New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani avoided saying whether the collapse of former Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner’s campaign points to a deeper challenge for the progressive movement, telling an interviewer Thursday that the priority now is to “bring this chapter to a close.”
In a conversation with NY1’s Errol Lewis, the host said Platner’s rapid downfall had prompted a wider national debate over whether progressives were too quick to rally behind a candidate who proved “simply unfit” for office.
“There’s a national discussion that this has triggered about whether or not the push by some progressives to sort of push the traditional mainstream Democrats aside … they came up with a candidate who was simply unfit or not prepared for the responsibility of making it all the way through the campaign,” Lewis said, asking Mamdani whether that risk was an “occupational danger for progressives.”
Mamdani did not directly address the larger question about progressive politics, instead steering his response back to the future of the Maine race.
“I think my focus right now is how do we ensure that we bring this chapter to a close and then start to write a new chapter,” Mamdani said. “And I think I trust the voters of Maine to point us in the right direction.”
It was not the first time Mamdani had been pressed on the contest in Maine. At a news conference Tuesday, before Platner suspended his campaign, the New York City mayor said he believed it was “time for him to drop out of the race.”
Mamdani also indicated during the interview that he does not intend to become heavily involved in races outside New York, saying, “The endorsements I’ve made have all been right here in New York City.”
The mayor had previously backed far-left congressional candidates Claire Valdez, Brad Lander and Darializa Avila Chevalier, each of whom won their races last month.
While Mamdani never endorsed Platner, their campaigns shared a connection in Morris Katz, one of the New York City mayor’s top advisors. Before joining the Mamdani administration, Katz helped launch Platner’s campaign.
Platner’s campaign was plagued by scandals from the start. The first involved a tattoo of a Nazi symbol known as a “Totenkopf” that Platner had on his chest.
He denied knowing what the symbol meant and had it covered up. However, Lyndsey Fifield told The New York Times that Platner had referred to it as “my Totenkopf,” and that he taught her the name of the symbol.
The article in the Times, which was published last month, also contained scathing allegations about Platner’s conduct with past partners. While the paper spoke with women who had a favorable view of the Maine Democrat, the article also included allegations from Fifield, Jenny Racicot and another woman.
Racicot’s allegations in a subsequent article published by Politico on Monday were serious enough to make even Platner’s biggest supporters distance themselves. She claimed that in 2021, Platner entered her home while drunk and raped her. Platner denied the allegations, but that did not stop the fallout.
Following the article, several Democrats who had defended Platner through previous scandals abandoned ship, including Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., and Sen. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz.
Platner suspended his campaign on Wednesday, saying in a video posted on social media that “for the movement to continue, it can’t be me.”
