Scoop: Mamdani's bid for 2028 kingmaker
Zoom out: Mamdani's efforts to influence the 2028 contest come as many progressives are growing anxious about the prospect of a presidential race without a left-wing contender.
Key points
- But Democrats of all political stripes won races in last week's nationwide rebuke of the Trump administration, so the postelection case for left-wingers in 2028 isn't necessarily stronger than it is for centrist Democrats.
- Why it matters: Behind closed doors, Mamdani has made a striking admission that helps explain why he's so eager to huddle with allies about 2028: He's uncertain whether New York Rep.
- Last month, Mamdani summoned the president of the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades, Jimmy Williams Jr., to Gracie Mansion to talk about 2028.
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani can't be president, so he's trying to be the next best thing: a progressive kingmaker for 2028.
Many think Ocasio-Cortez is leaning toward a Senate bid in 2028 instead of a White House run.
Additional details
- If Ocasio-Cortez stays out of the 2028 race, it would upend the Democratic primary — and potentially leave the party's insurgent left without a candidate.
- Sara Nelson, president of the Association of Flight Attendants-C.W.A, also met with Mamdani recently to discuss 2028 and other issues.
- Some on the left hope Abdul El-Sayed, the incoming senator in Michigan, will take a look at 2028.
- Mamdani has been meeting privately with union leaders, urgently talking up the need for a labor-aligned or leftist candidate to run for the White House, four people familiar with the talks told Axios.
- Zoom in: Mamdani — who's ineligible to be president because he was born in Uganda — wants to coordinate with progressive leaders partly to prepare to unite against any leading centrist presidential contender they aren't happy with, according to one of the sources who has spoken with the mayor.
How this summary was made: extractive summary — built from the sources' own reporting. It is drawn only from the reporting of the sources listed below — read the originals for full detail. How we summarize →
Advertisement
Every article behind this summary — 1 article from 1 outlet
Get stories like this in your inbox.
Subscribe — it's freeOne free email at 6am — your topics, deduplicated, five minutes. No account, no paywall.