Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-N.Y.) threw last-minute support behind Andrew Cuomo on Wednesday ahead of New York City’s contentious mayoral election next week, backing a campaign that has seen few endorsements from top Democratic Party leaders.
Ina social media post, Suozzi — who represents a suburban Long Island district — gave his full-throated support for Cuomo’s independent bid, but spent much of the announcement zeroing in on where he felt Democratic candidate Zohran Mamdani fell short. Without explicitly naming Mamdani, Suozzi ripped his “thin resume” and said he couldn’t back a “declared socialist.”
“We need leaders who will fight crime, not undermine the police,” Suozzi wrote. “Who will create jobs, not harm the economy. Who will keep taxes down, not make it more expensive for middle class families to live here.”
Suozzi has long been a vocal critic of Mamdani and has consistently separated himself from the democratic socialist through the campaign. He’s maintained concerns about Mamdani’s proposed solutions to affordability, and earlier this year, he penned an op-ed in The Wall Street Journal arguing Mamdani “should serve as a loud wake-up call for the Democratic Party.”
But the announcement signals an eleventh-hour effort from Suozzi to mark his lasting dissatisfaction with Mamdani — and distance himself from House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries’ endorsement of Mamdani last week.
Cuomo has accumulated endorsements from a share of state executives — like Mayor Eric Adams and former Gov. David Paterson. But Mamdani has racked up a growing list of endorsements from key Democratic leaders — including Jeffries, Gov. Kathy Hochul, state Attorney General Letitia James and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.).
In 2021, amid sexual harassment allegations that Cuomo has denied, Suozzi called on the then-governor to step down.
“The time has come for Governor Andrew Cuomo to do the right thing for the people of New York State and resign,” Suozzi said in a joint statement then with Jeffries and Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.).
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