NEW YORK (1010 WINS) -- Gov. Kathy Hochul’s endorsement of Queens Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani for mayor is a politically risky move by the governor going into her reelection bid next year, a political expert said.
“An endorsement by the governor frankly does more for the governor than it does for Mamdani,” political consultant Hank Sheinkopf told 1010 WINS on Monday.
“In her mind it means she’ll be able to take advantage of the demographic ship,” he said. “But it will likely cost her the suburbs. And it will make it very dicey in her reelection campaign next year.”
Hochul is the “titular head of the Democratic Party in New York State, and apparently she felt she had no choice but to endorse him,” Sheinkopf said, noting former Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Mayor Eric Adams are both running as independents.
While Sunday's endorsement in the New York Times could help her in parts of New York City, it complicates her standing in suburban areas like Long Island.
“The governor in order to win reelection needs to take New York City handily, and she needs to do at least reasonably well in the suburbs—this is now gone,” Sheinkopf said.
“The reality is if Nassau County could put up a steel wall at the Queens County border today they probably would,” he said.
Mamdani, 33, skyrocketed onto the political scene this year with his mayoral run, upsetting Cuomo in the Democratic primary. He has gained national attention, with President Donald Trump on Monday threatening to withhold federal funds to New York after Hochul’s “shocking” endorsement of Mamdani, who is a democratic socialist.
“Washington will be watching this situation very closely,” the president wrote on social media, referring to Mamdani as a "Liddle Communist." “No reason to be sending good money after bad!”