The Working Families Party issued a statement Tuesday night following Zohran Mamdani’s projected win in the Democratic primary for New York City mayor. State party leaders had previously indicated the party might have considered running its own candidate in the general election if its endorsed slate lost.
Last night, New York City held party primaries for a range of citywide and local offices, including mayor and city council. In one of the more closely watched races, New York State Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani defeated ten other candidates to win the Democratic nomination, including former Governor Andrew Cuomo, who led in the polls for most of the primary cycle.
As of this article, Mamdani leads Cuomo by a margin of 432,305 votes to 361,840, accounting for 43.5% of the total. However, New York City uses ranked-choice voting, and a second round of tabulations is currently underway. Those results are expected sometime next week; however, Cuomo has since conceded.
In response to Mamdani’s projected win, Maurice Mitchell, National Director of the Working Families Party, said people are tired of the status quo and praised Mamdani’s campaign for sending “shockwaves across the country” by staying true to progressive values and connecting authentically with working people.
“That’s what the Working Families Party was built for,” Mitchell added. “From the biggest city to the smallest of towns, we’re electing a new generation of candidates who will put working people first.”
Background provided in Mitchell’s statement noted that the Working Families Party held over 100 canvasses, events, and phone banks in support of Mamdani’s primary campaign and others backed by the party. It also claimed to have mobilized more than 1,000 volunteers, distributed over 300,000 text messages, and sent mailers to 250,000 households.
The party further stated that it ran several ads, including two in support of Mamdani featuring actress Cynthia Nixon and U.S. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, as well as a negative ad opposing Cuomo.
The party had previously taken steps to place attorney Gowri Krishna on its ballot line as a placeholder candidate. Local reports indicated that had Mamdani, City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams, City Comptroller Brad Lander, or State Senator Zellnor Myrie not won in last night’s mayoral primary, the party might have fielded an independent general election candidate rather than support the Democratic nominee, which it has frequently done in previous mayoral races.
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