Of all the democratic socialists who piled into a Manhattan church on Wednesday evening, none had the cachet of the man handed a microphone toward the meeting’s close.
Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani offered some pleasantries — “Hello friends, Zohran, he/him, Queens D.S.A.” — before launching into his mission: torpedoing the candidacy of a left-leaning ally, Councilman Chi Ossé, who is attempting to unseat Representative Hakeem Jeffries, the top House Democrat.
Mr. Mamdani urged the New York chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America not to endorse Mr. Ossé, making public what the mayor-elect had argued in private for months. He believes that if Mr. Jeffries faces a strenuous challenge from the left, it might weaken his ability to secure mainstream Democratic support for his proposals.
The remarkable scene was both a reflection of the tricky political calculuses Mr. Mamdani confronts as he prepares to take office next year and the egalitarian nature of a group that served as the grass-roots organizing machine of his political success.
“The choice before us is not whether to vote for Chi or Hakeem at the ballot box,” Mr. Mamdani said, according to four people familiar with the matter, including two who attended the meeting. “The choice is how to spend the next year. Do we want to spend it defending caricatures of our movement, or do we want to spend it fulfilling the agenda at the heart of that very same movement?”
Mr. Mamdani’s views were echoed by others, including Tascha Van Auken, the field director of his campaign and a prominent D.S.A. member, and Assemblywoman Claire Valdez. They both said that Mr. Ossé’s pursuit of the endorsement smacked of opportunism and others noted that Mr. Jeffries appeared to be popular in his district and would be hard to beat.
Mr. Ossé only formally joined the organization in recent months as his desire to challenge Mr. Jeffries became clearer. The councilman declined to comment on Thursday when asked for his reaction to the meeting. But later that day he posted an appeal to the D.S.A. on X, saying, “I would be honored to take on this fight with you @nydsa. If you agree the situation is as dire as I do, vote yes.”
About 1,000 D.S.A. members attended the electoral working group meeting on Wednesday in person or on Zoom. They all now have until Saturday to vote on Mr. Ossé’s endorsement. Then the organization’s entire membership has to approve the decision, followed by the chapter’s most senior leaders.
Representatives for the group’s local chapter did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Mr. Mamdani was asked on Thursday why he would back a challenge to Representative Daniel Goldman — the mayor-elect is urging Comptroller Brad Lander to take him on — but not support a primary challenge to Mr. Jeffries, who endorsed Mr. Mamdani shortly before the election.
“I do not believe it’s the right time,” Mr. Mamdani said at an unrelated news conference at City Hall Park in Lower Manhattan. He said that his opinion about a primary challenge to Mr. Jeffries “was not a sweeping statement” about other primary challenges but specific to that race.
Mr. Ossé was elected at the age of 23 to the City Council in 2021 and has gained prominence for his accessible distillations of progressive policies on TikTok and Instagram. He introduced legislation, which passed and took effect in June, that forces many landlords to cover broker fees, instead of renters.
On Wednesday night, many D.S.A. members spoke in Mr. Ossé’s favor, saying that his candidacy was a huge opportunity to have someone with a large following and aligned values challenge Mr. Jeffries. It was also a chance to show the multiracial nature of the organization’s coalition; one attendee noted that most of the chapter’s Black members in attendance had spoken in favor of endorsing Mr. Ossé.
Before Mr. Mamdani gave his remarks, Mr. Ossé explained to the crowd how Mr. Jeffries had sold out his district, which includes gentrifying communities as well as working-class Black neighborhoods that tend to be more moderate, like East New York and Canarsie.
“In the last decade, he has also become an emblem of betrayal,” Mr. Ossé said, according to attendees.
“He cynically uses race as a shield while he fails to fight fascism, sells out our communities, empowers conservative policies and funds mass slaughter.”
Representatives for Mr. Jeffries declined to comment.
Mr. Ossé wrote on his D.S.A. questionnaire that he “can’t run this race without the organization.” D.S.A. has helped to elect nearly a dozen people to the State Legislature and City Council, and Mr. Mamdani’s victory this month amplified the group’s influence and reach: The local chapter now has more than 12,000 members.
Mr. Mamdani alluded to the organization’s role in his victory as he introduced himself on Wednesday evening, saying he was a current member of “Queens D.S.A., potentially a new member of BUM,” using an acronym for the group’s Bronx and Upper Manhattan affiliate to describe his potential new home at Gracie Mansion.
Jeffery C. Mays contributed reporting.
Benjamin Oreskes is a reporter covering New York State politics and government for The Times.
The post Mamdani Urges D.S.A. Not to Endorse a Challenger to Jeffries appeared first on New York Times.
