Out-of-state contributors are rallying support for Big Apple mayoral hopeful Zohran Mamdani’s campaign, having contributed over $350,000 to the socialist candidate since his remarkable Democratic primary victory, according to public filings.
Going into the November general election as the leading candidate, the progressive politician garnered $351,423 from 5,292 individuals not associated with New York City from June 25 to July 11, as per the latest campaign finance details.
These contributions accounted for nearly half of the $816,014 the progressive lawmaker collected during that 16-day period from around 10,300 donors, the Wednesday filings reveal.
Political analysts attributed the national outpour of support to Mamdani shooting to national prominence following his decisive win over ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo in the June 24 primary, telling The Post he has “emerged as a top leader on the left.”
The 5,292 donors don’t live or work in New York, according to a review of the filings. About $10,300 more came from 125 donors that are not listed as living in the Empire State, but at least have a job there.
Before his upset win last month, only 16% of Mamdani’s donors weren’t New York residents, according to past filings.
Veteran political consultant Lis Smith said fellow far-left Dems “want to be part of this magic,” even if they don’t have a dog in the mayoral race.
“No one thought a Democratic socialist would win the New York City mayoral primary,” Smith told The Post. “It’s a big victory for the left. He’s a shot in the arm for the left flank for the Democratic Party.”
Mamdani’s trouncing of Cuomo marked the biggest national victory for lefties since Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez won her first election in an upset over entrenched Democratic Rep. Joe Crowley in 2018, Smith said.
“Mamdani has become a rallying cry and has emerged as a top leader on the left in the country,” said Smith, who worked for Cuomo’s re-election campaign when he was governor in 2018.
“No one thought he would vanquish Andrew Cuomo,” she said. “Mamdani is now one of the leading figures on the left across the country.”
Democratic operative Ken Frydman agreed the large haul from out-of-staters makes sense.
“He’s the new, big city face of the new Democratic Party,” he told The Post.
In just the single day after the primary, Mamdani raised roughly $170,000. That single-day stream of green included $45,128 from donors with no clear connections to the city, filings show.
A large chunk of the out-of-staters flooding Mamdani with funds hailed from another deep-blue state, California, with had 1,153 contributors cutting him checks worth a whopping $100,000, according to the campaign finance data.
Mamdani has vowed to freeze rents on regulated apartments, open cheaper, city-run grocery stores and dole out a host of other freebies while hiking taxes on corporations and the ultra-rich.
The founder of the lefty group Justice Democrats, Corbin Trent, insisted Mamdani isn’t just exciting for radical liberals like members of the Democratic Socialist of America.
“He’s exciting people who’ve given up on government and the Democratic Party,” Trent, a former top aide to AOC, said.
“People want to turn the page on privatization and corporate greed,” he said. “I’m from Tennessee. I’m excited to see New York City reject Andrew Cuomo and Eric Adams.”
The left-wing darling still needs to get past the general election in which he’ll once again take on Cuomo, who is running on an independent line similarly to incumbent Mayor Eric Adams and attorney Jim Walden. GOP candidate Curtis Sliwa will also be on the ballot.
City moderates are frantically trying to sort out a way to stop Mamdani’s rise to City Hall that have left other candidates bickering while prominent Dems, like Gov. Kathy Hochul, US Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, have yet to formally endorse the socialist’s campaign.
Still, Mamdani has garnered some official support in recent days, including from Bronx Rep. Adriano Espaillat, and met with other members of Congress, including Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, in DC Wednesday.
Additional reporting by David DeTurris.
