Can Zohran Mamdani win over endorsements from the Democratic establishment?

New York Democratic mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani is soaring in the polls, but he’s yet to reach a critical mass of endorsements from his own party’s establishment.

The subject has been a nearly daily topic of news coverage, with key holdouts New York Governor Kathy Hochul and Senator Kirsten Gillibrand of New York repeatedly voicing their differences with Mamdani and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries largely avoiding the subject.

On Wednesday, Representative Pat Ryan, a swing-district Democrat in a rural part of the state, endorsed Mamdani, making him the first House member outside New York City to make the move.

In a social media post, Ryan wrote, "Public service is all about one thing: who do you fight for?  @ZohranKMamdani fights for the PEOPLE."

"Andrew Cuomo is a selfish POS who only fights for himself and other corrupt elites," he continued. "I know whose side I'm on. I’m with the people. I'm with Zohran."

This new endorsement could potentially open the doors for similar support from moderate Democrats—or the holdouts can continue until this November’s off-year election.

Some Republicans are already tying Democrats to Mamdani, despite their lack of endorsements.

"It's an interesting race," Richard Groper, a lecturer in political science at California State University in Los Angeles, told The New Arab. "I think it's a bit of a dilemma for moderate Democrats."

Though he acknowledges that Mamdani is largely aligned with voters in deep-blue New York City, most moderates will likely stay on the sidelines to avoid controversy.

"I would stay out of it if I were them," he said, noting the pressure faced by moderate Democrats.

Until now, Mamdani's public support from national leaders has been from Senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren; and House members Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Jerry Nadler, Adriano Espaillat, and Nydia Velasquez.

Ocasio-Cortez has raised concerns about the lack of endorsements from New York political leaders, including Jeffries and Chuck Schumer, saying that the party should unite once the voters have chosen a nominee.

"I am very concerned about the example that is being set by anybody in our party," Ocasio-Cortez told reporters outside the Capitol last week.

"I believe that we must set the example of supporting the party's nominee, because it complicates—if an individual doesn't want to support the party's nominee now, it complicates their ability to ask voters to support any nominee later, whether that is mayoral, presidential, what have you," she said.

The latest polls show Mamdani winning by a landslide against the current candidates and winning by a thin margin against former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, who resigned in disgrace following allegations of sexual misconduct and reports of his office understating Covid-19 death at nursing homes.