Obama calls Mamdani and praises campaign ahead of November polls

Former Democratic President Barack Obama called New York mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani Saturday and offered to be a “sounding board” if the 34-year-old frontrunner wins the election.



He also praised Mamdani's campaign.



The call, first reported by the New York Times, was confirmed by Mamdani’s spokesperson.



According to a statement "Zohran Mamdani appreciated President Obama’s words of support and their conversation on the importance of bringing a new kind of politics to our city,.



Mamdani shocked political observers on June 24 with a convincing victory in the mayoral primary.



Since then, his candidacy has won endorsements from party holdouts such as former Vice President Kamala Harris and New York Governor Kathy Hochul, and he has received a steady stream of financial backing from small donors.



Mamdani's policies range from hiking taxes on New York City's wealthiest, raising the corporation tax, freezing stabilized apartment rental rates and increasing publicly subsidized housing, raising worries among the finance community that the city's competitiveness will suffer.



His rise presents both risks and rewards for the national Democratic Party, which acknowledges the need to appeal to young voters but could become more vulnerable to Republican attacks due to Mamdani’s criticism of Israel and his democratic socialism.



On Saturday, Obama rallied alongside New Jersey Democrat gubernatorial candidate Mikie Sherrill, who is competing in a closely contested race against Republican Jack Ciattarelli. He also attended a rally for Virginia Democrat gubernatorial candidate Abigail Spanberger.