New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani expressed openness to campaigning with Gov. Kathy Hochul (D-NY) as she prepares to face Republican nominee Bruce Blakeman, signaling a warming relationship between the two Democrats who represent different factions of the party.Asked Thursday whether he would support Hochul’s reelection campaign following a recent poll showing Blakeman just 10 points behind the incumbent, Mamdani said he would.“Yes, I do support the governor in her reelection, and I will be making that support clear at every opportunity that I have,” Mamdani told reporters.
“I also think there is a very clear choice here between Governor Hochul and Bruce Blakeman,” he said. “Yesterday, I was standing with Governor Hochul as she announced that she was going to invest more than $7 million in funding to ensure that there are no unaccompanied minors without legal defense in our city. … If a New Yorker looks at what ICE is doing and is shocked by the inhumanity and the cruelty that is in the very heart of that agency’s operation, then they should vote for Governor Kathy Hochul.”New York Governor Kathy Hochul takes part in a press conference to announce action against ICE overreach in New York, Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
