New York’s establishment politicians, ostensibly holding the line against Zohran Mamdani, have decided to throw in the towel. With the exception of House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, the meaningful Democratic opposition to Mamdani has collapsed, likely paving the rest of the way to Gracie Mansion for the socialist anti-Semitic activist.
Gov. Kathy Hochul this week endorsed Mamdani in especially humiliating fashion. Though the governor claimed to be disturbed by the rise in anti-Semitism in her state, Hochul got no promised moderation on the issue by Mamdani in return for her endorsement. Instead, she went groveling to Mamdani out of pure desperation: as the New York Post reports, Hochul fears her primary rival for governor, her estranged deputy Antonio Delgado. She therefore needs Mamdani’s help in her own race.
It’s pretty bleak stuff. Hochul would’ve been lucky to have remained an entirely forgettable governor. Now she’ll be remembered for panhandling at Mamdani HQ. The 31-year-old mayoral frontrunner may bestow his own endorsement upon Hochul in return, but he cannot provide her with self-respect.
“I disagree with many [of Mamdani’s] statements and I’ve said that,” Hochul told the media. “But also I believe that we need someone who’s going to be open-minded and optimistic and have an attitude, a can-do attitude, that I share about knowing that the city’s best days still lie ahead.”
In the same press conference as that word salad, Hochul insisted that, among other responsibilities, being a good mayor is “about making sure that the garbage gets picked up.” The jokes write themselves.
Hochul became the state’s accidental governor in 2021 when Andrew Cuomo resigned in disgrace. But Cuomo wasn’t finished failing New York alongside Hochul. After losing the primary to Mamdani, the former governor decided to run in the crowded general election field, ensuring that the anti-Mamdani vote will be split several ways.
In fairness to Cuomo, he’s running second—which means he’s ahead of sitting Mayor Eric Adams in the election. But Adams is the one drawing the clearest contrast with Mamdani; Cuomo’s ever-changing political stances keep moving in Mamdani’s direction.
The latest is his attempt to distance himself from his past support for Israel. “I never stood with Bibi,” Cuomo told the New York Times. But the Times helpfully reminded readers of Cuomo’s comments from a year ago when he offered to help defend Netanyahu from an International Criminal Court arrest warrant: “This is the moment when true friends stand shoulder to shoulder and fight for the state of Israel.”
Cuomo is also taking a dim view of Israel’s defensive war in Gaza: “There is no doubt that the people of New York and the nation see the continued carnage that is happening [in Gaza] and are deeply, deeply disturbed and want it over, and believe it has gone on way too long.”
So the main difference between Mamdani and Cuomo is that the latter won’t attempt to arrest the Israeli prime minister. (Mamdani has vowed to do so, in one of his many, many deranged statements.)
Certainly Cuomo is free to change his mind. But his wording makes it pretty clear that he’s tracking New Yorkers’ opinions and moving with them. Right now, that means moving left. That makes his presence in the race bewildering. The Cuomo-Hochul team is not yet finished punishing New Yorkers for having once elected them.
