Queens BP backs Mamdani for mayor
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Queens Borough President Donovan Richards endorsed Democratic nominee for mayor Zohran Mamdani in Richmond Hill on Friday. Eagle photo by Ryan Schwach
By Ryan Schwach
Queens Borough President Donovan Richards officially endorsed the Democratic nominee for mayor, Zohran Mamdani, on Friday after declining to weigh in during the Democratic primary.
Richards endorsed his fellow Queens elected from the 32BJ union offices in Richmond Hill, giving another dose of institutional Democratic support to the upstart socialist in his bid for Gracie Mansion.
The BP did not endorse anyone during the Democratic primary, but has recently upped his criticism of former Governor Andrew Cuomo and has appeared with Mamdani on the campaign trail twice in the last week.
While poking fun at Mamdani’s young age, Richards said the Democratic nominee has given New Yorkers a feeling of hope that parallels the feeling Barack Obama elicited in 2008. Richards said the assemblymember is the “best candidate in the field for mayor.”
“There's one candidate that I know for sure in this race who's not going to kowtow to the Trump administration, who's not going to take a backseat, who's going to defend the values of this city, and that is Zohran Mamdani,” Richards said. “We're here because Zohran has given hope to people across the city….He provided a pathway for people to dream, for people to hope.”
Mamdani, in turn, applauded Richards for his brand of retail politics, and his work as borough president.
“Donovan doesn't just represent part of this borough,” Mamdani said. “He may come from one part of this borough, he may have represented one set of neighborhoods in this borough as a city councilmember, but when he became the borough president, I didn't have to travel to go see Donovan Richards.”
Richards has consistently found himself teetering on the fence between establishment and progressive circles, and said that his endorsement of Mamdani is not about politics.
“It's not about the party, it's not about partisan politics,” he said. “No one cares about Democrats or Republicans when they want their infrastructure investment, people don't care if you're a Democrat or Republican when you need your potholes [filled], nobody cares about Democrat or Republican when the rent is due and the rent is too damn high.”
“We have an obligation to stand together as a borough, to stand for the best candidate who represents the very values that this community represents,” Richards added.
The BP defended Mamdani on some of his more extreme policies, and in a campaign video posted on Friday, rode the Q4 bus in Jamaica with Mamdani. The Q4 was Queens’ free bus in the free fare bus pilot Mamdani championed in the state legislature last year.
“[Voters] are looking for someone who's going to stand up to make sure that their rent can be freezed, that they can have free buses, and that's not socialism, it's common sense,” Richards said. “If that's socialism, count me in. Count me in as a Democratic Socialist if it means that everyday New Yorkers will be able to afford this city.”
Richards added the notions that Mamdani is antisemetic and inexperienced were “unfounded.”
The BP stayed quiet in the Democratic primary, choosing not to back Cuomo or his longtime ally, Council Speaker Adrienne Adams. He also didn’t endorse Mayor Eric Adams, who he backed in 2021.
“Cuomo came with a lot of baggage, I didn't endorse him, glad I didn't,” he told reporters in June.
The biggest issue preventing him from backing Cuomo was the former governor’s handling of the COVID pandemic in Southeast Queens.
“I go back to COVID, I will never forget how Far Rockaway was treated,” he said in June. “I'll never forget how Southeast Queens were treated. That informed me of my decision to not endorse. I kept coming back to my constituents I couldn't bury during COVID. I swear it just kept coming back to me.”
Richards’ old Far Rockaway City Council district was among the hardest hit during the COVID pandemic.
Richards was also slow to publicly criticize the mayor, and did not call for his resignation when he was hit with criminal charges last year, when many other local officials did.
“I think some of the challenges the mayor will have pertain to his stance on immigration, whether it's a perception or not, his closeness to the White House, who has largely not stood for Queens values,” he said in June.
Many of Richards’ fellow Queens Democratic colleagues have themselves stayed quiet and have yet to endorse the Democratic nominee. Many endorsed Cuomo in the primary election.
County Party Chair and Congressman Gregory Meeks told the Eagle this week that he has not yet made his decision on endorsing in the general.
Mamdani won the World’s Borough by about eight percent of the vote after the first round of ranked-choice counting. However, he lost in the prominently Black communities of Southeast Queens. Cuomo beat him by 18 points in Meeks' predominantly Black congressional district in the first round of ranked choice voting.
Richards, a lifelong Southeast Queens resident, might help with that.
“The Democratic Party has to meet this moment,” Richards said. “We've always been a big tent party. This is not about socialism. It's not about establishment. This is about ensuring that working people can thrive and survive in this very city that's becoming out of reach for everyday New Yorkers.”
“I can't speak for those people who haven't endorsed yet, but I think my stamp of approval speaks for itself,” Richards added. “Last I checked, he did win this borough. So this is not about a stamp of approval from elected officials, whether it's myself or any others. It's about what the people have said.”
Richards said he would campaign around the borough for Mamdani, with the goal of increasing his margins in Queens.
As for Meeks, and other prominent Democrats, Mamdani said he is pleased with the conversations he has had with them to this point, but is focused on “receiving the endorsement of the eight and a half million people who call this [city] their home.”
“It has been a joy to continue to expand our coalition,” he said.
The announcement with Richards was the last event in a week-long tour through all five boroughs where Mamdani spoke against the actions of another Queens man, President Donald Trump.
“This administration has sought to tear apart the city that we love,” Mamdani said. “We know that though Trump represents one version of what it means to be a New Yorker, we all understand the true meaning of a place where everyone belongs and a place where everyone should be able to continue to afford to call it their home.”
