Mamdani rallies voters in New York City with support from Bernie Sanders and AOC

NEW YORK (AP) — New York mayoral candidate Zahran Mamdani rallied supporters Sunday with overwhelming support from U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez as the race entered its final stretch, telling a raucous crowd that his campaign is a “movement of the masses.”

Mamdani, the Democratic nominee, took the stage in a small arena in Queens where he and two of the country’s most prominent progressives pitched his candidacy as a force to confront billionaires and “oligarchs” who have thrown money and support behind his opponents.

“When you insist on building a coalition that includes every New Yorker, that’s exactly what you create: massive power,” Mamdani said. “This, my friends, has been your movement, and it always will be.”

As the crowd chanted his name, Mamdani reiterated his plans to hire thousands of new teachers, renegotiate city contracts, freeze rent increases for 1 million apartments subject to the city’s rent rules, build more affordable housing and provide universal child care.

As early voting begins before Election Day on Nov. 4, Mamdani, a Democratic socialist, is locked in an increasingly acrimonious race with former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who is running as an independent candidate after losing in the Democratic primary to Mamdani, and Republican Curtis Sliwa, who campaigned Sunday in Queens.

Cuomo sought to paint Mamdani, a 34-year-old state Assemblyman, as a naive candidate whose agenda would harm the city. In a radio interview Sunday morning, Cuomo argued he was the true Democrat in the race while saying Mamdani’s democratic socialism would lead to a mass exodus of residents and businesses.

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“Socialists want to take over the Democratic Party. That’s what Bernie Sanders is about. That’s what AOC is about,” Cuomo said, adding: “He won, book your plane tickets to Florida now.”

Cuomo resigned as governor in 2021 after a barrage of sexual harassment allegations, which he denies. Mamdani has frequently pressed Cuomo on the allegations, telling the crowd Sunday that it was time to put behind the former governor’s “playbook of the past.” But he urged his supporters not to take his lead at the polls for granted and to go vote.

“We cannot allow complacency to creep into this movement,” Mamdani said.

Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez have backed his campaign for months, including ahead of the Democratic primary in June. On Sunday, they cast Mamdani as an antidote to what they described as the creeping authoritarianism of President Donald Trump’s administration.

Ocasio-Cortez, whose district includes Queens, said Mamdani’s victory would send a message nationally that a progressive message can prevail.

She said: “It is no coincidence that the forces that Zahran faces in this race mirror what we face at the national level: a criminal authoritarian presidency fueled by corruption and fanaticism, and a rising far-right movement.”

Sanders said Mayor Mamdani will not represent the “billionaire class” but rather working families.

“In 2025, when the people at the top have never had so much economic and political power before, is it possible for ordinary people, the working class, to come together and defeat these oligarchs?” Sanders said. “You’re right we can.”

Under the slogan “New York is not for sale,” the rally included rousing speeches from faith and labor leaders along with state elected officials including Governor Kathy Hochul, Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins ​​and Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie. The event was moderated by Sarah Sherman of “Saturday Night Live.”

Mamdani recently won the endorsement of House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, a moderate Democrat from New York. In a statement, Jeffries said he has differences with Mamdani but supports him as a candidate, adding that the party must unite against Republicans and Trump.

Incumbent Mayor Eric Adams abandoned his re-election campaign and endorsed Cuomo.