Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the dean of New York’s congressional delegation and an avatar of old New York politics, made it to Election Day without endorsing Zohran Mamdani, the young Democratic nominee for mayor with leftist views.
Mr. Schumer, who voted early, was reticent on Tuesday to even say whom he cast his ballot for.
A spokesman for Mr. Schumer would not say whether he had voted for Mr. Mamdani. Mr. Schumer was set to take questions at the Capitol on Tuesday afternoon during his weekly news conference, but it was not clear that he would reveal his choice even then.
It was a sharp break from the tradition of party leaders getting behind their party’s nominees for local races in their states. And it reflected the complicated calculus of a leader facing his own political challenges while trying to guide a divided Democratic Party seeking to win seats in competitive states with little appetite for a Democratic Socialist who is deeply critical of Israel.
Some Democrats called it a failure of leadership.
“It is hard to imagine something more emblematic of what’s wrong with the Democratic Party than an aging insider refusing to support a young generational talent who has built a movement that looks like the future,” said Ben Rhodes, who worked as a top adviser to former President Barack Obama. (Mr. Obama has been privately encouraging of Mr. Mamdani but has not officially endorsed him.)
But Mr. Schumer ultimately saw little upside in getting involved.
For months, Mr. Schumer, the highest-ranking Jewish elected official in the country, has dodged questions about why he was withholding an endorsement for Mr. Mamdani, the young Democrat with ultraprogressive views who has been harshly critical of Israel. “We know each other well and we’re going to keep talking,” was all Mr. Schumer would say, over and over and over again, when pressed on the subject.
He held out even as Mr. Mamdani racked up endorsements from Gov. Kathy Hochul of New York; Carl Heastie, the speaker of the New York State Assembly; Representative Yvette D. Clarke, the chairwoman of the Congressional Black Caucus; Thomas DiNapoli, the New York State comptroller; and Representative Hakeem Jeffries of New York, the House minority leader.
On Tuesday, even a prominent Jewish billionaire, the investor and philanthropist Alex Soros, said he had voted for Mr. Mamdani. “I was proud to support and vote for the Democratic candidate for mayor,” he said in an email to The New York Times.
But Mr. Schumer, people familiar with his thinking said, was always inclined to stay out of the race, despite rising pressure from the left to weigh in. He also saw no reason to close the door completely on an endorsement. So he left it open an inch, never intending to walk through unless circumstances changed dramatically.
Mr. Schumer may be deeply associated with his home borough of Brooklyn, where he has lived his entire life. But the reality is that as the Democratic leader in the Senate, he has little to do with city politics these days, and views his main task as helping his party to win races around the country to regain the Senate majority.
Aligning himself with Mr. Mamdani in a race that carried unique national implications risked blowing back on candidates he recruited in competitive states like Ohio. He also had donors and Democrats in New York City, particularly in the real estate industry, in his ear expressing deep concern about a Mamdani mayoralty.
On Tuesday, some Democrats from those competitive swing states bristled at being asked about Mr. Mamdani, Mr. Schumer’s decision to stay neutral in the primary, or anything within a 100-mile vicinity of New York City politics.
“I’m not involved in New York politics,” Senator Jacky Rosen, a Democrat from the competitive state of Nevada, said, when asked to weigh in on Mr. Schumer’s decision to refrain from endorsing in his hometown mayoral race. “Nevada is my number one priority; the mayor of any other city is not a concern to me.”
Senator Ben Ray Luján, Democrat of New Mexico, grew agitated when pressed about whether Mr. Schumer’s decision was good for Senate Democrats.
“I’m going to give you a map of the state of New Mexico,” he said. “I don’t get to vote in New York. Go talk to Chuck; I don’t know what to tell you.”
Mr. Schumer, however, was not available for an interview.
His ultimate decision to stay on the sidelines of the race was driven in large part, people close to him said, by his self-conception as a guardian of Israel, something he considers a core part of his personal and political identity. Mr. Mamdani has long been deeply critical of Israel, accusing its government of imposing apartheid and committing genocide in Gaza and declining to say it should be a Jewish state.
A spokeswoman for Mr. Mamdani, Dora Pekec, said Mr. Mamdani was unfazed by the lack of support from Mr. Schumer.
“Zohran is looking to represent and lead the 8 million New Yorkers who call this city home,” Ms. Pekec said. “With the support of the governor and leaders of both the assembly and state senate, he’s confident he’ll deliver on his incredibly popular affordability agenda.”
Annie Karni is a congressional correspondent for The Times.
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