David Hogg’s political group Leaders We Deserve is endorsing New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani ahead of Tuesday’s Democratic primary.
“We are here talking to voters on the third day of early voting,” Mamdani said in a video posted on X after Mamdani and Hogg introduce themselves. “And we’re so excited to let them know that our campaign has just been endorsed by Leaders We Deserve.”
“We’re really excited to support the campaign here to help make New York City affordable, help make sure that buses are faster and free at the same time and that no New Yorker has to pay for childcare,” Hogg says in the video.
Mamdani is running in a crowded field for New York City mayor, with recent polling showing a tightening race, though former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) is shown in surveys still leading the pack.
Mamdani and City Comptroller Brad Lander have cross-endorsed each other as a bid to make sure Cuomo doesn’t come out ahead in the Tuesday contest.
New York City uses ranked choice voting, meaning that voters rank their candidates in order of preference; if no candidate outright receives more than half of the vote, the candidate with the least votes is eliminated and any voters who place the eliminated candidate as their first pick then have the second-choice picks distributed.
The process plays out until one candidate receives more than half of the vote.
The Democratic candidates are each hoping to take on embattled Mayor Eric Adams, an independent, in the general election. Mamdani has previously touted Hogg on social media, sharing a photo of the two of them during his campaign earlier this week.
Mamdani’s endorsement came on the same day that Rep. James Clyburn (D-S.C.) announced he would be endorsing Cuomo, a noteworthy get as Cuomo courts Black voters in the city.
Hogg’s endorsement of Mamdani is his first one since he made the decision to forgo running for reelection as a Democratic National Committee vice chair amid controversy over his plans to back primary challengers to incumbents while serving as a DNC officer.
