Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) on Thursday endorsed socialist candidate Zohran Mamdani in the New York City mayoral race just days before early voting kicks off.

“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 told The New York Times in an interview announcing her endorsement. “In the final stretch of the race, we need to get very real about that.”

The move is sure to buoy those on the left who have coalesced around Mamdani as the best progressive alternative to former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D), the current frontrunner to succeed Mayor Eric Adams (D), who is running for reelection as an independent.

Cuomo is seeking a comeback after resigning from his job in 2021 as governor amid sexual harassment allegations. The race also comes as a battle plays out among Democrats over the future of the party following President Trump’s victory in November, with Ocasio-Cortez and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) representing the progressive wing looking to push the party toward a more populist agenda.

Ocasio-Cortez’s endorsement comes less than 12 hours after Mamdani squared off with Cuomo and seven other candidates in a rowdy, often chaotic debate that saw no clear winner.

Cuomo has maintained a strong lead in polls over the last several months, making him the candidate to beat. But Mamdani, a progressive State Assembly member endorsed by the Democratic Socialists of America, has surged into second place in recent weeks.

A recent Emerson College Polling/PIX11/The Hill survey had the former governor leading in the primary’s first round of voting with 35 percent. Mamdani came in at second with 23 percent. 

Perhaps in a sign of his newfound momentum, Cuomo focused many of his attacks Wednesday night on the progressive, in multiple instances lambasting Mamdani for past criticism he made about former President Obama.

Primary voters will head to the polls in person on June 24. Whoever emerges as the winner of the Democratic primary will be the clear favorite to lead the city.

New York City employs a ranked-choice voting system, meaning primary voters will have the opportunity to rank up to five candidates by order of preference. When their top choices are eliminated, those votes are then dispersed to candidates they had ranked lower.