Meeks still mulling over making mayoral endorsement

Queens Democratic Party Chair and Congressmember Greg Meeks has yet to weigh in on the general election for mayor. AP file photo/Mariam Zuhaib

By Ryan Schwach

Despite Democratic party bosses in several other boroughs in the city throwing their weight behind Zohran Mamdani in his bid for mayor, Congressman Gregory Meeks, who serves as the chairman of the Queens County Democratic Party, has yet to weigh in on the race since Mamdani cruised to victory in the Democratic primary in June.

Meeks, who backed former Governor Andrew Cuomo both in a personal capacity and as party chair ahead of the primary, has not made an endorsement yet for the general election. Speaking to reporters on Monday, he gave no indication one would be coming any time soon.

“I have not spoken with [Mamdani] yet, I'm looking forward to doing that,” Meeks said of the 33-year-old socialist, who has steadily gained more support within the Democratic Party establishment. “The only conversation we had over the phone was we will sit down. He wants to sit down.”

After the first round of ranked choice counting, Mamdani won the World’s Borough by about eight percent of the vote.

Since his decisive victory, Mamdani has received endorsements from the Democratic parties of Manhattan and Staten Island, as well as from Brooklyn Democratic Party Chair Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn. None of the organizations endorsed him ahead of the primary.

But Meeks remains on the fence. The congressman said any endorsement would only come after speaking with some of Queens’ other elected officials and party members, some of whom have vowed never to back Mamdani.

“I would have to sit down with many members of the Queens County Democratic organization, the district leaders, elected officials from Queens County, we would talk amongst ourselves also, and then make a decision,” Meeks said.

What exactly Meeks has yet to glean about the candidate is unclear. The congressman said he had “a lot of questions” for Mamdani, but declined to say what they were.

It’s also unclear if Meeks would choose to back Cuomo in the race.

The Southeast Queens representative said he was disappointed by the Queens native’s showing in the primary.

“I think that that should have been, and could have been a better effort by former Governor Cuomo,” he said. “I think he admits to that.”

Cuomo dominated in Meeks’ 5th Congressional District, pulling in 56 percent of the vote, his best showing in any district outside of the Bronx. Even with the local victory, the representative said that Cuomo could have done more to drum up votes.

“He was not an enthusiastic campaigner in the district to work to bring out a larger number of voters in Southeastern Queens,” he said.

Similar to Mamdani, Cuomo called Meeks after the election. However, they haven’t spoken since and have not yet had a “real” conversation, Meeks said.

Meeks was also complimentary of Mamdani, applauding the young assemblymember's work courting a younger voter base.

“Mamdani did a good job of making sure that he got his message out in that regard,” he said.

While not directly referring to Mamdani, Meeks talked about what he sees as the need for the Democratic party to do more to reach out to the young electorate.

“We've got to reach out in different ways,” he said. “It used to be that you would just reach out and be working to get the triple prime voter, that's where your focus is. You've got to expand past that.”

“Politics have changed that way for the better, in my estimation,” he added.

During his wide reaching conversation with Queens reporters at his Jamaica office on Monday, Meeks also discussed the need for a party focus on affordability, housing and immigration reform in the face of President Donald Trump’s policies.

Just minutes before he sat down with reporters, the president announced he would deploy the national guard to the nation’s capitol and federalize the Washington Police Department.

“He's looking at picking on mostly Democratic cities,” Meeks said. “Some of the things that he wants to do? Forget the Constitution, forget the rule of law, forget what judges say.”