Democratic mayoral candidates unite against Andrew Cuomo in final debate
One day after Brad Lander and Zohran Mamdani ganged up on Andrew Cuomo in the final debate of the Democratic mayoral primary, the city comptroller and assemblymember from Queens announced they will cross-endorse each other in the ranked-choice race.
"As Brad and I exposed the ex-governor's record of corruption and scandal on last night's debate stage, New Yorkers could see Cuomo for what he really is: a relic of the broken politics of the past," Mamdani said in a statement. "His campaign has always been a house of cards, and with Brad and I cross endorsing on the eve of early voting, we will topple it together. I am proud to rank our principled and progressive Comptroller #2 on my ballot because we are both fighting for a city every New Yorker can afford."
In Thursday’s debate, Mamdani and Lander both assailed Cuomo’s record as governor and revisited his resignation in 2021 amid sexual harassment allegations from roughly a dozen women.
Cuomo, the race's front-runner, stumbled a few times during the debate. He referred to undocumented immigrants who cleaned the subways during the pandemic as “illegal immigrants,” prompting Lander to ask, “What did you call them?”
"The reason he doesn't have a message for Muslim New Yorkers is because he has nothing to say to us because he doesn't see us as if we are every other New Yorker," Mamdani said.
He cited a flier produced by a pro-Cuomo super PAC that darkened and thickened his beard. The PAC denounced the flier and said it did not know how it surfaced on social media.
"Four years ago, we wound up with one of the worst mayors in our history, largely because the two top alternatives in the race did not come together and join forces to cross-endorse each other. We can’t afford to make that mistake again," Lander said in his own statement. "I’m proud to cross-endorse Zohran because of his strong commitment to a more affordable New York, and to stop the corrupt, morally bankrupt, unacceptable Andrew Cuomo from becoming mayor of a city he doesn’t even like."
Thursday marked the best day of Lander’s campaign. Prior to taking the stage, the New York Times opinion section published a series from a panel of local experts on the race. Lander was the group’s top choice.
According to most polls, Cuomo is leading the race. On Thursday, he said he was the only candidate qualified to stand up to President Donald Trump while managing the levers of government. He cited his oversight of major public works, like the overhaul of LaGuardia Airport and Second Avenue subway extension.
He dismissed Lander’s fiscal oversight of Mayor Eric Adams' administration, likening the comptroller to “the bookkeeper at Tammany Hall.”
And he said Mamdani was too inexperienced to become mayor, saying the 33-year-old has “never negotiated with a union. He’s never built anything.”
