Zohran Mamdani and Brad Lander, the leading progressive candidates in the Democratic primary for mayor of New York City, cross-endorsed each other on Friday, creating a late-stage partnership designed to help one of them surpass former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo in ranked-choice balloting.
The candidates, who are second and third in the polls behind Mr. Cuomo, encouraged their supporters to rank them in the top two spots on their ballots. The city’s ranked-choice voting system allows primary voters to list up to five candidates in order of preference.
If no candidate receives more than 50 percent of New Yorkers’ first-choice votes, ranked-choice tabulations will begin. When voters’ top choices are eliminated during that process, their support will get transferred to candidates who are lower on their ballots.
The partnership, which was announced one day before early voting begins, will effectively turn Mr. Mamdani, a state assemblyman, and Mr. Lander, the city comptroller, into something of a joint entry. They hope the cross-endorsement will lead to one of them accumulating many of the other’s votes.
Mr. Mamdani, who has steadily risen in the polls and is running second behind Mr. Cuomo, said in a statement that at Thursday night’s debate, he and Mr. Lander had exposed Mr. Cuomo as “a relic of the broken politics of the past.”
“I am proud to rank our principled and progressive comptroller No. 2 on my ballot because we are both fighting for a city every New Yorker can afford,” Mr. Mamdani said.
Mr. Lander said that working together was the best way to stop Mr. Cuomo from winning the primary, which is set for June 24.
“I’m proud to cross-endorse Zohran because of his strong commitment to a more affordable New York, and to stop the corrupt, morally bankrupt, unacceptable Andrew Cuomo from becoming mayor of a city he doesn’t even like,” Mr. Lander said.
The potential effect of such a deal was seen in 2021, when New York City used ranked-choice voting in a mayoral primary for the first time.
Late in the Democratic primary, Andrew Yang, the former presidential candidate, endorsed Kathryn Garcia, the city’s sanitation commissioner. She received many of his votes after he was eliminated, elevating her from third to second place and enabling her to finish fewer than 8,000 votes behind Eric Adams, who went on to become mayor.
Ms. Garcia did not endorse Mr. Yang. The partnership between Mr. Mamdani and Mr. Lander is the first true cross-endorsement under the system.
Mr. Mamdani has risen in the polls by focusing on affordability and energizing younger voters in particular, while Mr. Lander has run as an earnest technocrat. They were both endorsed by Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and the left-leaning Working Families Party, with Mr. Mamdani getting the top ranking in each case. Each candidate has largely avoided criticizing the other, focusing their attacks on Mr. Cuomo.
Many of the Democrats running in the primary have criticized Mr. Cuomo, who is attempting a comeback after resigning as governor in 2021 after a series of sexual harassment allegations that he denies.
Mr. Mamdani and Mr. Lander plan to argue that they are the two strongest candidates to beat Mr. Cuomo and “restore integrity and progressive values back to New York City’s government.” They will urge their supporters to leave Mr. Cuomo off their ballots.
Their partnership could prompt other cross-endorsement deals as the primary draws closer.
On Thursday night, Mr. Cuomo was friendly on the debate stage with Whitney Tilson, a former hedge fund executive polling near the bottom of the pack. They have both castigated Mr. Mamdani as inexperienced and too critical of Israel.
Two other candidates — Adrienne Adams, the City Council speaker, and Zellnor Myrie, a state senator from Brooklyn — also teamed up onstage, when Mr. Myrie asked Ms. Adams a question about the major housing plan she approved, giving her a chance to promote her record. Ms. Adams and Mr. Myrie were also endorsed by the Working Families Party as part of its four-candidate slate.
Another candidate, State Senator Jessica Ramos, has endorsed Mr. Cuomo. He did not endorse her back.
Emma G. Fitzsimmons is the City Hall bureau chief for The Times, covering Mayor Eric Adams and his administration.
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