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Mayor Zohran Mamdani stumped with Gov. Kathy Hochul for the first time Friday — hoping to give the moderate Democrat a boost with his lefty base in New York City less than two weeks before Election Day.
But the political odd couple spent just 15 minutes greeting voters together in Brooklyn’s McCarren Park, where they also took a few questions from reporters before each leaving in separate cars.
It remains to be seen whether Mamdani’s Democratic Socialists of America comrades will turn out for Hochul on Nov. 3, where she’ll face Republican Bruce Blakeman as she seeks a second, four-year term.
Asked by The Post whether she would give in to Mamdani’s and the NYC-DSA’s calls for her to “tax the rich” next year if re-elected, Hochul gave a waffling answer.
“I will continue to deliver for the city of New York and the rest of the state, whether it’s universal childcare, building more housing, doing whatever we can to keep our streets safe, within the confines of our existing budget,” she said, as Mamdani nodded over her shoulder.
“People want to make sure that we not let someone who’s promised [President] Trump-style leadership in our state,” Hochul added, in an apparent swipe at her Republican rival.
“And those question why I’m campaigning with him?” she said, turning back to the mayor. “He’s more popular than Bruce Blakeman across the damn state of New York. It’s amazing.”
Blakeman, at the same time as Mamdani and Hochul’s joint appearance, held an “early voting” rally across the river in Chinatown with GOP attorney general candidate Saritha Komatireddy, who will face off against incumbent Democrat Letitia James.
“I think she cannot be trusted,” Blakeman said of Hochul, recalling her reneging on her promise to halt congestion pricing.
“She doesn’t have a record of building trust in the state. She promised it would be an affordable state, yet we are the most unaffordable state,” he added. “She is not to be trusted.”
But Hochul insisted her partnership with Mamdani was “going to endure for a long time,” calling it a “new era of leadership” during her quick walkabout around the Williamsburg park.
“The mayor brings and energy and an excitement to our campaign, and I’m grateful for that,” she said, with Mamdani gleefully proclaiming his plans to give Hochul his vote.
“I am voting on the Upper East Side tomorrow, first day of early voting, and I cannot wait to vote for Gov. Hochul’s re-election,” Mamdani said.
The early voting period last nine days, ending on November 1. The governor was expected to campaign with Mamdani again for a Sunday lunch with city labor leaders, also in Brooklyn.
Despite their differences, the mayor and governor both endorsed each other on their respective campaigns and have appeared together for numerous press conferences, and Mamdani released a pro-Hochul campaign ad last week.
But insiders told The Post the governor finally tapped the woke wunderkind Friday to rally his feverish base, framing the off-year election as a battle against Trump to get voters out to the polls.
“This isn’t exactly a political love story. It’s an arranged marriage with Election Day as the wedding date,” said Democratic consultant former Orange County state Sen. David Carlucci. “Mamdani needs a friend in Albany, and Hochul needs his voters in November.
“Hochul wants Mamdani’s voters, but she doesn’t necessarily want his political baggage,” he added. “She’s been trying to keep one foot in Brooklyn and the other in the suburbs without doing a political split.”
The stakes in New York are especially high during this election as Republicans have been making gains in the liberal city stronghold in recent years — with neighborhoods like The Bronx swinging shockingly right in the 2024 presidential election.
GOP gubernatorial candidate Lee Zeldin earned about 30% of the city vote in 2022, landing him just 6 points behind Hochul in the state’s tightest governor race since 1994 when Republican George Pataki won by 3 points after also securing around 30% of the vote in the Big Apple.
Hochul is leading Blakeman by about 14 points, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released this week, which found her ahead 55% to 41%.
With Blakeman polling at about 24% in the city, Hochul is surely hoping to squeeze every vote she can out of the five boroughs to prevent the GOP from getting a foothold — which could explain why she’s brought out the Mamdani guns.
“Any Dem statewide needs to juice the city vote and he’s a proven vote getter,” said Chris Coffey of the political consulting group Tusk Strategies.
Democratic strategist Evan Stavisky said it would merely have been a case of political “malpractice” for Hochul not to get some stage time with the mayor.
“It’s not desperation,” said Stavisky, founder of the PR group Parkside Strategies. “New York City has become a much larger slice of the puzzle and 30% of the city just doesn’t win the statewide anymore.”
— Additional reporting by Vaughn Golden and Craig McCarthy