Even up until the last hour, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., played it coy about endorsing Zohran Mamdani in the New York City mayor’s race.
"Early voting, as you know, starts tomorrow," observed a reporter to Jeffries at 11:06 a.m. on Friday. "Are you ready to endorse Mamdani?"
"Stay tuned," replied Jeffries.
"What more do you need to hear at this point?" asked another scribe.
'STAY TUNED': JEFFRIES REPEATEDLY DODGES MAMDANI ENDORSEMENT AS SELF-IMPOSED DEADLINE LOOMS
"Same answer," said Jeffries. "I have not refused to endorse. I have refused to articulate my position and I will momentarily, at some point in advance of early voting."
Well, early voting began Saturday in New York. And true to his word, Jeffries articulated his position via a statement early Friday afternoon, throwing his political clout behind Mamdani.
"Zohran Mamdani has relentlessly focused on addressing the affordability crisis and explicitly committed to being a Mayor for all New Yorkers, including those who do not support his candidacy," said Jeffries. "The communities I represent in Brooklyn are being devastated by this extreme version of the Republican Party. In this environment, we have a clear obligation to push back against the national nightmare being visited on the American people by Republican extremism."
Jeffries closed his endorsement with this key line: "I endorse the Democratic ticket."
In some respects, that was the least newsworthy line in Jeffries statement. It might be preposterous to think that the top Democrat in the House of Representatives, from New York City, would not endorse the Democratic candidate for mayor of his hometown.
It would have been a bigger story had Jeffries not endorsed Mamdani.
We don’t definitively know what Jeffries may have mulled for so long. But we do understand the fissure inside the Democratic Party between centrist Democrats and the far left. This is why Republicans shout from the Empire State Building that Mamdani is a "socialist" or even a "communist." Republicans not-so-secretly love the fact Mamdani is the Democratic nominee. And they embrace the fact that Mamdani makes some Democrats squirm as the party tries to reach moderate voters – and simultaneously grapples with the leftist views of the nominee.
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"What we're witnessing is truly the end of the Democratic Party as we've known it," opined House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La. "Hakeem Jeffries finally relented. He gave in and he gave his endorsement to the socialist running to be mayor of New York City. The House Democrats, they've shown the world what they really believe. There is no longer a place for [centrists] and moderates in their party."
Republicans also claim that the reason Democrats "shut down the government" is because Jeffries and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., heard footsteps from the left and feared a primary challenge. In Schumer’s case: Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y.
"They decided to save their own skin that they had to endorse the Marxist Mamdani," speculated Johnson. "In an unprecedented move, they have also decided they had to shut down the government in an unprecedented move."
When pressed on MSNBC over the weekend why it took him so long to endorse Mamdani, Jeffries replied that he wasn’t "someone that I knew prior to him receiving the Democratic nomination."
Jeffries added that he wanted "to sit down and have some conversations" with Mamdani.
But the endorsement question has been a tortured avenue for Jeffries ever since Mamdani captured the Democratic nomination for mayor on June 25.
On the day Mamdani won the primary, Jeffries offered his "congratulations to Zohran Mamdani on a decisive primary victory."
But Jeffries did not endorse.
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"We spoke this morning and plan to meet in central Brooklyn shortly," said Jeffries.
Four days later, ABC’s Jonathan Karl asked Jeffries if he had endorsed Mamdani yet.
The answer was no.
"He out-worked, he out-communicated, and he out-organized the opposition. And that’s clearly why he was successful," said Jeffries.
"So, what’s holding you back from endorsing him right now?" asked Karl.
"Well, we don’t really know each other well. Our districts don’t overlap. I have never had a substantive conversation with him," answered Jeffries.
And that’s how it went, all summer long – and into the fall. Reporters frequently peppered Jeffries with questions about a potential endorsement or what the holdup was. And Jeffries was always circumspect.
In fact, resistance to endorse fueled speculation that Jeffries harbored reservations about Mamdani. That’s nothing to say of possible headaches Mamdani could create for the party as it tries to court swing voters.
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"What does he need to do to secure your endorsement?" asked CNN’s Dana Bash on August 24.
"(Rep.) Yvette Clarke, the chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, and myself are scheduled to sit down with him in the next few days. I look forward to that conversation," said Jeffries.
"What do you want to hear from him? What's missing? I mean, it's pretty unusual for a high-ranking Democrat like yourself to withhold the endorsement of your party's nominee for candidate for New York City mayor," countered Bash.
"I don't think we have withheld an endorsement. We are engaging in a conversation about the future of New York City," said Jeffries.
Bash questioned if Jeffries wasn’t endorsing Mamdani because "he hasn't denounced using the term or supporting the term ‘globalize the intifada?’"
"I have raised several of the issues with him privately, as well as publicly spoken about some of the concerns that I have had," said Jeffries.
So, there were in fact "concerns."
"What do you say to your young constituents, energized young constituents that help put Mamdani in the position that he's in and now they're calling for you to represent their wishes and endorse him?" asked a reporter of Jeffries at the Capitol on October 6.
"I think I've answered those questions repeatedly, and I'll have more to say before early voting," said Jeffries.
There were more questions for Jeffries about Mamdani on October 9.
"We’re in the middle of a government shutdown," sidestepped Jeffries when asked about possible plans to endorse. "I would have more to say about the mayor’s race in advance of early voting in NYC which begins at the end of this month."
So Jeffries has now endorsed Mamdani. And that should answer all questions, right?
Doubtful.
Republicans pounced on Jeffries’ decision to endorse. Moderate Democrats and many pro-Israel voters moaned. Yes. Jeffries may have needed to achieve a comfort level with Mamdani and clear up questions the Minority Leader had in his own mind. But in the end, Jeffries may not have had any choice but to endorse. A failure to endorse could have splintered the party. Jeffries likely had to evaluate which was the greater danger: not endorsing and outraging the left or endorsing and losing those in the middle.
Everything in politics is a calculus. Jeffries made his calculus – on behalf of himself, New York City and his party.
Yes, Republicans will excoriate Jeffries for this decision. But they would try to connect Jeffries to Mamdani anyway. Fair or not.
It’s doubtful that Jeffries endorsement would win or lose the mayoral race for Mamdani anyway.
But a refusal to endorse would highlight the fracture inside the Democratic Party. And that could have fueled more questions than Jeffries ever fielded about whether he would endorse or not.
