Working Families Party endorses 4 NYC mayoral candidates

Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani is one of three candidates backed by the WFP.

The Working Families Party voted late Saturday to endorse a slate of four left-leaning Democrats —Adrienne Adams, Brad Lander, Zohran Mamdani and Zellnor Myrie — in the ranked-choice primary for New York City mayor.

Ella Weber, a spokesperson for the party, confirmed the vote for Gothamist. The news was first reported by the New York Times.

“The candidates in our slate hail from different corners of the City and different political communities, but they have a lot in common," WFP Co-Directors Ana Maria Archila and Jasmine Gripper said in a statement. "They each have a record of fighting for working families, a vision to make New York City safe and affordable for all, and the courage to stand up to Trump.”

The progressive third party did not express a preference or ranking of its choices. Instead, its members will wait at least another month to coalesce around the candidate they feel will have the best chance at defeating Andrew Cuomo in June.

The former governor, who is running as a moderate Democrat focused on crime and disorder, has been leading the field by a wide margin in multiple polls. But Cuomo comes with a lot of political baggage that has made him unpopular on the left, including allegations that he sexually harassed about a dozen women as governor. He denies the allegations.

Rich Azzopardi, spokesperson for Cuomo’s campaign, called the Working Families Party a “fringe group of extremists.” who he accused of being “anti-Israel” and defunding the police.

“New York has a crisis of affordability, of quality of life, and of leadership and Gov. Cuomo is the only person in this race with the proven track record of results to tackle these issues head on and build the coalitions necessary to make real progress on the issues that matter to working families from Brownsville to the Bronx,” he said in a statement.

The linchpin of progressives’ strategy is a campaign that asks voters not to vote for Cuomo or Mayor Eric Adams – and to fill out all five slots on their ballots. The name of the effort is DREAM, which stands for Don’t Rank Eric or Andrew for Mayor.

Each of the four candidates backed by the WFP faces obstacles on the path to victory.

Mamdani, a 33-year-old state assemblymember from Queens, has been the viral candidate of the race. He is rising in the polls and raising money at a historic clip with a message rooted in affordability. But as a democratic socialist, Mamdani may have limited appeal among more moderate New York City voters who want a tougher approach toward crime.

Lander, the city comptroller, boasts the widest name recognition of the candidates. He is a liberal policy wonk who has focused on climate change and housing issues, and will likely join Mamdani in reaching the $8 million fundraising cap for those participating in the city’s matching funds program. But he has trailed Mamdani in recent polls and struggled to capture the same attention from social media and news outlets.

Myrie, a state senator from Brooklyn, was among the first candidates to enter the race. He is widely liked by many of his colleagues and has name recognition and appeal in his district, which was once represented by Mayor Adams. But Myrie is trailing in polls despite having raised enough donations to qualify for matching funds.

Adrienne Adams, the City Council speaker, has earned praise from progressives for battling Mayor Adams over budget cuts. She represents southeast Queens, a voter-rich area that represents the heart of the city’s Black middle class. But she has struggled in fundraising and has yet to raise enough to meet the threshold to receive matching funds.

The WFP's decision to endorse four rather than five candidates represents a blow to Jessica Ramos and Michael Blake, two other Democrats who had sought the party’s backing for mayor but have struggled to raise funds and gain momentum.

Party members had debated whether to endorse five candidates, a strategy that could have encouraged voters to fill out all five spots on their ranked-choice ballot. Under a ranked-choice voting system, voters do not have to pick five candidates but those who do ensure that their ballots will be counted in later rounds.

The Democratic primary for mayor, which often determines the general election in November, will be held on June 24 following more than a week of early voting.

This story has been updated to include statements from the Working Families Party and a Cuomo campaign spokesperson.