Clyburn endorses Cuomo in NYC mayor's race
Clyburn said he's endorsing the former New York governor because of his experience in office and record of accomplishing his initiatives. He said Cuomo searches for answers and places to find common ground to build coalitions.
'If he says he will build more affordable housing, raise the minimum wage, make the city safer and create more opportunities for our youth, you can be confident that he will — because he's done it before,' Clyburn said in a statement. 'His record of accomplishments is extraordinary, and I am confident he will be a great mayor of New York.'
Clyburn said he's known him since Cuomo served as secretary of housing and urban development during the Clinton administration, when they worked together to support those who were underserved, particularly people of color.
He said the role of New York City mayor is 'uniquely positioned' to be important for the future of the Democratic Party, as it faces challenges addressing the Trump administration. He said the mayor must meet that challenge and defend the city.
'Andrew Cuomo has the experience, credentials, and character to not just serve New York, but also help save the nation,' Clyburn said.
Backing from the longtime Congressional Black Caucus member, who has served in various leadership positions during his tenure, including House majority whip, is a notable get for Cuomo as he hopes to solidify his support among Black voters. Polls have shown them to be a key part of Cuomo's coalition.
Clyburn flexed political muscle in the past, most memorably when he endorsed former President Biden during his 2020 run after Biden struggled in the Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primary. But Biden rose significantly after Clyburn's endorsement and went on to win the nomination and presidency.
Cuomo said he's 'honored and humbled' to have Clyburn's support, calling him a 'man who has spent a lifetime prioritizing making headway over headlines, of actions over words and results over performative politics.'
Clyburn is also taking part in robocalls going out to residents ahead of the Tuesday primary. In one call, he says Cuomo will stand up to President Trump and urges voters to vote early as a heat wave could bring temperatures up to 100 degrees on Tuesday.
Cuomo has been the front-runner throughout the entire race so far but is hoping to hold off a rising challenge from state Assembly member Zohran Mamdani, who has consistently placed second in the polls and is closing the gap. But the latest independent polling still shows Cuomo ahead.
Cuomo has notched other major endorsements from figures like Reps. Tom Suozzi (D-N.Y.) and Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.), former New York Gov. David Patterson (D) and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Hill
13 minutes ago
- The Hill
House Democrats demand closure of ‘Alligator Alcatraz'
House Democrats are calling for the closure of Florida's new migrant detention facility on a remote site nestled in the Everglades dubbed 'Alligator Alcatraz,' citing it as an example of what they argue is the Trump administration's 'shameful, dehumanizing approach to immigration.' Democratic Reps. Janelle Bynum (Ore.) and Maxwell Frost (Fla.) led a group of 24 Democrats in sending a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Acting Director of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Todd Lyons on Wednesday. The letter includes signatures from Reps. Pramila Jayapal (Wash.), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (N.Y.), Rashida Tlaib (Mich.) and Eric Swalwell (Calif.), among others. The Democratic lawmakers panned the facility as a 'cruel and inhumane stunt.' The administration used money from the Federal Emergency Management Agency's (FEMA) Shelter and Services Program to build the facility, which is projected to cost about $450 million a year. 'This kind of cruel rhetoric and deliberate endangerment further exemplifies the administration's shameful, dehumanizing approach to immigration – an approach rooted in anti-immigrant hostility that is morally indefensible and in clear violation of fundamental human rights,' the members wrote in the letter. They said migrants detained there while awaiting deportation will be kept in tents 'with inadequate sanitation facilities' facing conditions including 'exposure to deadly pathogens, constant threats from unpredictable flooding and extreme weather events, and daily temperatures averaging 90 degrees, with a heat index often over 100 degrees Fahrenheit.' 'Erecting tents in the blazing Everglades sun, during hurricane season no less, and call it immigration enforcement is nothing short of disgusting and cruel. Donald Trump and his Administration don't care if migrant men, women, and children live or die – they only care about cruelty and spectacle,' Frost said in a statement. The group is demanding clarity on the funding and conditions at the facility and 'a commitment to humane treatment for all detainees at all detention facilities.' Trump toured the site Tuesday to mark its opening, touting the facility alongside Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. The facility was built through a partnership with state and federal resources to bolster Trump's immigration crackdown and features soft-sided units outfitted with chain-link cells that have been built to house hundreds of detainees. 'It's known as 'Alligator Alcatraz,' which is very appropriate, because I looked outside and it's not a place I want to go hiking anytime soon,' Trump said while at the facility. 'We're surrounded by miles of treacherous swampland and the only way out is, really, deportation.'
New York Post
16 minutes ago
- New York Post
Dem Mikie Sherrill holds 20-point lead over Jack Ciattarelli as NJ gov general election race heats up: poll
Republican Jack Ciattarelli faces an uphill battle in his quest to become governor of New Jersey, with a new poll showing him trailing Democratic Rep. Mikie Sherrill by 20 percentage points. The Rutgers-Eagleton/SSRS survey shows Sherrill (D-NJ) getting 51% support among registered voters compared to 31% for Ciattarelli. Another 13% said they were unsure about whom they would vote for and 5% said they would support neither candidate. Ciattarelli, 63, stunned most political observers four years ago when he came within 2.8 percentage points of unseating incumbent Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy. Advertisement 4 Rep. Mikie Sherrill has widely been seen as the frontrunner in the New Jersey gubernatorial race. REUTERS 4 Republican Jack Ciattarelli has dramatically outperformed polling and expectations in the past. Luiz C. Ribeiro for New York Post President Trump similarly overperformed in New Jersey last November, losing the Garden State by only 5.9 percentage points — improving on his 2020 margin of defeat by 10 percentage points. Advertisement Republicans are hopeful that Zohran Mamdani's shock victory in New York City's Democratic mayoral primary could boost their prospects across the Hudson. 'As the next Governor of NJ, I will be proactive in protecting our state from the lawlessness and chaos that will ensue if [Zohran Mamdani] becomes NYC's next Mayor,' Cianttarelli vowed last week. 'While NJ Democrats roll over to their extreme far-left base, I will take action to protect New Jersey.' Advertisement Sherrill, 53, has focused her pitch on opposing the Trump administration, and the Rutgers-Eagleton survey indicated it is having an effect. The survey found more than half of respondents (52%) called the president a 'major factor' in their vote for governor, while 18% called Trump a 'minor' one. 'Trump's influence appears to be more of a benefit to Sherrill right now, given key groups more likely to support her are also more likely to claim the president is a factor in their vote choice, while those more supportive of Ciattarelli do not,' observed Ashley Koning, director of Rutgers' Eagleton Center for Public Interest Polling. 4 Republicans are hoping to seize on Zohran Mamdani's victory across the Hudson River and use it against Democrats in the tri-state area. Stephen Yang Advertisement 'While Trump's endorsement may have helped in the primaries, these numbers are an early sign that the endorsement may play differently when it comes to the general.' Sherrill, a former naval aviator and federal prosecutor, was elected to Congress as part of a Democratic wave in 2018, succeeding longtime Republican lawmaker Rodney Frelinghuysen. The poll found Sherrill outperforming Ciattarelli on all key voting issues, including taxes (39% to 34%), affordability (45% to 29%), the economy (42% to 33%) and budgeting (42% to 32%). 4 President Trump loomed large on the minds of prospective New Jersey voters, according to the poll. AFP via Getty Images 'Early polling on the governor's race should serve as a baseline or a barometer of how voters are feeling in the moment – not as some crystal ball predicting the future four months from now,' Koning cautioned. 'A lot can happen between now and November, and we know this gap will very likely narrow in the next several months. We only need to look back to 2021 to see how much a race can change throughout a cycle.' New Jersey and Virginia hold off-year elections, which are carefully watched as potential bellwethers for what's to come in the midterms. The Rutgers survey sampled 579 registered voters June 13-16 with a margin of error of plus-or-minus 5.2 percentage points.
Time Magazine
17 minutes ago
- Time Magazine
How Mamdani Plans to Fix New York City's Housing Crisis
Zohran Mamdani, the official Democratic nominee for New York City mayor, ran his campaign largely on affordability, placing the New York City housing crisis at the center of his platform. A 2024 Marist Poll survey found that 73% of New York residents believe that housing affordability is a major problem in their communities. Hardly surprising, when you consider New York City is one of the most expensive cities in the world. 'It's also the wealthiest city in the wealthiest country in the history of the world, and yet, one in four New Yorkers are living in poverty, and the rest are seemingly trapped in a state of anxiety,' Mamdani said during a Meet the Press appearance on Sunday. 'We've seen that this is a city that needs to be affordable for the people who build it every day. Our focus was on exactly that, and by keeping that focus on an economic agenda, we showed New Yorkers that this could be more than just a museum of what [it] once was.' Mamdani—who will face off against incumbent Mayor Eric Adams, who is running as an Independent—has argued in his campaign videos that his housing-focused policies 'could be the difference between you having to move to Jersey City and getting to stay in the five boroughs.' Rachel Fee, executive director of the New York Housing Conference (NYHC), says that Mamdani's popularity is a testament to how New Yorkers, especially working class New Yorkers, are struggling with rising prices. 'New Yorkers are fed up with sky-high rents and lack of housing choice. And home ownership these days seems like a dream to achieve in another state,' says Fee. 'It deserves the focus of the next Mayor. And I think New Yorkers seem very willing to try something different.' As Mamdani ramps up his campaigning efforts, here are some of the core tenets of his plan to fix New York City's housing crisis. Read More: Zohran Mamdani Delivers Decisive Victory in NYC Primary as His Ascension Sets Off a Political Earthquake 'Freeze the rent' A policy-turned-rallying cry of Mamdani's candidacy has been his calls to 'freeze the rent.' This has become all the more central as the N.Y.C. Rent Guidelines Board on Monday voted for a 4.5% increase for two-year leases and a 3% hike for one-year leases. The Rent Guidelines Board, which sets the annual rent adjustments for rent-stabilized apartments, is appointed by the Mayor, and Mamdani has said he would only appoint members of the board who will work with him to freeze the rent. Roughly 70% of New York City residents are renters, and around half of them live in rent-stabilized apartments, according to 2024 data from the NYC Comptroller, and so these price decisions affect many. New York City's Mayor Adams released a statement stating he was disappointed in the board for not adopting 'the lowest increase possible' in rent, as he requested. But he also argued that calls to 'freeze the rent' amount to 'bad policy,' saying it's 'short-sighted and only puts tenants in harm's way.' Mamdani has cited former NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio in his pledge to 'immediately' freeze the rent, stating that the former Mayor 'actually did this three times' during his tenure—in 2015, 2016, and 2020. The mayoral hopeful has also said he will advocate to expand rent stabilization in Albany, the capital city of New York State. Read More: 'We Will Not Accept This Intimidation': Zohran Mamdani Responds to Trump's Arrest Threat A recommitment to public housing and building affordable housing Mamdani has pledged a recommitment to public housing, saying he'll 'double the money we're spending to preserve public housing, and fully fund and staff our city's housing agencies so we can actually get the work done.' Meanwhile, housing experts have argued that a large part of the crisis, both in New York City and nationally, is the lack of supply for affordable housing. There are many reasons for this, including that the annual turnover rate for New York City rental units is 41% lower than the national average, due to limited mobility, overcrowding, and outmigration, according to the Citizens Budget Commission (CBC). Mamdani plans to address housing shortages by constructing 200,000 new units over the next 10 years. He says these units will be 'permanently affordable, union-built, rent-stabilized homes.' He has pledged $100 billion to this effort, funded by his plan to tax the top 1% of New Yorkers to help pay for his ambitious efforts, through city municipal bonds and by activating city-owned land. He hopes to increase zoning for residential buildings and massively increase public spending of housing. Between 2010 and 2020, New York City added just over 185,000 multi-family units in buildings with four or more homes, according to the NYU Furman Center, and only about 30% of those were affordable to low-income households. Mamdani has also he is looking to expand other affordable housing efforts including the NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development's (HPD) Senior Affordable Rental Apartments, which produces 100% affordable low-income housing for seniors and HPD's Extremely Low and Low-Income Affordability, which produces 100% affordable housing for families who earn less than $72,000 for a family of four. He's also keen to build upon the New York City Human Resources Administration's Master Lease Program, which helps create subsidized housing for families at risk of eviction. According to Fee, many of these issues have already been in the works with the city of New York, but Mamdani's focus hopes to scale them up. But 'the Mayor cannot do it alone,' Fee says, adding there will need to be 'some smart politics and some coalition building' at the City Council and in the state's capital of Albany to change zoning, public spending, and allocate funds to these initiatives. Fee also says neglecting the potential of the private sector to help fund these efforts would be a 'mistake.' 'These are things that the city government has been doing, and I think he wants to bring some of them to scale. Whether they are politically achievable… I think that will really test him as a politician,' Fee argues. Creating a Deed Theft Prevention Office Mamdani is also vying to create a new office that works to 'protect homeowners from scam artists' that attempt to steal deeds, an issue that has specifically affected immigrant communities and Black and Latino neighborhoods in New York. Deed theft occurs when someone takes over the title of a home without the approval or knowledge of the true homeowner. In fact, 45% of deed theft complaints received by New York in the last five years have been in Brooklyn, primarily in communities of color.
