Rep. Laura Gillen (D-N.Y.) distanced herself from apparent New York City Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani on Wednesday, calling him “the wrong choice for New York.”
“Socialist Zohran Mamdani is too extreme to lead New York City,” Gillen said in a statement. “His entire campaign has been built on unachievable promises and higher taxes, which is the last thing New York needs.”
“Beyond that, Mr. Mamdani has called to defund the police and has demonstrated a deeply disturbing pattern of unacceptable antisemitic comments which stoke hate at a time when antisemitism is skyrocketing. He is the absolute wrong choice for New York,” she said.
Gillen represents a highly competitive congressional district on Long Island outside of New York City. The district has a large Jewish population.
Earlier this month, Mamdani faced criticism over remarks he made in which he avoided denouncing the phrase “globalize the intifada” and compared it to the Warsaw ghetto uprising during the Holocaust.
Mamdani declared victory early Wednesday morning after coming out of primary night with a commanding lead over former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D), who conceded late on Tuesday. Mamdani, who is a member of the Democratic Socialists of America, was seen as the progressive, outsider in the race. Cuomo was considered the establishment candidate.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) congratulated Mamdani on his win on Wednesday, but each stopped short of endorsing him.
Republicans are seeking to make Mamdani a foil for Democrats going into next year’s midterm elections.
The House and Senate Republican campaign arms were quick to tie Jeffries and Schumer to Mamdani on Wednesday.
“Every single Democrat now owns Mamdani’s radical socialist agenda to defund police, abolish prisons & stop ICE from deporting criminals,” the National Republican Congressional Committee said in a post on X.
The National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) accused Schumer, who is Jewish, of supporting “a socialist who doesn’t believe Israel should exist as a Jewish state and wants to ‘globalize the intifada’” in their own post on the platform.
