Zohran Mamdani‘s mayoral race to lead New York City as a self-described democratic socialist has emerged as one of the most high-profile elections of the 2025 off-year cycle.
But across the Hudson River in New Jersey, Mamdani’s race has stayed out of the spotlight, as the Garden State’s gubernatorial election takes center stage and Democrats in the state sidestep endorsing or even mentioning the progressive candidate.
“I am not getting engaged in that race, because I’m completely focused on New Jersey,” New Jersey Rep. Mikie Sherrill, the Democratic nominee for governor, said earlier in October of Mamdani’s race. “I’m going to let the people of New York decide that race.”
The off-year election cycle mainly has focused on four elections: California’s ballot measure to redistrict congressional lines; New York City’s mayoral election; and the Virginia and New Jersey gubernatorial elections.
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Mamdani is a self-described democratic socialist, with critics identifying him more as a “communist” despite the candidate pushing back that he does not hold communist ideologies.
Fox News Digital previously has reported that Mamdani has backed radical Marxist and communist principles, such as supporting the seizure of the “means of production,” endorsing a tax plan aimed at “taxing the wealthiest New Yorkers,” and openly calling for a communist mayor of New York City in 2020.
The New Jersey gubernatorial election and Democratic lawmakers hailing from the state have overwhelmingly avoided the Mamdani race as other lawmakers and Democratic leaders — from Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders to New York Attorney General Letitia James to Maryland Gov. Wes Moore — have thrown their support behind the candidate.
Back in July, Sherrill said she likely would support Mamdani’s nomination as the Democrat’s candidate for mayor before sidestepping months later.
“If he’s the Democratic candidate, which it sounds like he is, I assume I will (support him),” she told NBC Philadelphia in July. “If he’s going to be working on efficient government, that’s something very interesting to me.”
Mamdani, however, said he would “absolutely” support the New Jersey Democrat during a local interview with New York media in August.
New Jersey Democratic Sen. Cory Booker also has evaded answering whether he endorses Mamdani in an August CNN interview.
“I have learned a long time ago: Let New York politics be New York politics,” Booker said when pressed if he would support Mamdani. “We’ve got enough challenges in Jersey. I got a governor’s race. I’m supporting Mikie Sherrill. I got legislative races. That’s where my energy is going to go going into November.”
“New York City, I love you,” Booker added. “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.”
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Current Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy and New Jersey Sen. Andy Kim have not publicly weighed in on Mamdani’s race, a Fox News Digital review of recent past remarks found.
One of Sherrill’s primary challengers, Democrat Rep. Josh Gottheimer, however, repeatedly has slammed Mamdani as “a job-killing socialist.”
“You will hear no ambiguity out of my mouth,” Gottheimer said in July. “We do not need a job-killing socialist who wants to raise taxes and supports antisemitic rhetoric. Right? In a city with the highest taxes in the country and the largest Jewish population.”
Gottheimer also teamed up with a Republican colleague from across the Hudson River, New York Rep. Mike Lawler, to slam Mamdani in September, after the socialist candidate said he would scrap a Holocaust remembrance group’s definition of “antisemitism” if elected mayor.
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“Zohran Mamdani’s reckless attempt to roll back New York City’s adoption of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) working definition of antisemitism is shameful, dangerous, and completely disgusting,” the pair of lawmakers said in a joint statement in September.
Lesser known New Jersey elected officials have endorsed Mamdani, including left-wing Newark Mayor Ras Baraka.
Baraka found himself in the crosshairs of the Trump administration’s deportation efforts when he was arrested and charged in May for trespassing at a federal immigration detention center while attempting to hold an oversight tour of the facility. The charge was later dropped, with Baraka later suing interim U.S. Attorney Alina Habba for false arrest and malicious prosecution.
Baraka is listed on Mamdani’s endorsement page, with the Newark mayor posting an endorsement video to his social media accounts in June celebrating that the New York City candidate would be “strong on Democratic values” and defend the Constitution if elected.
The New Jersey election is highly anticipated following President Donald Trump’s inroads with voters in the deep blue state in the 2024 election, sparking renewed enthusiasm to flip the state red.
New Jersey, as expected, backed former Vice President Kamala Harris as president in the 2024 race, but post-election data showed Trump and the GOP flipped five counties red, with Trump specifically cutting his 2020 loss from 16 points to six in 2024.
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Fox News Digital reached out to Sherrill’s campaign and the offices of Murphy, Booker and Kim for additional comment on the lack of support for the socialist candidate in New York City but did not immediately receive replies.
Fox News Digital also reached out to Mamdani’s campaign about the lack of high-profile support from New Jersey Democrats.
