Mamdani plays nice with Dems, asks Socialists not to back Jeffries primary challenger: report

Socialist Mayor-elect of New York City Zohran Mamdani has urged his fellow Democratic Socialists of America members to not support Chi Osse, a far-left candidate that has launched a primary bid against House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, according to the New York Daily News.

The closed-door appearance from Mamdani at the Manhattan's Church of the Village was surprising, as Osse, like Mamdani, is a dues-paying member of the DSA. The move from Mamdani to oppose him could anger the leftist groups that put Mamdani in power in the first place.

After an introduction, Mamdani argued a pragmatic case to the DSA members why it was a poor choice to back Osse's run against Jeffries. “The choice is not whether to vote for Chi or Hakeem at the ballot box, the choice is how to spend the next year. Do we want to spend it defending caricatures of our movement, or do we want to spend it fulfilling the agenda at the heart of that very same movement?” Mamdani said, according to sources that spoke with the outlet.

“I believe that endorsing [Osse] makes it more difficult to do the latter, more difficult to deliver on the life-changing policies that more than 1 million New Yorkers voted for just two weeks ago,” Mamdani added, per the report. “I know how I want to spend the next year, and I urge you all to join me in voting no on this endorsement, not because our dreams are too small, but because they are as big as the entire city.”

The field director for Mamdani's campaign, Tascha van Auken, argued against endorsing Osse while other DSA members argued to back the far-left candidate. Sources familiar with the meeting told the outlet that Mamdani thinks challenging Jeffries now would hurt efforts from DSA going forward.

The meeting was with the DSA’s Electoral Working Group, which has until Saturday to vote on the potential endorsement of Osse. Previous to Osse launching his bid to primary Jeffries, Mamdani had urged him not to do so. Osse, who identifies as a Democratic Socialist, had indicated he would not run against Jeffries, but ended up doing so.