With Election Day less than two weeks away, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani is set to join Gov. Kathy Hochul on the campaign trail for the first time, the incumbent Democrat announced Thursday.
Hochul’s campaign said Mamdani will appear with the governor in Brooklyn on Friday afternoon to meet voters. The democratic socialist mayor endorsed Hochul after his surprise win in last year’s Democratic mayoral primary.
The event will mark Mamdani’s first direct campaign appearance on Hochul’s behalf as she prepares to face Republican challenger Bruce Blakeman, the Nassau County executive, in the November 3 election.
The two Democrats have shared the stage at several news conferences in their official roles. Mamdani has also promoted Hochul’s re-election campaign through digital ads attacking Blakeman and praising the governor for supporting his push for universal childcare.
“That’s why she’s the real deal for New Yorkers, and Bruce Blakeman? He’s a bad apple,” Mamdani joked in one polished campaign video released last week.
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A new ad unveiled Thursday features Mamdani alongside Hochul, who highlights the nearly $2 billion she obtained for New York City’s expansion of 3-K seats and the launch of a 2-K pilot program.
“As New York’s first mom — and grandmother — governor, childcare is personal to me,” Hochul says in the spot. “That’s why I’m proud to work alongside Zohran Mamdani to bring New York one step closer to universal childcare.”
Hochul, a centrist Democrat, has increasingly turned to prominent figures on the party’s left, including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Mamdani, as she works to energize progressive voters and drive turnout on Election Day.
Still, Hochul’s previous efforts to connect with Mamdani’s progressive supporters have produced some uncomfortable moments.
At a campaign rally for Mamdani last year, the mayor-elect was forced to take the stage after members of his left-wing crowd began chanting “tax the rich” at Hochul.
The governor faced comparable heckling weeks later during a Democratic gathering in Puerto Rico.
