He’s gaining friends in high places — to a point.
Socialist Zohran Mamdani drew surprising praise this week from prominent national Democrats — but top New York pols are still silent on whether they will back their party’s mayoral nominee.
Moderate Reps. Pat Ryan (D-NY) and Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) endorsed Mamdani — with the later even loftily comparing the lefty Queens assemblyman to former President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
“He really wants to rebuild an FDR coalition that is fundamentally committed to the success of the working and middle classes in his city,” Raskin told The New York Times, which first reported the endorsements.
Mamdani also drew praise from Democrat Rahm Emanuel — the former Chicago mayor widely loathed by progressives — indicating that some lingering intra-party chilliness was thawing.
But the recent implicit or explicit backing for Mamdani in the city’s mayoral race still didn’t extend to New York’s four most prominent Dems: Gov. Kathy Hochul, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries.
Jeffries twice met with the frontrunner candidate over the summer, while Schumer huddled with Mamdani on Monday — but both still withheld their endorsements.
“They had a good meeting,” said Angelo Roefaro, a spokesman for Schumer. “They know each other well, and they’re going to keep talking.”
The sustained radio silence on endorsements from big shot Empire State Dems comes with 54 days before the November election.
Mamdani’s ascendance after his shocking primary victory over former Gov. Andrew Cuomo in June created headaches for many national Democrats wary of an unapologetic socialist leading the nation’s largest city and giving Republicans a cudgel to cast the party as extremist ahead of next year’s midterms.
But Mamdani still steadily garnered support from both New York and national Dems, including firebrand New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders.
New York State Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins and state Sen. Liz Krueger have also both endorsed the nominee, though state Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie has noticeably remained silent.
Raskin, in his endorsement, urged Democrats of all political leanings to endorse Mamdani, according to the Times.
Emanuel, meanwhile, recently met Mamdani at a breakfast meeting, where the contender asked the former Obama White House official’s advice on pushing policy goals and governing a major city, the newspaper reported.
“This guy is thinking about how to hit the ground running and he showed the full capacity to do that from his questions,” Emanuel told the Times. “I don’t think he’s going to spend four years just throwing rhetorical bombs.”
