NY Governor Endorses Zohran Mamdani for Mayor Despite His Plan To Raise Taxes on the Wealthy

Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic socialist running for mayor of New York City, received the state's top official endorsement over the weekend.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul endorsed Mamdani's bid for mayor in a New York Times op-ed piece on Sunday.

"In the past few months, I've had frank conversations with him [Mamdani]. We've had our disagreements," Hochul wrote. "But in our conversations, I heard a leader who shares my commitment to a New York where children can grow up safe in their neighborhoods and where opportunity is within reach for every family."

The vote of confidence comes from a governor who herself is running for a second full term next year. Hochul has been under pressure from her party to endorse Mamdani, who won the mayoral primary in June.

The governor's endorsement comes after the two held several talks this past summer. Hochul has in the past been opposed to Mamdani's plan to raise taxes on wealthy New Yorkers.

"I don't want to lose any more people to Palm Beach. We've lost enough. Driving them to Florida does not help us, so let's be smart about this," she said in a June interview with PIX11.

She's also a staunch supporter of Israel, while Mamdani is not—telling the Times that if he's elected mayor, he would arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if he ever visited New York City. (He would do this by enforcing an International Criminal Court's arrest warrant for Netanyahu.)

Yet, the governor wrote in her op-ed: "I heard a leader who is focused on making New York City affordable—a goal I enthusiastically support."

Taxing the rich

Mamdani's plan to raise revenue for the city of New York is by imposing a 2% tax on the wealthiest New Yorkers earning more than $1 million a year. His campaign estimates it would raise about $4 billion a year—money Mamdani wants to use to fund projects like free early child care and affordable housing.

Mamdani has been compared to far left-leaning Mayor John Lindsay, who had controversial tax-and-spending plans during the 1960s and 1970s. Lindsay was blamed for the fiscal crisis that almost bankrupted the city.

But the big debate is whether Mamdani's tax-the-rich plan will force wealthy New Yorkers to leave the Big Apple.

Fox News host Sean Hannity claimed there will be a "mass exodus" out of New York if Mamdani is elected in November.

"If they want to go with Mamdani as the mayor of New York City, I invite you all to come and broadcast your show as I do, originate your show in the free state of Florida," Hannity said during an appearance on "Fox & Friends" in July. "Because there is going to be a mass exodus out of the state of New York the likes of which we have never seen."

Hannity, himself, moved to Florida from New York in January and had warned that many businesses have already decided to move to Florida.

"What a lot of people don't know—and it's a pretty fascinating phenomenon—is that Wall Street South is already here," he added. "All these companies, they don't just have offices in Southern Florida; no, they've got half their companies down here now.

"The reason is because of burdensome regulation, high taxes, they've chased them out. And they're just going to pick up and leave completely now."

Growing popularity

But Mamdani's popularity continues to grow despite his controversial plans.

The socialist holds a strong lead compared to his opponents, who are splitting the vote among voters: Republican Curtis Sliwa, former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, and incumbent Mayor Eric Adams.

The 33-year-old state lawmaker from Queens received 45% support among voters, according to a Quinnipiac University survey released on Sept. 10, followed by Cuomo with 23% support and Adams with 12%—both men are running as independents. Sliwa received 3% support.

Hochul's endorsement is a snub to Cuomo, who picked her as his running mate in 2014 during his run for governor. He resigned in 2021.

Hochul wrote in her op-ed about Mamdani: "I didn't leave my conversations with him aligned on every issue, but I am confident that he has the courage, urgency and optimism New York City needs to lead it through the challenges of the moment."