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   NEW YORK — Gov. Kathy Hochul jumped first. With a surprise Sunday   
   endorsement of Zohran Mamdani’s bid for New York City mayor, she signaled   
   establishment Democrats might finally rally behind the democratic   
   socialist.   
      
   But a wave of support didn’t immediately follow. Top New York Democrats   
   like Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries stayed quiet Monday. Swing-seat   
   members flatly refused to endorse the nominee. And even one of Hochul’s   
   closest allies, State Party chair Jay Jacobs, wouldn’t comment about the   
   governor’s endorsement.   
      
   Instead, Hochul’s move scrambled the tight-knit donor world and alarmed   
   centrists who fear Mamdani will endanger Democratic chances in   
   battleground House races next year. Mamdani supporters fumed Monday that   
   other Democrats weren’t following Hochul’s lead.   
      
   “The rest of the party leadership are putting wealthy donors first who   
   feel threatened by Mamdani’s agenda to hold them accountable and make them   
   pay their fair share,” Gustavo Gordillo, co-chair of the New York City   
   Democratic Socialists of America, said in an interview. “Their continued   
   reluctance shows who they stand with. It’s not with the voters of New York   
   City right now.”   
      
   He called it a “very petty and personal approach.”   
      
   Hochul, running for a second full term next year, bolstered her standing   
   with left-leaning voters in this deep blue city by endorsing the front-   
   running Mamdani’s once-implausible candidacy in a New York Times op-ed   
   Sunday evening. The lack of a response from other moderate Democrats   
   underscored the internal tensions roiling the party as it seeks to regain   
   power in Washington.   
      
   Mamdani has been labeled a generational political talent by supporters and   
   critics alike. The Queens state lawmaker’s singular focus on affordability   
   in a very expensive city catapulted him to a surprising Democratic primary   
   victory over more experienced and better-known candidates, including   
   former Gov. Andrew Cuomo. Yet Mamdani’s since-qualified support for   
   defunding police budgets and his anti-Israel views have alienated moderate   
   Democrats, including suburbanites who must defend crucial swing House   
   seats next year. And rather than bringing along Hochul’s wing of the   
   party, moderates are digging in.   
      
   “I’m not endorsing him,” Long Island Democratic Rep. Tom Suozzi said in a   
   brief interview Monday.   
      
   He said in a later social media post: “While I share his concern about the   
   issue of affordability, I fundamentally disagree with his proposed   
   solutions.”   
      
   Fellow Democratic Long Island Rep. Laura Gillen added in a statement:   
   “I’ve made my position clear from the start: I completely disagree with   
   the Governor’s endorsement of Mr. Mamdani. Long Islanders are already   
   facing a cost-of-living crisis and the last thing they can afford is   
   Zohran Mamdani’s reckless agenda. We need to bring down costs, cut taxes   
   and keep our communities safe. Zohran Mamdani cannot deliver on any of   
   those goals.”   
      
   Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.) in Newsweek on Monday warned his party   
   against cozying up to the Democratic Socialists of America: “In short, we   
   can’t allow democratic socialists to redefine what it means to be a   
   Democrat. That will not win back swing voters or help us regain a   
   majority.”   
      
   A Jeffries spokesperson referred POLITICO to the minority leader’s   
   statement last week saying he’d have an unspecified announcement to make   
   about the race “in short order.” Jeffries and Mamdani have met twice in   
   New York City. Schumer met last week with Mamdani in the city and said   
   afterward, “We’re going to keep talking.”   
      
   “The governor’s endorsement of Zorhan Mamdani speaks for itself, and you   
   should ask the governor about her endorsement of Zohran Mamdani,” Jeffries   
   said in an interview Monday at the Capitol.   
      
   Both congressional Democrats are in Washington this week as the federal   
   government barrels toward a shutdown.   
      
   One exception for moderates has been Rep. Pat Ryan, a swing seat Hudson   
   Valley Democrat who gave a full-throated endorsement of Mamdani this   
   month.   
      
   Fence-sitting Democrats have few options in a race that polls show Mamdani   
   is heavily favored to win even as donors have taken note of his post-   
   primary momentum — opening their wallets in response. Cosmetics heir   
   Ronald Lauder last week contributed $750,000 to a super PAC supporting   
   Cuomo’s campaign, the largest donation the group has received since June,   
   according to a filing made public Monday.   
      
   Cuomo, an ex-governor who resigned in 2021, was expected by New York’s   
   political establishment to win the Democratic primary, only to be upset by   
   Mamdani. Now running as an independent, Cuomo is placing second in most   
   voter surveys.   
      
   Embattled Mayor Eric Adams, also campaigning as an independent after   
   dropping out of the Democratic primary, has insisted he will remain in the   
   race after the Trump administration dangled job offers in order to ease   
   Cuomo’s potential path to victory. Some polls have shown him running in   
   the single digits. (Hochul said Monday that Trump’s effort to upend the   
   race was a contributing factor in her Mamdani endorsement.)   
      
   Republican Curtis Sliwa, a longtime activist known for wearing a red beret   
   while patrolling the city’s streets for crime, has been similarly   
   intransigent when asked if he would suspend his longshot campaign,   
   declaring only death could force him out.   
      
   The perception that Cuomo would potentially benefit from Trump’s   
   unprecedented intervention into the race stands to hurt him with voters in   
   a city where the president is deeply unpopular. Cuomo has said he doesn’t   
   want — or need — Trump’s help.   
      
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   Despite the insistence of moderates to remain neutral, a pressure campaign   
   to endorse Mamdani — ranging across the political spectrum to include the   
   New York City Democratic Socialists of America leader to Maryland Sen.   
   Chris Van Hollen — is not letting up.   
      
   “With less than 2 months left to go in this race, we need all hands on   
   deck to get Zohran over the finish line,” State Attorney General Letitia   
   James wrote on X in a nudge to Schumer and Jeffries. “With the stakes this   
   high, it is time to come together to support Zohran’s vision for a New   
   York we can all afford.”   
      
   Democratic strategists also believe the party stands to benefit from a   
   unified front behind Mamdani.   
      
   “You have an aging Democratic Party that relies on an aging electorate and   
   a number of large donors,” said Basil Smikle, a former New York Democratic   
      
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