Mamdani Urges DSA to Withhold Osse Endorsement vs. Jeffries

New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, a Democratic Socialist who won the November 4 election, addressed members of the Democratic Socialists of America on Wednesday evening, urging the group to withhold endorsement from City Council member Chi Osse's planned 2026 primary challenge against House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries. The closed-door meeting at Manhattan's Church of the Village highlighted tensions within the organization as Mamdani prepares to take office on January 1.

Mamdani, a dues-paying DSA member and the highest-ranking elected official in the group's New York City chapter, emphasized the need to focus on implementing his campaign promises rather than engaging in internal Democratic Party conflicts. According to attendees who spoke on condition of anonymity, he told the group, "The choice is not whether to vote for Chi or Hakeem at the ballot box, the choice is how to spend the next year. Do we want to spend it defending caricatures of our movement, or do we want to spend it fulfilling the agenda at the heart of that very same movement?" He argued that endorsing Osse could hinder efforts to advance affordability policies supported by over 1 million voters,...