By Helen Coster
NEW YORK (Reuters) -Former Democratic President Barack Obama called New York mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani Saturday and offered to be a “sounding board” if the 34-year-old frontrunner wins the election. He also praised Mamdani’s campaign.
The call, first reported by the New York Times, was confirmed by Mamdani’s spokesperson.
“Zohran Mamdani appreciated President Obama’s words of support and their conversation on the importance of bringing a new kind of politics to our city,” said Mamdani spokesperson Dora Pekec.
Mamdani, a Uganda-born state assembly member, has polled well ahead of his main rival, former Governor Andrew Cuomo, ahead of the November 4 general election.
Cuomo is running as an independent after losing to Mamdani in the Democratic primary. Guardian Angels founder Curtis Sliwa is the Republican nominee.
Mamdani shocked political observers on June 24 with a convincing victory in the primary. Since then, his candidacy has won endorsements from party holdouts such as former Vice President Kamala Harris and New York Governor Kathy Hochul, and he has received a steady stream of financial backing from small donors.
Mamdani’s policies range from hiking taxes on New York City’s wealthiest, raising the corporation tax, freezing stabilized apartment rental rates and increasing publicly subsidized housing, raising worries among the finance community that the city’s competitiveness will suffer.
His rise presents both risks and rewards for the national Democratic Party, which acknowledges the need to appeal to young voters but could become more vulnerable to Republican attacks due to Mamdani’s criticism of Israel and his Democratic socialism.
On Saturday, Obama rallied alongside New Jersey Democratic gubernatorial candidate Mikie Sherrill, who is competing in a closely contested race against Republican Jack Ciattarelli. He also attended a rally for Virginia Democratic gubernatorial candidate Abigail Spanberger.
(Reporting by Helen Coster; Editing by David Gregorio, Sergio Non and Diane Craft)
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