Mayor Zohran Mamdani endorsed eight candidates in New York’s 2026 Democratic primaries. On June 23, all eight won. City and State reconstructed how the newly elected mayor spent months after his victory building what it calls the strongest political machine any New York mayor has had in generations.
The mayor’s own advisers and allies say Mamdani is now a kingmaker. He backed three congressional candidates and five state legislative candidates, and all eight won. So did all but one of the candidates endorsed by NYC-DSA, the socialist group Mamdani belongs to and worked alongside to pull it off. These were not paper endorsements. Mamdani appeared in videos, spoke at fundraisers, ran rallies and selfie lines, and joined canvasses and phonebanks for his picks.
The rest of this story is for members.
Enter your email to continue.
You’re signed in as .
Not you?
Featured image: Courtesy socialists.nyc
