Candidate Brad Lander speaks throughout a Democratic mayoral major debate, June 4, 2025, in New York, U.S. Yuki Iwamura/Pool through REUTERS
Comptroller and mayoral candidate Brad Lander commented Thursday on US Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s endorsement of Lander as her third alternative on the ranked-choice mayoral poll.
Ocasio-Cortez endorsed Meeting Member Zohran Mamdani as her first alternative in an interview with the New York Occasions printed Thursday morning.
“I was grateful to have AOC’s support when I ran for comptroller, I’m grateful to have her support in running for mayor,” Lander stated after a reporter requested if he was disillusioned to have been ranked third. “I will keep making the case that I’m the candidate in this race who best combines the progressive values that this city is founded on and the proven management and leadership experience to deliver on my promises.”
The endorsement carries weight for mayoral candidates within the Democratic major, all of whom are searching for assist from the progressive voters that despatched Ocasio-Cortez to Congress in 2018. In her endorsement — through which she ranked Mamdani first, New York Metropolis Council Speaker Adrienne Adams second, Lander third, former Comptroller Scott Stringer fourth, and State Senator Zellnor Myrie fifth — she emphasised her perception that progressives have to coalesce and defeat former Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
“Assemblymember Mamdani has demonstrated a real ability on the ground to put together a coalition of working-class New Yorkers that is strongest to lead the pack,” Ocasio-Cortez instructed the Occasions. “In the final stretch of the race, we need to get very real about that.”
Ocasio-Cortez had just lately met with Mamdani and Lander individually as each candidates vied for her endorsement.
When requested, Lander didn’t give a transparent reply as as to if he had acquired a heads-up from Ocasio-Cortez about his third-place rating. He took the chance to advise New Yorkers towards rating Cuomo and reward ranked-choice voting for its allowance of varied endorsements. Voting New Yorkers can rank as much as 5 candidates on their mayoral poll this 12 months.
“Don’t put Andrew Cuomo on your ballot, rank the candidates that you think would do the best job as mayor for New York City, and you get to rank up to five, I hope I’ll be people’s first choice, I urge them to include four other choices that are not Andrew Cuomo,” Lander stated.
Relating to Wednesday evening’s democratic mayoral major debate, Lander criticized Cuomo’s response to the query in regards to the candidates’ largest political regrets. Cuomo, who resigned as governor in 2022 after Lawyer Basic Letitia James launched a report detailing accusations of sexual harassment, struggled to think about any regrets. Cuomo has denied the legitimacy of the report.
“For him to fail to take any responsibility for his actions of any kind, it is stunning, New Yorkers can see this is not a person who’s capable of learning, who’s capable of taking responsibility,” Lander stated. “He would be a corrupt and abusive mayor.”
Lander’s feedback got here at a press convention through which he condemned current Immigration and Customs Enforcement detentions of people attending routine courtroom appearances.
