The moderate governor and mayor-elect will need each other if they want to be successful next year.
NEW YORK — Gov. Kathy Hochul and mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani are facing a political high-wire act next year, one that will test whether a moderate Democrat can govern alongside a democratic socialist as their party tears itself apart.
Pitfalls are numerous for both New York Democrats.
Hochul must manage the skepticism of New York City’s business community and an unpredictable President Donald Trump, who has threatened to cut federal funding to the Big Apple. Mamdani, claiming a mandate after defeating ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo in both the primary and general elections, has a costly agenda that he campaigned on, much of which needs state approval. His supporters are already pressuring a reluctant Hochul to back income tax hikes on rich New Yorkers — with a crowd jeering her at a rally last month over the issue and Mamdani defusing the moment by joining her on stage.
“They’re going to have to be sensitive to each others’ political needs next year,” Democratic strategist Doug Forand said. “She’s up for reelection. She needs him to recognize that. But also he’s made these promises and he’s got to deliver on some of them.”
The governor, running for a second full term next year, can’t afford to alienate moderate areas of New York like bellwether Long Island, where Mamdani is unpopular. Yet she also can’t fully write off Mamdani’s durable support on her left flank ahead of a longshot primary challenge from her own lieutenant governor, Antonio Delgado.
Mamdani will need Hochul to succeed politically next year — an unfriendly Republican governor would almost certainly be a death knell for his administration’s goals, Hochul’s allies say privately. GOP Rep. Elise Stefanik, who entered the race this month, has not ruled out using the state chief executive’s power to remove Mamdani as mayor.
It all adds up to a political shotgun marriage for the far-left Mamdani and centrist Hochul — a relationship that will be viewed through the lens of the sky-high stakes facing a deeply divided party trying to claw its way out of the wilderness. Both are encountering a challenging political environment with little room for error. They will be under an intense national microscope to demonstrate that the competing ends of the party, fighting to seize Democrats’ narrative, can govern alongside each other in a highly polarized political era.
Their shared struggles are also intertwined with their own individual need to survive politically — and avoid a collision course.
Mamdani’s candidacy highlighted the internal fissures within the party and badly split Democrats, with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and state Chair Jay Jacobs refusing to endorse him. Moderate Democrats in swing House seats fear Mamdani will be an albatross who will be effectively leveraged by Republicans in the New York City suburbs during next year’s midterm elections.
Hochul has pledged to business leaders that she’ll be a bulwark against some of his proposals, such as raising income taxes on rich New Yorkers — a posture that puts her at odds with many Democrats, including state lawmakers in Albany. Facing a potentially tough reelection, Hochul must mollify an ascendant political left without losing the moderate voters who turnout for general elections.
Mamdani, who has zero executive experience and must manage a sprawling bureaucracy that employs some 300,000 people, will have to prove he can govern a city that even for mayors with lengthy resumes can be a challenge. Trump has threatened to yank federal aid from the city, further complicating the mayor-elect’s push for free buses, child care and government-run supermarkets. Mamdani must also show he can govern without jeopardizing a nascent Hochul partnership.
Centrist Democrats are cautioning restraint and accommodation.
“It’s going to be hard to do all of what he wants to the maximum degree because it has to involve a hell of a lot of money,” said Rep. George Latimer, a moderate who defeated far-left Democrat Jamaal Bowman last year. “At the same time you still have to provide for public safety and the basic services. I don’t think it’s insurmountable, but if you have dueling press conferences, dueling press releases, it’s going to be very hard to do it.”
Hochul and Mamdani share little in common.
The Buffalo-born governor has held various elected offices for decades, a well of experience she often cites — like pointing out the responsibilities of the Erie County clerk. Her staid personality is in contrast to Mamdani’s charisma — a young and inexperienced politician who was first elected to a back-bench Assembly seat five years ago.
There are similarities, though. Both are history-making figures in their own right: Hochul is the first woman elected New York governor, and Mamdani will be Gotham’s first Muslim mayor when he’s sworn in on Jan. 1. A person familiar with her thinking said Hochul is optimistic about working with Mamdani on the broad goal of affordability.
Yet both come from distinct factions within the Democratic Party, each of which views the other with suspicion — a divide that Republicans are desperate to capitalize on as Stefanik challenges Hochul.
“She’s insecure in her own party’s politics,” said GOP state Sen. Mark Walczyk. “She’s allowed herself to pick whatever political philosophy of the day protects her best. Right now, she’s scared of the left so she’ll go all the way to the left.”
Stefanik’s campaign launch video made swift use of Mamdani, featuring him prominently alongside Hochul — referring to him as “a defund the police, tax hiking, antisemitic communist.” (Hochul’s campaign, in turn, linked Stefanik to Trump, who is highly unpopular in deep blue New York.) Mamdani is especially polarizing in suburban New York City, where voters hold an unfavorable view of him, a Siena College poll found. His popularity with voters in the five boroughs will be further tested when he starts to govern early next year.
The first days after Mamdani was elected offered a look into the push and pull between the two executives. Hochul celebrated the mayor-elect on stage to a crowd of cheering Democrats at the Somos conference in Puerto Rico. Then minutes later spoke to reporters and threw cold water on his plan for free buses.
A spokesperson for Hochul papered over that contrast the next day, emphasizing that the governor is willing to work with Mamdani to make his free buses promise a reality — as long as the MTA has the money it needs.
The hiccup nevertheless fueled skepticism from Mamdani’s left-leaning supporters, who will prod the governor next year to back his platform, much of which will need sign off from Albany.
“The governor needs New York City voters to win her reelection,” said Working Families Party co-director Jasmine Gripper. “She cannot afford for Zohran to tell his people to abandon her.”
The WFP has not ruled out endorsing Delgado in his primary against Hochul.
“That’s a lot of resources we can leverage for our side,” Gripper said. “We can definitely try to win, but if nothing else we can be a massive pain in the ass she does not want.”
Hochul’s campaign in a statement said the governor is capable of uniting the party in a crucial year.
“Gov. Hochul is bringing our big-tent party together around a shared vision of affordability and safety so that we can fight back against Donald Trump and beat the GOP up and down the ballot in 2026,” campaign spokesperson Sarafina Chitika said. “That’s how we deliver for New Yorkers — and it’s how we win.”
Hochul and Mamdani have key differences, too, on policing and Israel. She prodded him to make amends with New York City’s Jewish residents and encouraged the incoming mayor to bolster subway safety with more police resources.
New York governors and mayors infamously do not get along — a rivalry that stretches back to Nelson Rockefeller and John Lindsay. In the modern era, Cuomo and de Blasio sparred over virtually everything. Hochul has insisted she would chart a different path, tamp down drama and work with City Hall. That posture was repeatedly tested during Eric Adams’ administration as the mayor faced corruption charges and cozied up to Trump.
Hochul and Adams shared a largely similar outlook on policy, especially public safety. She shares an affinity with Mamdani for standing up to Trump when necessary and over affordability, like expanding child care, a politically popular measure.
“There’s a genuine trust between the two of them,” said Democratic state Sen. Jeremy Cooney. “It’s not like Gov. Hochul has said they don’t have disagreements. There’s an honest relationship there.”
The governor has insisted she can work with anyone — a stance underscored by her quiet working relationship with Trump. The mercurial president has not ruled out sending in the National Guard to patrol city streets as a result of Mamdani’s win. The incoming mayor wants to speak with Trump, but no call has been scheduled, his transition team said.
Hochul has also had some influence in staffing up his administration. She has openly taken credit for encouraging Mamdani to repappoint NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch. Hochul praised his choice for first deputy mayor, Dean Fuleihan, as “a great choice and a win for New Yorkers.” Fuleihan is considered a deeply experienced hand and served in the same role during Bill de Blasio’s mayoralty.
“I make my own decisions,” he said at a press availability Tuesday, “but I’m excited to be in partnership with the governor.”