Mayor Eric Adams declared his support for the vice president on Monday morning, following Gov. Kathy Hochul’s endorsement on Sunday.
By Katie Honan
- This story was originally published by THE CITY. Sign up to get the latest New York City news delivered to you each morning.
- The Roosevelt Island Daily News
Most of New York City’s top elected Democrats are rallying behind Vice President Kamala Harris, coalescing around a unity message one day after President Joe Biden dropped out of the race.
Mayor Eric Adams declared his support Monday on “Morning Joe,” saying he was “looking forward” to Harris becoming the nominee. The statement came after multiple media appearances in which Adams conspicuously did not fully endorse the vice president taking over the top spot on the Democratic party ticket.
“In 2020, I endorsed her in the entire primary field,” he said on the MSNBC show. “I think that she is the voice that the party needs right now, that we’re hemorrhaging African Americans. We’re hemorrhaging Hispanic voters. We’re hemorrhaging those working-class people who don’t realize the Democratic Party has a good product. We have to get a clear message on getting that product out there.”
Mayor Adams told THE CITY later on Monday that his shift to fully endorse Harris came after a Sunday night call with Jay Jacobs, the chair of the New York State Democratic Committee.
“Really I want to send a strong message, it’s time for us to unite, be clear in our message to the public, and fight for those issues that are important – affordability, public safety, educating our children, dealing with our border issues, these are bread and butter issues that I hear on the ground,” he said. “And it’s time for us to be united on one message.”
Jacobs told THE CITY the mayor called him Sunday night and they spoke for about 10 to 15 minutes.
“We have to get united,” he said of the overall message on the call.
Adams has repeatedly sparred with the Biden administration over immigration, blasting the White House for its lack of leadership on the issue. In 2021, Biden tasked Harris with leading his administration’s diplomatic efforts with other countries to stem the tide of migrants.
When asked what he’s committed to doing to help elect Harris, Adams said: “I’m a soldier, I do whatever the general tells me to do.”
The first top-ranking New York elected official to get behind Harris was Gov. Kathy Hochul, who shared her support on social media soon after Biden announced he wouldn’t run again.
Other officials soon rallied behind the former prosecutor. Congressmember Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez – who just last week criticized the calls from other Democrats for Biden to step down – threw her “full support” behind Harris.
“Kamala Harris will be the next President of the United States,” she wrote on X.
“Now more than ever, it is crucial that our party and country swiftly unite to defeat Donald Trump and the threat to American democracy.”
City comptroller Brad Lander posted Sunday that he donated to Harris’s campaign, while Public Advocate Jumaane Williams – who called for Biden to step aside earlier this month – reiterated his fears that “misogyny and racism” and said Democratsd need to united around Harris.
Attorney General Letitia James posted that she joined other Black attorney generals across the country in supporting the vice president, saying in a joint statement “there is no one more qualified to lead and continue to uphold the values of our nation.”
Not every prominent Democrat in New York has publicly supported Harris, though, with holdouts to this point including Sen. Chuck Schumer and Representative Hakeem Jeffries, the House minority leader, and Representatives Tom Suozzi and Adriano Espaillat.
Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, while praising President Biden on X, declined to mention Harris, saying that there is “more than enough time for the party to take the pulse of voters” before the convention.
The support from New York comes as top Democrats around the country – from Speaker Nancy Pelosi to once potential rivals like Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, Arizona Senator Mark Kelly and Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker – have lined up behind Harris. The party’s candidate will officially be selected at the Democratic National Convention, which starts Aug. 19 in Chicago.
Recent polls show Harris already performs better than Biden against Trump in some swing states, like Georgia, which the president won in 2020.
Congresswoman Grace Meng, who represents parts of Queens, posted on social media Sunday that she was “upset” that Biden moved off the ticket.
“I’m mad that the bullies won,” she posted on X – but said her kid told her to “stop being sad and start helping” Harris.
Meng told THE CITY on Monday that a lot of New Yorkers didn’t watch the “famous” debate and “also did not obsess over it.”
“And the one thing that made that night worse and have more impact was Democrats obsessing over it for the next three weeks,” she said. “Instead of focusing on the real opponent we just turned into a circular firing squad and just analyzed every word and action that he took, and I just thought the way that it was handled was so disrespectful.”
But Meng is now excited for Harris’s candidacy.
“I was always ready to be with Kamala, if Biden decided to withdraw,” she said.
New York delegates planned a call Monday night to discuss the election, where Gov. Hochul plans to outline her support for Harris, according to a person familiar with the call.
The change has injected excitement into the election season that will trickle down to contested down-ballot races, according to Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine, who endorsed Harris on Sunday.
“I think it’s going to be a game changer for Democratic politics in America and New York,” he told THE CITY.
Even the most ardent Democrats felt an “undercurrent of anxiety” with Biden running against Trump, and felt an anemic response would result in low turnout to seats across the state.
“I was extremely pessimistic about our chances of winning these contested congressional races,” Levine said.
“But now with the energy and fundraising and the unity that’s come out of this announcement, we’re totally in it. We have a shot now.”
THE CITY is a nonprofit newsroom that serves the people of New York. Sign up for our SCOOP newsletter and get exclusive stories, helpful tips, a guide to low-cost events, and everything you need to know to be a well-informed New Yorker. DONATE to THE CITY
The Five Amendments That Sold Out Roosevelt Island
Roosevelt Island did not lose control of its southern waterfront in a single deal. It happened in five quiet steps. Five amendments. Five missed chances to renegotiate.
