Queens Borough President Donovan Richards (left) endorsed Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani. Friday, Aug. 15, 2025.
Picture by Lloyd Mitchell
Queens Borough President Donovan Richards on Friday endorsed Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani within the November common election, urging different outstanding Democrats who’ve been “sitting on the fence” to “meet this moment” and get behind his marketing campaign.
Richards, who didn’t endorse a candidate within the main, mentioned he’s backing Mamdani regardless of the lawmaker’s democratic socialist branding as a result of his platform is just “common sense.” He suggested different institution Democrats who’ve been hesitant to embrace Mamdani to do the identical.
“We have an obligation to stand together as a borough, to stand for the best candidate who represents the very value that this community represents, and that is Zohran Mamdani,” Richards mentioned. “So we are here today to officially endorse him, but also to send a message that we have to meet this moment.”
Queens Borough President Donovan Richards endorsed Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani at an occasion in Richmond Hill, Queens. Friday, Aug. 15, 2025.Picture by Lloyd Mitchell
Richards additionally sees Mamdani because the candidate finest to tackle Republican President Donald Trump, who he mentioned desires to “break the very values that this borough represents.”
“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 back seat, who’s going to defend the values of this city, and that is Z — Zohran Mamdani,” Richards mentioned.
Mamdani has spent the previous week on a “Five Boroughs Against Trump” tour centered on highlighting how Trump’s insurance policies are hurting New Yorkers throughout town — together with a crackdown on undocumented immigrants and large social security web cuts.
For example, Mamdani was joined on Friday by John F. Kennedy Worldwide Airport employees, a few of whom mentioned they’ll not work as a result of Trump’s administration revoked their short-term immigrant work authorization.
“This administration has sought to tear apart the city that we love,” Mamdani mentioned. “After this five borough tour, it would be rational to feel a sense of helplessness, to feel a sense of disappointment, and yet I feel a sense of hope, because I see these same New Yorkers who are struggling with the burden that this vision from Washington D.C. has created for all of us, and yet they continue to dream of the life that they deserve in the city.”
Mamdani launched the tour after The New York Occasions reported final week that his chief rival, former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, just lately spoke with Trump over the telephone concerning the mayor’s race — a name each Cuomo and Trump deny happened.
Democratic mayoral nominee and Meeting member Zohran Mamdani.Picture by Lloyd Mitchell
Richards, who’s Black and represented a part of southeast Queens within the Metropolis Council, might assist Mamdani make inroads with Black elected officers and voters because the Democratic nominee tries to broaden his coalition within the common election. That’s one thing Richards mentioned he is able to do.
“We’re going to crisscross this borough, this city, wherever he needs me, to make sure that especially Black communities know that this is a man who understands the importance of not just rhetoric but policies,” Richards mentioned. “I can’t speak for those people who haven’t endorsed yet, but I think my stamp of approval speaks for itself.”
The Black institution Democrats who’ve but to endorse within the race embody U.S. Reps. Gregory Meeks (Queens) and Hakeem Jeffries (Brooklyn). Extra broadly, different celebration leaders, comparable to Gov. Kathy Hochul and U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer, have held off as properly.
Nonetheless, Mamdani seems to steadily be coalescing the celebration’s institution behind his marketing campaign. Along with Richards, Mamdani has additionally received the backing of U.S. Rep. Adriano Espaillat, Brooklyn Democratic Occasion Chair Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn, a number of Metropolis Council members, and a lot of the metropolis’s main labor unions.
