Zohran Mamdani, left-wing Democrats’ fast-rising hope to win the party’s mayoral primary in New York City, was endorsed on Tuesday by Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont.
Mr. Sanders’s support follows the endorsement by Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, giving Mr. Mamdani the aid of the country’s two biggest progressive leaders.
Mr. Sanders, an independent who grew up in Brooklyn, and Ms. Ocasio-Cortez have been traveling across the country on an a “Fighting Oligarchy” tour that has drawn huge crowds to oppose President Trump’s agenda. Now they are joining to back Mr. Mamdani and oppose his strongest challenger, former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo.
Mr. Sanders said in a statement that Mr. Mamdani was running an “inspirational” campaign and was a “visionary” leader. He praised his plan to tax the wealthy.
“Our nation faces a fundamental choice: Will we continue with a corporate-dominated politics driven by billionaires or will we build a grass-roots movement fueled by everyday people, committed to fighting oligarchy, authoritarianism and kleptocracy?” Mr. Sanders said.
He added, “The New York City Democratic primary presents a clear choice as to the path forward.”
It was not immediately clear if Mr. Sanders intended to campaign with Mr. Mamdani, as Ms. Ocasio-Cortez did on Saturday at an enthusiastic rally at Terminal 5, a concert venue in Manhattan. He did not make an endorsement in the 2021 mayoral contest, and waited until a week before Election Day to officially back Bill de Blasio’s re-election in 2017.
Ms. Ocasio-Cortez said at the rally that Mr. Cuomo, 67, was part of the nation’s political “gerontocracy” and that it would be “unconscionable” for Mr. Cuomo to become mayor after he resigned in 2021 following a series of sexual harassment allegations that he denies.
The endorsement gives Mr. Mamdani a boost at a moment when a super PAC supporting Mr. Cuomo is running a torrent of television advertisements depicting Mr. Mamdani as too “radical” to be mayor.
Mr. Mamdani, 33, said in a statement that he admired Mr. Sanders and called him “the single most influential political figure in my life.”
“Make no mistake: Oligarchy is on the ballot,” Mr. Mamdani said. “Andrew Cuomo is the candidate of a billionaire class that is suffocating our democracy and forcing the working class out of our city.”
Mr. Mamdani’s campaign has focused on affordability and criticized Mr. Cuomo for relying on large donations from wealthy donors, including some Trump supporters. He has moved in recent days to consolidate support among voters who oppose Mr. Cuomo.
Mr. Mamdani has made cross-endorsements with two candidates — Brad Lander, the city comptroller, and Michael Blake, a former assemblyman — in an attempt to combine their supporters under the city’s relatively new ranked-choice voting system.
Mr. Cuomo has led in the polls ahead of the June 24 Democratic primary and has won endorsements from many elected officials and major unions. His campaign said late Monday that Mr. Cuomo had also won late-stage support from key Orthodox Jewish groups.
Mr. Cuomo hit the campaign trail on Monday in the back of a truck with his daughters and Jessica Ramos, a state senator and mayoral candidate who endorsed him.
Mr. Mamdani’s campaign has insisted that he has the strongest army of volunteers. He released a video on Monday warning that ads bashing him would be inescapable in the coming days.
“That’s why in these final days, I’m asking you to knock on as many doors as you can,” he said.
Emma G. Fitzsimmons is the City Hall bureau chief for The Times, covering Mayor Eric Adams and his administration.
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