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House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., is expected to imminently weigh in on the New York City mayoral race after dodging the question for weeks.
The top House Democrat, who represents part of Brooklyn, has faced scrutiny in the press for repeatedly side-stepping reporters when asked whether he will endorse fellow Democrat Zohran Mamdani, a self-described Democratic Socialist, for mayor.
Asked during his Monday press conference whether he will make his thoughts on the race clear before early voting begins in New York City on Saturday, Oct. 25, Jeffries said, “Yes, that’s my intention.”
It could mean Jeffries endorses Mamdani before Election Day rolls around — or he could sidestep backing anyone in the race altogether.
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The remark was similar to comments he gave Fox News Digital on Friday, the day after the mayoral debate. Jeffries said then, however, that he had not yet watched the debate at that point.
“I do expect to speak to the Democratic nominee, Zohran, at some point before early voting,” he added when asked how long he was waiting to endorse.
He also dodged the question of why he has not yet endorsed Mamdani during an appearance on ABC News’ “This Week” on Sunday.
“As I’ve indicated, I expect to have a conversation with him at some point this week in advance of early voting, which begins next weekend in New York City. And we’ll certainly have more to say about the mayors’ race and about our Democratic nominee prior to early voting beginning,” Jeffries said instead.
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Mamdani is currently the presumed frontrunner in the race against Republican Curtis Sliwa and Independent candidate Andrew Cuomo, the former governor of New York.
Jeffries’ counterpart in the House, Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., has repeatedly denounced Mamdani as a “Marxist.”
And Mamdani’s candidacy has caused somewhat of a rift between Democrats in Washington.
He’s been endorsed by progressive stars within the Democratic Party like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., but both Jeffries and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., have been silent.
Reps. Laura Gillen, D-N.Y., and Tom Suozzi, D-N.Y., moderates representing the suburbs outside of New York City, have denounced Mamdani’s candidacy.
Jeffries appears to have been deliberately unclear about his moves, but Republicans have accused him and Schumer of prolonging the current government shutdown over fear of a progressive revolt led by New York Democrats like Mamdani.
Jeffries made his brief remarks on Monday during a press conference on day 20 of the shutdown, with Republicans and Democrats appearing no closer to an agreement on a path forward.
At another point in the press conference, Jeffries demanded that President Donald Trump take a more active role in negotiations on ending the shutdown.
“Donald Trump definitively needs to get involved. He needs to get off the sidelines, get off the golf course and actually decide to end the shutdown that he’s created, that he has allowed to happen,” Jeffries said.
“We know that House and Senate Republicans don’t do anything without getting permission from their boss, Donald J. Trump, and the reason why there have been no negotiations, zero negotiations, since Republicans shut the government.”
But Republican leaders in Congress have repeatedly insisted that they have nothing to negotiate after offering a straightforward, seven-week extension of fiscal year (FY) 2025 federal funding levels.
The measure, called a continuing resolution (CR), is aimed at giving congressional appropriators more time to strike a longer-term deal on FY2026 funding.
The House passed the bill on Sept. 19. But in the Senate, where at least eight Democrats are needed to break a filibuster if all GOP lawmakers supported it, the bill has failed to advance twelve times.
Democratic leaders are demanding any funding bill be paired with an extension of COVID-19 pandemic-era Obamacare subsidies that are set to expire at the end of this year.
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