New York — With just days to go before polls close in New York City's fractious race for mayor, frontrunner Zohran Mamdani spoke Saturday with former President Barack Obama, even as some major Democrats have taken a cautious political approach when it comes to the democratic socialist.
A source familiar confirmed their call, first reported by the New York Times. In a statement to CBS News, a spokeswoman for Mamdani's campaign said the candidate "appreciated President Obama's words of support and their conversation on the importance of bringing a new kind of politics to our city."
Mamdani's win in June over former Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo in a crowded mayoral Democratic primary was arguably the most significant progressive primary victory since now-Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez defeated a Democratic incumbent congressman in 2018. The win by Mamdani upended Democratic party politics in a year where the national party has struggled to repair its brand issues after a disastrous 2024 election cycle.
While Mamdani's success so far has brought the 34-year-old politician praise, it has also led to more focused criticism for his record, or lack thereof.
Even after Mamdani's summer primary win, some national Democrats have either been slow to publicly embrace him, or have avoided doing so altogether.
In Tuesday's general election contest, Mamdani is facing off against Cuomo, now running as an independent, and Republican Curtis Sliwa. Democratic House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries waited until Oct. 24, the eve of early voting, to endorse Mamdani. Meanwhile, Democratic Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, chair of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, have not endorsed in the race.
At a rally last week with Ocasio-Cortez and Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, Mamdani said his opponents, Cuomo and Sliwa, possess "the playbook of the past."
"New York, our work has only just begun," Mamdani said as the rally ended. "On [Tuesday] November 4th we set ourselves free."
And in these final days of the contest, Democrats aren't the only ones making political decisions that don't follow normal party lines.
In an interview earlier this week with CBS News, Republican Rep. Nick Langworthy of New York, a former state GOP chair, said of Cuomo that "no one was a fiercer critic of his time as governor than I was."
"We fought him tooth and nail every step of the way," said Langworthy, who is supporting Cuomo for mayor. "But he would be a far superior choice for the people of New York than Zohran Mamdani."
Langworthy also expressed concern about the implications of a Mamdani victory, saying Mamdani's policies would become "contagious around the country if he has a platform to talk to vast sums of people."
The national impact of the race isn't lost on either major party given what a Mamdani victory could mean for control of the U.S. House in the 2026 midterms, where Republicans are attempting to defend a narrow majority. Whichever party holds the House will likely play a major role in how Washington functions in the final two years of President Trump's term.
Moderate Democratic Rep. Tom Suozzi of New York backed Cuomo late last month, saying in a social media post, "I'm a Democratic Capitalist, not a Democratic Socialist. I endorse Andrew Cuomo. I can not back a declared socialist with a thin resume to run the most complex city in America."
As Democrats continue to face questions about how the party can recover and win back voters, Mamdani's run for mayor may provide a telling guide of sorts for the kind of authentic messaging and grassroots campaigning that the left has struggled to cultivate on a national stage outside of Sanders' 2016 and 2020 presidential runs.
Speaking at the late October Mamdani rally, Sanders said "a victory here in New York will give hope and inspiration to people throughout our country and throughout the world."
"That is what this election is about. And that is why Donald Trump is paying attention to this election," Sanders said.
