Representative Adriano Espaillat, the most powerful Latino leader in New York City, backed Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic candidate for mayor.
Representative Adriano Espaillat, the most powerful Latino leader in New York City, backed Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic candidate for mayor.
Representative Adriano Espaillat, the most powerful Latino leader in New York City, backed Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic candidate for mayor.
Zohran Mamdani, the front-runner in the New York City mayor’s race, was endorsed on Thursday by Representative Adriano Espaillat, the city’s most powerful Latino leader and one of the most influential among voters.
His support follows endorsements for Mr. Mamdani from other prominent New York Democrats, including Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and major unions as he seeks to broaden his coalition ahead of the general election in November.
Landing the backing of Mr. Espaillat, who is the first Dominican American member of Congress and who represents northern Manhattan and the Bronx, is significant for symbolic and practical reasons.
He is the latest member of the New York congressional delegation to back Mr. Mamdani, joining Representatives Nydia Velázquez and Jerrold Nadler. Others, most notably Representative Hakeem Jeffries, the House minority leader, and Senator Chuck Schumer, the Senate minority leader, have not endorsed anyone in the race.
“This is a city that is at a tipping point, at a precipice unlike ever before,” Mr. Espaillat said as he stood next to Mr. Mamdani at the ornate United Palace theater in Upper Manhattan. “We need someone that will represent those families that are up against the wall without the ability to breathe, trying to stay in the city they love, and that they grew up in.”
Mr. Espaillat also enjoys a deserved reputation as someone who can command voters to head for the polls in his district. Representative Ritchie Torres, a Democrat who represents a neighboring district, called him a “turnout machine.”