Julie Menin, a councilwoman from Manhattan, said on Wednesday that she had secured enough votes to become the next leader of the City Council.
Ms. Menin, who represents the Upper East Side, said she had the support of at least 34 current and incoming City Council members, more than the 26 votes needed to become the Council’s speaker, considered the second most powerful job in city government.
The victory sets Ms. Menin, 58, up to become an influential voice in setting the agenda for New York City and helping to negotiate its $116 billion budget, which is larger than all but a few states. The 51-member Council will officially vote on the position in January and alliances could shift before then.
A moderate Democrat, Ms. Menin was seen by some supporters as a necessary check on Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, a democratic socialist who has proposed creating universal child care, making city buses free, freezing the rent for one million tenants and creating city-run grocery stores.
She would be the first Jewish leader of the City Council, while Mr. Mamdani will be the city’s first Muslim mayor. During the mayoral campaign, Mr. Mamdani struggled to build bonds with segments of the Jewish population because of his sustained criticism of Israel and his pro-Palestinian activism.
Ms. Menin’s leading opponent, Crystal Hudson, 42, a councilwoman from Brooklyn, was seen as more aligned on policy with Mr. Mamdani than Ms. Menin. Both women are Democrats but Ms. Hudson is a member of the City Council’s Progressive Caucus. Mr. Mamdani will need the Council’s cooperation to accomplish many of his goals.
“I am honored and humbled by the trust and faith that my colleagues have put in me to lead the City Council as a force of action for New York families,” Ms. Menin said in a statement on Wednesday.
“With this broad five-borough coalition, we stand ready to partner with Mayor-Elect Mamdani’s administration and deliver on a shared agenda that makes New York more affordable through universal child care, lowers rent and health care costs and ensures that families across the city can do more than just get by,” she added.
A spokeswoman for Ms. Hudson declined to comment.
Mr. Mamdani has not weighed in on his preferred Council speaker. Among her colleagues, Ms. Menin is viewed as an ambitious politician who could use her perch as leader of the City Council, and the ways she contrasts with Mr. Mamdani, to challenge him for mayor in four years.
There is a long history of Council speakers who have attempted to run for mayor, all unsuccessfully. The most recent is the outgoing and term-limited speaker Adrienne Adams, who launched a late campaign for mayor after corruption scandals enveloped the administration of the outgoing mayor, Eric Adams.
In recent interviews, Ms. Menin has acknowledged that she might revive the use of the City Council’s subpoena powers. She also remains skeptical of Mr. Mamdani’s plan to create a Department of Community Safety that would relieve the Police Department from responding to some nonemergency calls.
Inna Vernikov, a Republican councilwoman from Brooklyn, said that Ms. Menin would be a “common sense” voice in city government.
“As speaker, she will ensure that the Council is a coequal branch of government in City Hall that maintains the checks, balances and accountability that is essential for government to function effectively,” Ms. Vernikov said in a statement.
Some of Ms Hudson’s supporters said they had not given up.
“We’re holding the line,” Shahana Hanif, a councilwoman from Brooklyn, said in an interview. “The vote isn’t until January.”
Ms. Hanif said that Ms. Menin had not demonstrated that she would be a strong partner for Mr. Mamdani’s affordability agenda. “She has not said anything that indicates she would be fighting for a rent freeze,” Ms. Hanif said.
Some of Ms. Menin’s colleagues on the Council disagreed, saying she would work with the new mayor to enact his goals.
“Julie is tough, principled and relentlessly focused on delivering for working families,” said Shaun Abreu, a councilman from Upper Manhattan. “As a colleague on the City Council, she has demonstrated time and again that she has the judgment and legislative savvy to drive forward the affordability agenda that has animated this city.”
Mr. Mamdani and the Council face significant issues in the coming term, including the threat that President Trump could send National Guard troops to the city. Mr. Trump has already revoked billions of dollars in federal aid to New York and has threatened to retract more.
Mr. Trump met with Mr. Mamdani at the White House on Friday. The president showered praise on the mayor-elect during a news conference after the meeting, saying “I expect to be helping him, not hurting him.”
Ms. Menin, who is a lawyer, has a long history in government, having served as the head of the Office of Consumer Affairs and as the commissioner of the Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment. She also served as the census director for New York City. She is married to Bruce Menin, a real estate developer, and has three children.
Jeffery C. Mays is a Times reporter covering politics with a focus on New York City Hall.
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