Comprehensive List of Major Endorsements in the NYC Mayoral Race | Vanity Fair
JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon won’t be making an endorsement in the NYC mayoral race, his spokesperson tells Vanity Fair. Although Dimon has said democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani is “more a Marxist than a socialist,” and criticized Democrats for “falling all over themselves” to support his policies—which the banker has called “ideological mush that means nothing in the real world”—he’s not actually allowed to endorse a candidate because JPMorgan is “involved in municipal underwriting,” the spokesperson says. Billionaire Bill Ackman has ditched Andrew Cuomo for Eric Adams, and Balthazar owner Keith McNally has said he believes Mamdani “is fantastic,” particularly because his “affluent, paranoid friends [claim] Mamdani's dangerous.”
Yes, to quote a famous New Yorker, the New York City mayor’s race has everything. Sitting mayor Eric Adams, who was indicted on a whole bunch of corruption charges that were later disappeared by the president of the United States. Disgraced ex-governor Andrew Cuomo, who was the early favorite when he jumped into the race and then basically didn’t campaign, resulting in a resounding loss. Two-time Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa, the (usually) beret-wearing Guardian Angels founder who was once the subject of an assassination attempt by the mafia, and lives with 16 cats. Previously little-known democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani, who moved ahead of Cuomo with two weeks till the June primary, and clinched the nomination by a whopping 12 points, leading to a high-net-worth panic.
In another universe, Mamdani’s win would mean a general election face-off with Sliwa, which would probably not be much of a race at all. But Cuomo, now an independent candidate, is still running. Adams, who dropped out of the primary, is running as an independent too. Both men think the other should get lost. An adviser to Adams recently warned Cuomo donors that giving him money again would be a “suicide mission.” Cuomo has been deploying a new strategy on social media that, as one Brooklyn councilman put it to The New York Times, has been “hard to watch.” Cuomo has also reportedly discussed the race with Donald Trump, which both men deny. Curtis Sliwa has been taking his beret off. Mamdani has a commanding lead in the polls.
Meanwhile some of the most powerful people in New York and Democratic politics have chosen not to endorse a candidate. Remaining mum—so far—are governor Kathy Hochul, Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer, and House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries. Senator Cory Booker—who has made endorsements in out-of-state elections in the past—cited the fact that he lives across the river in explaining why he won’t weigh in on the race, saying, “New York City, I love you. You’re my neighbor. You’re about 10 miles from where I live. You guys figure out your elections. I’m going to focus on mine.”
That’s not to say that endorsements haven’t been made. Indeed, a cross section of prominent individuals in politics, business, arts, and entertainment have thrown their support to the candidates. Many wealthy New Yorkers—particularly those in real estate—have lined up to back Adams, whom they see as their only hope against Mamdani’s proposals for rent freezes and tax hikes. Some are sticking it out with Cuomo. Mamdani—who is attempting to win over his billionaire critics—has clinched the most high-profile political endorsements, and a whole bunch of ones from the entertainment world too. Sliwa has…a lot fewer public backers.
From Democratic Party leaders to a former New York governor, from a billionaire hedge fund manager to a Gilded Age star, from an ex-president to a Trump nemesis, here are some of the biggest names who’ve gone to bat for their would-be mayor of choice.
ZOHRAN MAMDANI
Bradley Tusk (venture capitalist and political strategist): Tusk, whose firm worked on Cuomo’s campaign, wrote in an op-ed following the primary: “If you love New York City and want to see it thrive, even if Mamdani’s views and politics are not your own (they’re certainly not mine), let’s do what we can to help him succeed.”
Mark Gorton (investor): Following Mamdani’s primary win, Gorton—a major donor to Cuomo’s super PAC—told The New York Times he was likely to back Mamdani due to the support the candidate received from city comptroller Brad Lander. “I feel like people misunderstood my $250,000 for Cuomo for real enthusiasm,” Gorton told the outlet. “It was basically, ‘Oh, looks like Cuomo is coming back. We don’t want to be shut out. Let’s try and get on his good side.’” Gorton later scoffed at the idea that billionaires would leave the city should the Democratic nominee clinch the general election. “New York is a pretty special place. It’s very hard to go somewhere else,” he told The Wall Street Journal. “And are you going to do it for an extra 2%?”
Keith McNally (restauranteur): The Balthazar owner wrote on Instagram: “I think Zohran Mamdani is fantastic. More so, when my affluent, paranoid friends tell me Mamdani’s dangerous. More so, when those over 50 say Mamdani’s too young and inexperienced to be mayor. More so, when the perceptive among are unable to see what a decent and principled man Mamdani is. I’m sure Mamdani won’t be perfect, but anyone labeled by Trump as a ‘Communist Lunatic’ can’t be all bad.”
Cynthia Nixon (the Sex and the City/And Just Like That…/Gilded Age star and former gubernatorial candidate): Nixon threw a fundraiser for Mamdani during the primary (cohosted by AJLT costar Sarita Choudhury) and celebrated his primary win alongside former second daughter Ella Emhoff.
Emily Ratajkowski (actor and model): On primary day, wearing a “hot girls for Zohran” T-shirt, EmRata appeared in a video with Mamdani in which they urged people to get out the vote.
Lorde (singer): Acknowledging that she can’t vote in New York, the singer told her more than 11 million instagram followers that if she could, she’d “rank the one candidate with a crystal clear vision of the city we want to live in—one that looks beyond the wealthiest New Yorkers to offer sensible and caring paths forward on climate, transport, housing security, and much more.”
Bowen Yang (SNL star and cohost of Las Culturistas)
Ramy Youssef (comedian)
Ben Platt (actor)
Ava DuVernay (director)
Sarah Sherman (SNL star)
Maggie Rogers (singer)
Morgan Spector (Gilded Age star)
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (US representative): The progressive star formally backed Mamdani weeks before the Democratic primary, saying, “Assemblymember Mamdani has demonstrated a real ability on the ground to put together a coalition of working-class New Yorkers that is strongest to lead the pack.”
Bernie Sanders (US senator): In an interview with CNN, the senator from Vermont told Christiane Amanpour: “You have billionaires saying quite openly, ‘We are going to spend as much as it takes to defeat this guy.’ You have Democratic leadership not refusing to jump on board a campaign where this guy is the Democratic nominee. So, most importantly, I’m going to do everything I can to see that Zohran becomes the next mayor of New York.”
Elizabeth Warren (US senator): The senator from Massachusetts endorsed Mamdani after his primary win and defended Mamdani’s call to raise taxes to improve affordability in NYC, sarcastically asking a CNBC anchor, “Oh dear, are you worried that billionaires are going to go hungry?”
Brad Lander (NYC comptroller): While technically Mamdani’s competition during the Democratic primary, the two became best buddies on the campaign trail, cross-endorsing each other. In his concession speech, Lander said, of Cuomo’s loss, “Good fucking riddance,” and has suggested he would be happy to serve in a potential Mamdani administration.
Letitia James (New York attorney general): The president’s least favorite attorney general, who endorsed Mamdani after his primary win, has compared him to Barack Obama.
Jerry Nadler (US representative)
ANDREW CUOMO
Barry Diller* (media mogul): Diller reportedly told his IAC staff in March that he was supporting Cuomo because of the former governor’s help building Little Island, saying: “I think he’d be a very good mayor of New York. I don’t think Adams will or should survive” politically.
Ken Langone (Home Depot cofounder): The billionaire and GOP megadonor told CNBC, after Cuomo lost the primary to Mamdani, that the ex-governor “has the best chance one-on-one of beating [Mamdani],” adding, “More importantly, I think if Cuomo wins, he’s got to prove something. He’s got to get some things done. He’s got to be able to say, ‘Not only did I get elected, but look at what I did to fix it.’”
Mike Bloomberg* (former mayor, Bloomberg LP founder): The three-term mayor and billionaire endorsed Cuomo in June, calling the former governor a “pragmatist.”
Graydon Carter* (Air Mail founder, former Vanity Fair editor in chief): The longtime editor told The New York Times shortly before the June primary: “It’s like having somebody run your apartment building, you want somebody who can make the pipes work. The gold standard was Mike Bloomberg. If Mike’s not coming back, then I would choose Andrew Cuomo.”
Bill Clinton* (former president): Clinton endorsed Cuomo days before the primary, telling voters in a robocall: “I urge you to vote for Andrew Cuomo. As president, I chose Andrew to be my secretary of Housing and Urban Development, and he never let me down—but more importantly, he didn’t let the nation down. He built public housing all across the country, from Chicago to LA, designed and implemented new innovative programs to successfully combat homelessness, and fought discrimination, including against the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) and antisemitism.
*These endorsements were made before Cuomo lost the primary.
ERIC ADAMS
Bill Ackman (hedge fund manager): The outspoken billionaire, who donated $500,000 to a Cuomo super PAC during the primary, unloaded on the former governor following his loss to Mamdani, writing in a nearly 1,500-word post on X that Cuomo “sat back and did not run a real campaign, relying on name recognition, early favorable polling, and keeping a low profile to make it through.” He called for a new, not-Cuomo candidate to take on the democratic socialist in November, but has since backed Adams. In announcing the shift, he told his followers: “My takeaway is that Adams can win the upcoming election and that the governor should step aside to maximize Adams’s probability of success. I say this while having a high regard for Andrew Cuomo and his contributions to New York State. But it was abundantly clear in his body language, his subdued energy and his proposals to beat Mamdani, that he is not up for the fight.”
Jeffrey Gural (real estate developer): The owner of the Flatiron building (who has an ownership interest in more than 13 million square feet of property throughout NYC) originally backed Cuomo, and is now supporting Adams.
Aby Rosen (real estate developer): In an email to “friends” seen by Vanity Fair, Rosen wrote earlier this month: “New York doesn’t need an ideologue. It needs a builder. A fighter. A realist. Supporting Andrew for his run for mayor would be very helpful, as this is a crucial election for the future of the city we truly love and care for.”
John Catsimatidis (billionaire grocery store owner): Cats is actually a Republican—who has run for mayor himself—but he’s backing Adams, and has asked his fellow billionaires to back the current mayor too.
Kenneth and Maria Fishel (real estate developers): The duo cohosted an Adams fundraiser in the Hamptons over Fourth of July weekend, where they were joined by, among others, Catsimatidis. “This is about keeping New York vibrant, keeping it free from socialism, and keeping it safe,” Kenneth Fishel told Fortune.
Marc Holliday (real estate investor): The chairman and CEO of SL Green—the largest commercial real estate owner in NYC—hosted a fundraiser for the mayor in July.
Dr. Phil (TV personality): It’s not clear that Dr. Phil can vote in New York, but he nevertheless appeared at Holliday’s Adams fundraiser, where he reportedly told guests: “Nothing is for free, folks,” an apparent reference to Mamdani’s proposals to freeze the rent and launch free buses.
George Santos (former GOP congressman, convicted criminal): Santos reported to federal prison in July but before he did, he endorsed Adams, writing on X: “The choice is clear: Eric Adams is the only viable path forward.”
CURTIS SLIWA
Larry Kudlow (Fox Business commentator and former Trump administration official): Kudlow, who has been likened to “a used-car salesman, both in demeanor and honesty,” endorsed Sliwa on-air in July.
George Pataki (former governor of New York): The three-term governor from New York said in June that Sliwa has a real chance of winning because “This is the weakest Democratic field ever.”
Elise Stefanik (US representative): Late last month, Stefanik declared in a post on Facebook: “I am dedicated to our mission to SAVE NEW YORK by focusing on the local elections all over the state and I am proud to endorse my friend and brave patriot New Yorker Curtis Sliwa in the NYC Mayoral election this November!”
Mike Lawler (US representative)
Zen and the Art of Being Jennifer Aniston
A Mission Divided at the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative
24 TV Shows We Can’t Wait to See This Fall
Inside Coco Chanel’s French Riviera Getaway
The Rise of Chase Infiniti
Weapons Ending Explained
The Mysterious Death Roiling the Hamptons
This Genuinely Shocking Queer Drama Will Make You Uncomfortable
Take a peek inside the celebrity boat trip that has been dominating your social media feeds.
Revisit the article about dating Jeffrey Epstein from our archives.
