Kathy Hochul moves to back socialist Zohran Mamdani for NYC mayor

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said she sees certain policy overlaps with New York City mayoral frontrunner Zohran Mamdani, even as she made clear that significant differences remain between them.

Speaking to Fox News, Hochul responded to questions about Mamdani, a democratic socialist who is running against former Gov. Andrew Cuomo and others. This was after Mamdani publicly praised Hochul for hosting Texas Democratic lawmakers who left their state to block a Republican redistricting plan.

“We still have many differences. I don't know how you whitewash that away,” Hochul said. “He can agree with me, and many people agree with, and I think it's not just Democrats who say New Yorkers stand up for our rights. We do that. It's what we're hardwired to do. We're fighters. I'm a mom from Buffalo. I guess they're not used to taking on a mom from Buffalo, perhaps.”

“There's many areas of disagreement, but also there's areas of alignment, including affordability,” she said. “His election touched a nerve. And people said, you know what, we're just not getting ahead. And the Trump policies that were promised to lift people up, reduce costs, not touch Medicaid, make sure that tariffs create jobs, none of that happened. So there is this sense of we need some change now.”

“I will make it work out because I'm not going to go to war with the 8 million residents of New York that I also represent, so my job is to calm things down,” Hochul said. “Let's see what the election results are, but people have to recognize that candidate for mayor has also touched a nerve and we need to be responsive to that. So I'm aligned with him that we need to start finding ways to make life more affordable for New Yorkers.”

Hochul became governor in 2021 after Cuomo resigned amid multiple controversies and later won a full term.

Mamdani defeated Cuomo in the Democratic primary in June, prompting Cuomo to enter the general election as an independent. He joins incumbent Mayor Eric Adams in competing against Mamdani. Cuomo and Adams have each suggested the other should exit the race to improve the chances of defeating the frontrunner.