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Brigid Bergin: It's the Brian Lehrer Show on WNYC. Good morning again, everyone. I'm Brigid Bergin, senior reporter in the WNYC and Gothamist newsroom, sitting in for Brian today. Now we turn to the New York City mayor's race, a race that is extending beyond the five boroughs, up to Albany, and across the country. Democratic mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani has picked up some major endorsements over the last week. Governor Kathy Hochul backed the party's nominee and penned an op-ed in the New York Times this weekend explaining how she reached her decision.

New York State's Senate Majority Leader, Andrea Stewart-Cousins, endorsed Mamdani back in July, and will follow-- Now speaker of the Assembly, Carl Heastie, will follow the other two leaders soon. We've got our colleague in Albany, Jimmy Vielkind, New York State issues reporter for WNYC and author of the substack "Notes from Jimmy", on deck with a view from the mayor's race from the state's Capitol. Hey, Jimmy, how are you?

Jimmy Vielkind: Good morning, Brigid.

Brigid Bergin: Meanwhile, Mamdani gained the support of prominent Democrats in Washington outside of his progressive circles, as well as members of the party grow more concerned about Donald Trump's relationship with the former Governor Andrew Cuomo. The pressure is on House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, who is still on the sidelines. Later in the segment, we'll also take a look at a new series, Mamdani's undertaking on social media to garner support for his Department of Community Safety.

First, is the progressive bromance between Mamdani and Brad Lander over? This morning, my colleague Elizabeth Kim and I have a new story out in Gothamist on the tensions between the two men who showed New York City the power of a cross-endorsement in a ranked-choice primary election. What's happened after months since that historic embrace? Excuse me. Joining me now are WNYC and Gothamist's Elizabeth Kim and Jimmy Vielkind. We said hello, Jimmy. Liz, how are you doing?

Elizabeth Kim: Good morning, Brigid. Take care of that throat.

Brigid Bergin: I was going to say, "Excuse the frog that jumped into my throat as I was trying to introduce this segment." Liz, let's go back to the Mamdani-Lander cross-endorsement. It was really such a moment in the race. I can see the images in my mind, just describing it, and really, the joy it gave to a lot of voters. Talk about what happened there.

Elizabeth Kim: Totally. I think that Ginia Bellafante, when she wrote that column, calling it a progressive bromance, that really encapsulated the feeling among a lot of progressives who liked both these men. Just to remind listeners, after that cross-endorsement, which by the way, was something that fans and knowledgeable experts of ranked choice voting like yourself, it's the embodiment of what's supposed to happen in ranked choice voting. We finally got it. There was that. Then we saw the two men riding side by side on city bikes. They began campaigning together. They were on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert together.

It was this bromance, which is why when we started reporting on tensions between the two men, between the two camps, and even before our story, The Post had popped a story that referenced that there was some kind of, yes, tensions or drama between the two camps. What we had been hearing was that at some point before he left for Uganda, Mamdani made a call to Brad Lander. This call was really about chatter that had been happening. The chatter was about the fact that Brad was somehow in the mix or was expecting to be, or was going to be, or clearly he wanted to be the number two, which is first deputy mayor.

That idea that somehow Mamdani stepped in to say to Brad, "No promises have been made, no personnel decisions have been made," is very interesting because it's a window into the transition process. There is a lot of attention on who Mamdani would choose to surround himself with at City Hall if he wins. It's important to stress that part because the general election is still a month and a half away. I think part of that nipping the conversation in the bud and telling Lander that there cannot be this kind of chatter is also his sense that we cannot look ahead the general election.

There was that. That's window into the transition. I think the other reason it's interesting is how we began the story. The story began with their cross-endorsement and with their relationship. For many progressives who like both these men, they thought that this was a very sensible, pragmatic, and exciting partnership. I think people did start to assume. Some people did start to assume, "Wow, that does make a lot of sense." You have this 33-year-old state assembly member with no city government experience, and he's allying himself with this veteran and fixture of New York City politics, who's very well steeped in Politics, very well steeped in policy. That would make sense.

It would make sense to bring Brad Lander with him to City Hall. It's both those things. It's the idea that Mamdani was saying, "Not so fast." It's this other thing that's going on in his campaign, and that which happens with every mayoral campaign. There's all this jockeying behind the scenes by people who want to join an incoming administration.

Brigid Bergin: I think you made some really important points there, Liz. One, of course, that there's still an election in November. This is all-- This part of the concern here is making sure that nobody is perceived as getting ahead of themselves. This is also connected to a conversation that happened before Assembly Member Mamdani took a trip to Uganda, which was back in July. We're talking shortly after the primary, where there was a lot of good feeling. We saw Lander on stage with Mamdani at his primary victory party that night.

Really just the embrace of this generally joyful politics. At this point, the role that has been talked about, that there had been some chatter around, was a role within the administration, first deputy mayor. Why is that role such an important one? Why do people pay so much attention to who is in that position?

Elizabeth Kim: It's effectively the number two, and it's really the person that's running the day-to-day operations of city government, all of the agencies, and the more than 300,000 employees. This is the person that keeps the trains running on time, that reports directly to the mayor, and he or she is also having conversations with the commissioners as well. What's interesting about the idea that Brad Lander wanted to be first deputy mayor is that-- You could talk about this, too, Brigid. It hasn't gone to someone who is a political figure.

It's often thought of as a role that goes to more of a technocrat. More of a behind-the-scenes person or an operator. Mayor Adams's current first deputy mayor is Randy Mastro. He has never been an elected official. Obviously, he's a prominent person in political circles. It's that kind of person, the kind of person who gets things done behind the scenes and is very loyal to the mayor.

Brigid Bergin: Sure. If we think back to past administrations, names like Tony Shorris, Dean Fuleihan, first deputy mayors under Mayor de Blasio, Joe Lhota, who became-- Another point that is important to make is that not every administration has a first deputy mayor, and not every administration has the same number of deputy mayors. During the Giuliani administration, Joe Lhota became the deputy mayor of operations, which functioned in that very much that number two role.

Mayor Ed Koch, for our historians out there, started his administration with seven deputy mayors, including a couple of deputy mayors who had been potential perceived rivals. That relationship did not last particularly long. Those number of deputy mayors were winnowed down within the first couple of years. A lot of important context there. I think there has been some sense that this conversation may be getting ahead of itself, and also that during times of transition, there is a lot of potential gossip.

Elizabeth Kim: Yes. That was how Brad Lander's campaign manager responded to the story. The statement that they gave us was that a lot of this is just gossip. What I would, though-- Brigid, you were the one, though, that had that conversation with Lhota about this. I thought the comment that he gave you was very illuminating, which was that this pre-election jockeying is not smart. He didn't say it's not done. It's probably done a lot, but it's not smart. I think that that therein became the problem for Brad Lander, because also we were talking about the other previous people who became first deputy mayors, people that were not household names.

Brad Lander ran for mayor. Brad Lander is the city comptroller. Everything he says, especially in political circles, you better believe that it gets around. I think you can ask-- I think it's fair to ask. Perhaps it wasn't intentional. Perhaps he got a little ahead of himself with his enthusiasm. People who want to be more-- People can take a more critical take of this because they could say he's a veteran of city government, he's a veteran of politics. You have to watch what you say. When it comes to politics, in many ways, it's a small town, right, Brigid?

Brigid Bergin: Very much so. Liz, there was another very interesting story this week. A Data for Progress poll showed Lander leading incumbent Congressman Dan Goldman by 19 points in a hypothetical primary challenge for that 10th congressional district. What do you think is going on in terms of Lander wanting a role in Mamdani's cabinet when he could potentially use that high profile that he's built to go to Washington?

Elizabeth Kim: That seems like a choice that Lander has because the talk of him possibly challenging Goldman for that congressional seat happened pretty soon after the primary. Right, Brigid? I think I saw social media tweets on it almost the day after people started speculating. That's just what I think political observers like to do. The poll coming out and the timing of the poll was certainly interesting because, on the one hand, we have Lander making it pretty clear to people that he wants to be the first deputy mayor.

He has not expressed an interest in running for this seat. Then all of a sudden, this poll comes out. It's almost as if some people want him to take a more serious look at this congressional seat as opposed to going to City Hall.

Brigid Bergin: Listeners, we want to hear from you, Lander supporters in the primary who ranked Zohran Mamdani second as part of their cross-endorsement. What do you make of this? Do you believe there is any trouble with this progressive bromance? Would you like to see Brad Lander in Mamdani City Hall, or would you prefer him to run for Representative Dan Goldman's seat? We can take your calls. Also on Governor Kathy Hochul's endorsement of Zohran Mamdani, which we're going to talk about in just a moment, or any of the other endorsements Mamdani's picked up in recent days, or maybe waiting to see if he gets.

The number is 212-433-WNYC. That's 212-433-9692. We're going to take your calls and your texts and talk more with my guests, Liz Kim and Jimmy Vielkind after a short break.

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Brigid Bergin: It's the Brian Lehrer Show on WNYC. I'm Brigid Bergin, filling in for Brian today. My guests are WNYC and Gothamist reporters Elizabeth Kim and Jimmy Vielkind. We're going to get to some of your calls and texts in just a moment. Jimmy, thank you for listening to some of our analysis of the relationship between Brad Lander and Zohran Mamdani. Let's shift our gaze upstate to Albany now. Can you talk about why Governor Hochul decided to put her weight behind Mandani now, months after he won the primary in June?

Jimmy Vielkind: I think what we're starting to see, Brigid, is, of course, a renewed focus by voters on this race. We always say that people start to really pay attention after Labor Day. We're now after Labor Day in September. Kids are going back to school. I also think that there was an increasing amount of pressure on some centrist Democrats who were not early supporters of the Mamdani campaign. This, of course, includes most of the Democratic power structure in the state and City of New York to finally get on board with somebody who very decisively won the Democratic Party primary in January.

Governor Hochul, US Senate Majority Leader-- excuse me, US Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, and House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries were thought of as these three big officials who had yet to go with Mamdani. I was a little surprised to see Hochul make a first move without those other two men. I was not surprised to see her do this. The reason for that is there are many reasons where you could say that her endorsement of Mamdani is as beneficial to her as it is to him. Hochul, of course, is going to be running for reelection in 2026, next year. As a Democrat from Buffalo, she really struggled in 2022 to rally progressives in New York City. It led to a closer-than-expected race in 2022 against Congressman Lee Zeldin, a Republican from Long Island.

I think Hochul, by working with Mamdani, gets to bask in some of the energy that he has brought into politics in the state of New York, and also gets some chits with progressives in the five boroughs, who she will need to help her in both a Democratic primary campaign. Right now, she's facing her Lieutenant Governor, Antonio Delgado, in a Democratic primary, as well as a general election where the most likely opponent is Congressmember Elise Stefanik, a Republican from the North Country State.

Brigid Bergin: Jimmy, this move could be seen as something that would put a strain on Hochul's relationship with President Trump. You've reported that the two seem to be getting along pretty well up to this point. Why is Trump softer on the governor, a Democrat, and how did he respond to her endorsement of Mamdani?

Jimmy Vielkind: That's right. I think this really does put a very interesting wrench in the gears of the Hochul-Trump relationship, but I don't think it's necessarily a fatal one. What I reported earlier this week is that Trump seems to be getting along with Hochul, and in fact, that's a direct quote. During a Cabinet meeting in August, Trump was asked if he would send National Guard troops to New York as he had threatened to do in Chicago and as he has done in Washington, D.C. He said in as many words, "Well, Kathy Hochul called me up, she told me, 'I don't want to do it.'" He said, "I get along with Kathy. If she tells me she wants it, I'll do it. If she doesn't want to do it, I won't do it."

Which is a very, very different posture than we've seen the Republican president take toward other Democratic governors, especially California's Gavin Newsom and Illinois's JB Pritzker. Now, one of these things is not like the other. Hochul is a woman. The other two are men. I think that might have something to do with the different treatment. Another thing that came up in my reporting is that both Pritzker and Newsom are considered possible presidential contenders in 2028. Hochul, not really on anybody's list as someone who's going to go for the Oval Office.

Finally, New York is New York. Donald Trump, he may vote in Florida, he's probably trying and hoping he's paying taxes in Florida instead of New York. He is someone who made his professional career as a real estate developer in New York City, in Manhattan. He was raised in Queens, and he still has a gold-plated triplex high above Fifth Avenue. I think, for all of those reasons, Hochul and Trump are getting along.

Now. The Mamdani endorsement is very, very interesting. Republicans for months have been slagging Democrats as, "Oh, you are the party of this Democratic Socialist," or often, but not accurately, Republicans referring to Mamdani as a communist. I think that Hochul must have calculated that while an association with Mamdani would lead to these attacks, they were probably going to happen anyway. Trump, on social media, after Hochul announced her endorsement, threatened that he might withhold funds from New York State. We'll see exactly what happens there.

Other Republicans, including Stefanik, attacked Hochul and said, "You were never a centrist, you were always a far-left politician. This just proves the point." As for the Hochul-Trump relationship, I don't quite know where it's going to go. On the one hand, if Mamdani is elected and if Hochul stays in office, Hochul could be Trump's best bet to check some of the elements of Mamdani's agenda. The biggest one is taxes. Mamdani has a platform that includes an expansion of social programs and government spending that will, according to Mamdani, be financed by raising taxes on the wealthy in New York.

He can't do that as mayor. He needs approval from state government. The three people in a room now, including Governor Hochul, have to sign off as part of the budget. Hochul reiterated, very recently, she's not going to do that.

Brigid Bergin: Let's bring in a caller who I think wants to throw a question your way, Jimmy, about what this endorsement could mean to other politics. Let's go to Santiago in Brooklyn, you're on WNYC.

Santiago: Hi, good morning. I have two questions. With the governor endorsing Mamdani, but then the state party chair, Jay Jacobs, saying he's not going to endorse, different than Jeffries and Schumer, who are waffling, but not saying no yet. I'm curious what that means about Mamdani's ability to get his agenda through Albany. I'm also curious because I thought the state party chair was like the governor's guy, per se. Does his opposition to Mamdani pose a risk for Jacob's future as party chair? I know he got some blame for some of the failures of the state party in 2022 and 2024. I don't know what that means for his future, too. Thanks.

Jimmy Vielkind: Santiago, thank you. Those are two very good questions. Let me start with the first. I think that it's very, very, very much a remain to be seen as to what this is going to do for Mamdani's agenda. As we're speaking right now, he's receiving the endorsement of Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, Democrat from the Bronx, and the only state government leader who actually gets to vote in New York City. Sounds like we know who Carl's going to be voting for. Heastie has traditionally been far more liberal, far more willing to raise taxes on the rich than Hochul or Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, who comes from Yonkers.

I spoke in my reporting about Hochul's endorsement with Ana Maria Archila, who is a co-leader of the Working Families Party in New York. She said these endorsements aren't about delivering votes anymore. I don't think there are many Democrats who are really waiting to see what Jay Jacobs has to say before they make their pick and before they either stay on the sidelines or vote for Mamdani or perhaps vote for the Democrats in the race, Eric Adams and Andrew Cuomo. What Archila said to me was that Hochul's endorsement signals she's interested in partnership with Zohran, in partnership with his base and appeal to his base, and also potentially working that agenda along.

I think that this signals a willingness to work together. I think it signals goodwill. I don't necessarily think it's a blanket endorsement or even a stamp of some of these proposals. I think that we're going to be talking a lot about whether or not to raise taxes next year in New York. I don't necessarily think that it's going to be a done deal. I think it's far more likely that you will see Hochul trying to add a blessing to something like free bus service in the city, which costs money, but it costs an amount of money that could be done, or perhaps an expansion of childcare services.

Brigid Bergin: I want to get a bunch more callers in here. Jimmy, really briefly, there was some hay being made of the fact that despite Hochul's endorsement of Mamdani, he did not immediately announce a endorsement of her in her race next year. There's a whole bunch of timing issues that are likely at play. Do you make anything of that?

Jimmy Vielkind: No, I don't read too much into that. I think it would be odd if he were to endorse this this early on. I think the point is that he and Hochul are going to be working together, and he can use his endorsement as leverage toward enacting his agenda. It's pretty obvious that that seems to be the play, and I'm sure that that would be what's going on. Quickly, Santiago mentioned Jay Jacobs, the party chair. I don't know if this spells his doom. Jay Jacobs has been the party chair. He's been out as the party chair. He's been going back. I think the reason for that is being the party chair is probably not the world's greatest job. Jay seems to be willing to do it, and so I think that that gives him quite a bit of staying power in the role.

Elizabeth Kim: Brigid, can I ask Jimmy, what did you think of the choice to do it in the New York Times op-ed versus this traditional, we hold a press conference, we stand side by side?

Jimmy Vielkind: I don't know about that, Liz. Other than that just made me so sad that it didn't happen on the airwaves of WNYC. I think that because Hochul is not a New York City voter, because, again, this isn't about necessarily bringing out votes that could have gone into it. I think that using the op-ed allowed her to articulate a complete reasoning for why she was coming on board now as after several months of reluctance.

I also think that she doesn't want to be put into an awkward position of standing next to him and being asked the questions that Carl Heastie was asked this morning, which is, "Are you going to tax the rich? Are you going to do that now?" I thankfully think that the governor and the candidate are clearly not on the same page with that.

Brigid Bergin: Let's get some more callers in here. Let's go to Elon in Lower Manhattan. Elon, you're on WNYC.

Elon: Hi. Absolutely. As a recent Jewish college graduate, I had the privilege of watching both of these wonderful campaigns, both Lander and Mamdani's campaign, and both were exciting and invigorating and inspiring, and made me feel like I would be a safe Jewish student. I felt seen and felt like they were wonderful. I hope we can see them work together. If not, it's not the end for either of them. They both have such wonderful futures for New York politics and beyond. I can't wait to see what they do. I know myself and countless other Jewish students will be rooting for them.

Brigid Bergin: Elon, thank you so much for that call. Let's go to Hannah in Sunset Park. Hannah, you're on WNYC.

Hannah: Hi. I just wanted to weigh in a little bit about Zohran and Brad. I'm a very progressive liberal, and Zohran is making these really ambitious career promises. I'm a little worried, I'm a little hesitant because he's so new to politics and because he doesn't have that history and experience. What was really palatable about him was when he teamed up with Brad, he was bringing in a seasoned person who aligned with him on a lot of the matters, but had that history. I am sad to hear that their relationship is eroding, and it's making me rethink my vote. I'm interested to see what happens.

Brigid Bergin: Hannah, thank you so much for that call. Liz, just to make it clear to anyone who has not yet read the story, maybe only heard us talking about it this morning, I don't think anything in the story is suggesting that there's been a fissure in this relationship between Lander and Mamdani, but just that the Mamdani campaign and Mamdani himself are trying to make clear to everyone that they want to be making their transition decisions themselves and through their own process, and that there may be similar messages being delivered to other people as well.

Elizabeth Kim: That's absolutely right, Brigid. They just campaigned at a fundraiser together last week. I interviewed someone who's in the first row, and there was also video of it, too. They just showered each other with praise. This is not at all to suggest that there's some rift between these two men. To talk about the bromance, I think what happened was it got complicated is the way I was thinking about it this morning. It got complicated because Mamdani wants to control the narrative. He wants to have a very tight rein on these whisper campaigns of who's going to be in what position.

Again, a lot of that is because he still has to win a general election. This is not unusual for any candidate. I spoke to a source yesterday, who was with de Blasio. De Blasio did not get ahead of himself in his first race and talk about transition and who he expected to appoint or who he was considering until he won the election. This is very standard protocol. I think there's a lot of intense interest in how Mamdani is managing it because, one, he's young. He also doesn't have any city government experience. There's going to be-- We know there's going to be intense scrutiny of who is on his short list for a lot of these deputy roles.

Brigid Bergin: Liz, now that we have seen Governor Hochul endorse Mamdani and New York State Speaker Andrea Stewart-Cousins backing him earlier this summer, Carl Heastie, Mamdani's boss in the assembly, endorsing him today, I think there's increasing focus on who else is going to come out. Hochul's endorsement has potentially put some pressure on House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries. Here's a clip of his response to a reporter telling him in Washington, D.C.

Hakeem Jeffries: I think you should ask Kathy Hochul about her endorsement, and I'll have more to say about the mayor's race when I have more to say about the mayor's race.

Brigid Bergin: Liz, do you have a sense of-- or what are you hearing about why Jeffries is still holding out on a Mamdani endorsement? What do you make of his calculus there?

Elizabeth Kim: He has a different calculus than Kathy Hochul. Kathy Hochul, Jimmy laid it out there, what her calculus is. She's coming up for reelection next year. Jeffries is trying to win back the House, and he has Democrats, and Jimmy has talked about this too, in all parts of the country, in more conservative areas, in more moderate areas that he's trying to assist. I think that his concern is if he champions this Democratic socialist to become mayor of New York City, does that make other Democrats in more moderate or conservative areas subject to attack?

We've already seen Congressman Tom Suozzi speak out on this. He is absolutely not endorsing Mamdani, and he thinks it's a mistake for the party, for the Democratic Party, to align itself with Democratic socialists. That's one position, and that's a position in which he's thinking his calculus is winning his seat. Jimmy started out by talking about how we all thought that Hochul would not move unless Jeffries did. I would welcome what you guys have to say on it. I think the understanding is that they're all talking to one another about this. She wouldn't do this without giving them a heads up.

I think, perhaps, she felt the timing was more urgent for her to get ahead. It could also be that they talked about it, and they talked about, strategically, did it make sense for Kathy to go first, and perhaps Jeffries either not to weigh in or perhaps he does weigh in later.

Jimmy Vielkind: Liz, I think that you're absolutely right. They are talking. You also have to consider that Schumer and Jeffries have a day job that right now involves negotiating a federal funding package with President Trump. We saw Trump really get angry with Hochul's decision. I think it's fair to give Jefferies and Schumer a little bit of grace. They are locked into this negotiation. At the same time, Hochul's stated reasoning for making the jump now was that she was concerned about basically Trump machinating to winnow this into a two-way race between Mamdani and Andrew Cuomo. We should know that there's absolutely no love between Kathy Hochul and Andrew Cuomo.

She felt that she wanted to put her blessing and whatever it indicated about the broader Democratic establishment with the Democratic nominee, Zohran Mamdani, lest it be a counter force or standing in the way of a Republican president who's trying to change the game in such a way that it might lead to someone that he is more in favor of occupying City hall come next year.

Brigid Bergin: Jimmy, we saw a whole slew of polls come out in recent days, another one just this week, all showing Mamdani with a significant lead over Andrew Cuomo, average about 20 points across the polls. Just yesterday, I was at a press event for Andrew Cuomo, where he was getting a restatement of the endorsement of Local 237 of the Teamsters and talking about some public safety issues related to school safety agents. One of the threads that he was talking about was really trying to say the endorsement of Mamdani by someone like Governor Kathy Hochul or any of the state legislative leaders is reflected of this growing socialist movement within the Democratic Party.

I don't think many people have thought of Governor Kathy Hochul as someone who is locking arms with that left side of the Democratic Party. I'm just wondering what you make of that as a closing argument that may be coming from the Cuomo campaign and others to try and take some of the wind out of Mamdani's sails.

Jimmy Vielkind: I do think that it fits in with what he has been doing of late, which is to try to paint Mamdani as extreme and out of step and call the question for voters as to, is this really someone who you want to be the mayor? Someone who, in the past, has co-sponsored a bill that would legalize prostitution or remove criminal penalties for sex work, depending upon how you want to phrase it. These are issues that play at a more moderate portion of the electorate, perhaps voters who are not enrolled Democrats who were not able to vote in the June primary and who Cuomo hopes might pick him as the best non-Mamdani alternative in the field.

As to a broader argument about the future of the Democratic Party, I've been a political reporter for more than 15 years now, and the future of the Democratic Party has been something that's been debated by the Democratic Party for my entire tenure, and basically back to 1968, not before then. Andrew Cuomo has made this a part of his shtick for more than a decade, talking about how he is the true progressive and that the so-called progressives don't actually deliver.

It's not surprising that you're hearing it from him. It seems to me in line with these broader attacks, and I don't necessarily know that it will work with the Democratic Party electorate, with Democratic voters who already had the chance to vote for Mamdani or Cuomo, and they picked Mamdani.

Brigid Bergin: I'm going to jump in real quick because we actually have to take a quick break. Stay with us. We have a few more minutes with Jimmy and Liz. We're going to hit on a couple more elements of this mayor's race. Stick around.

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Brigid Bergin: It's the Brian Lehrer Show on WNYC. I'm Brigid Bergin, filling in for Brian today. My guests are Elizabeth Kim and Jimmy Vielkind, two of my colleagues on the WNYC and Gothamist politics desk. We're going to sneak in another caller. Let's try Mike in Manhattan. Mike, you're on WNYC.

Mike: Hi, good morning. Yes, I'm calling about, as you've been discussing, that Senator Schumer and Gillibrand, and Representative Jeffries haven't made an endorsement yet. I think that's actually a very significant failure on their parts. This is an election that obviously has a huge impact on their constituents, millions of constituents, in the cases of the two senators. I just think it's a complete failure for them to not speak up with an opinion.

Now, a lot of people would say there was a primary, and Mamdani won, and the party should rally behind him. I think there's something to that. Certainly, you can imagine their reaction if Cuomo had won and Mamdani had decided to run as a third-party candidate. I think the criticism would be withering. Regardless of that, if they do not think that Mamdani is the right choice, I think it's incumbent upon them to say that. Honestly, I think it's actually cowardly. They're afraid of being on the wrong side. They don't want to make an endorsement for Cuomo, who I think all three of them probably prefer to Mamdanii, but they don't want to put that out there and then have Cuomo lose.

In the cases of Schumer and Gillibrand, they both endorsed Eric Adams in 2021 in August. They didn't waste any time making a decision then. I think it's a real failure on their parts. They've all had plenty of time to talk to Mamdani and to figure out if they can support him or not.

Brigid Bergin: Mike, thank you so much. Yes, go ahead.

Jimmy Vielkind: I think that's interesting, Mike. I think one thing you stated that you think that they all want Andrew Cuomo, I wouldn't be so sure of that. They have history with Andrew Cuomo, who's proven to be a divisive figure over time. I take maybe their ruminations as looking for not seeing a good option, or not seeing someone that they're excited to go with.

Brigid Bergin: There is something interesting to watch as we look ahead to midterms in terms of where Mamdani did well across the city. In Congressmember Jeffries' district, Mamdani did very well in the primary. Do you think there's any risk that he could be alienating himself from some of his constituents by not endorsing their pick for mayor?

Jimmy Vielkind: I absolutely think that that is the case. When I reported on the dynamics that went into these endorsements, one theme that emerged was that Hochul and Jeffries had very different calculations. Part of it was what Liz was saying earlier, because of these suburban seats around the country that Jefferies has to think about. Another part of it is down home. Jefferies and his political allies have been doing battle with DSA-backed candidates throughout central Brooklyn. This has been going on for the last several election cycles.

Jeffries and some of his team see these DSA-backed candidates as a sign of gentrification that are taking on entrenched, longtime Black political power. On the one hand, I imagine Jeffries is not delighted to see an avatar and an ally of the DSA in this position. As you said, Brigid, he looked at the election returns in his own district and saw who won, and that was Zohran Mamdani.

Brigid Bergin: We will have to leave it there for today. My guests have been Elizabeth Kim and Jimmy Vielkind, my colleagues in the WNYC and Gothamist newsroom. Liz, Jimmy, thanks so much for joining me in talking politics this morning.

Elizabeth Kim: Always a pleasure, Brigid.

Jimmy Vielkind: Thanks, Brigid, great to be with you.

Brigid Bergin: It's the Brian Lehrer Show. All Of It is up next. Stick around.

 

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