doors at a Black church in Brooklyn last Tuesday.
Rep. Yvette Clarke, an ally of Jeffries from Flatbush, also attended the meeting along with several Black clergy. She was just as tight-lipped about a potential endorsement.
Both Jeffries, the House minority leader, and Mamdani’s campaign insist there is no rift between the two men and say that the meetings are designed to build common ground.
Mamdani trounced ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo in Jeffries’ own Brooklyn district on his way to an impressive primary win. His dynamic style has energized Democratic voters and won the enthusiastic backing of liberal party stalwarts like ex-Mayor Bill De Blasio and city Comptroller Brad Lander. But Mamdani underperformed citywide among older Black voters, a key Democratic constituency.
Eye on midterms
Jeffries himself has framed his involvement in the mayoral race as a process that is unfolding at the same time as he barnstorms the nation looking for an edge in the high-stakes battle with Republicans over redistricting and the midterms.
Democrats only need to flip about a half-dozen seats to retake the House, although Trump’s push to redraw districts in Texas and other red states could make that task tougher. Democrats may respond in California and other blue states.
The Brooklyn lawmaker recently suggested that he isn’t considering any other candidate for mayor, like Cuomo or incumbent Mayor Eric Adams, both of whom are running as independents.
“What I can say is: He’s the only one I’m scheduled to meet with,” Jeffries said on a recent episode of the Bulwark podcast.
Schumer has taken a similar tack with Mamdani since the primary, praising him in statements but avoiding any public appearances together or making a formal endorsement.
A spokesman for the Senate minority leader once said the men hoped to meet in Brooklyn during the August recess. Last week, the spokesman said a face-to-face meeting could take place “soon” after Labor Day.
Schumer and Mamdani have spoken over the phone several times over the summer, the spokesman said, suggesting the two leaders are on good terms despite differences on some issues and the lack of an endorsement and public embrace.
A source familiar with Schumer’s thinking said the Senate leader has trained nearly all his energy on recruiting solid candidates for swing state races in the midterms, including North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper and ex-Sen. Sherrod Brown in Ohio.
“The thing Chuck is really judged by is who he recruits and can they win,” the source said.
Democrats would need to flip four Republican-held seats to retake the Senate and return Schumer to the majority leader’s post, a very daunting task that would involve grabbing swing seats in North Carolina and Maine and scoring upsets on red turf like Iowa, Texas or Ohio.
The national Democratic leaders, who live just a few subway stops apart in Brooklyn, may be treading cautiously to avoid giving potential campaign ammunition to Republicans, political analysts say.
Trump has denounced Mamdani as a “communist” and worse, while other GOP lawmakers have sought to link Democratic rivals to Mamdani’s leftist policy positions.
Some suburban moderate Democrats, like Long Island’s Rep. Tom Suozzi and Rep. Laura Gillen, have signaled they won’t back Mamdani even though he’s the party’s standard bearer for Gracie Mansion and leads in polls.
“To Jeffries, keeping the party brand ‘moderate’ enough in the suburbs to, say, defeat (Rep. Mike Lawler) or make sure Suozzi holds on, is probably taking priority,” said J. Miles Coleman, a University of Virginia political analyst.
