New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani confirmed Wednesday that former Vice President Kamala Harris has been in contact with him for a few months, the latest indication that the former Democratic presidential nominee is strengthening ties with the party’s progressive wing as she weighs a 2028 White House bid.
“Yes. That is true,” the socialist mayor said during an appearance on SiriusXM’s The Clay Cane Show. “The vice president reached out to have a conversation, and we’ve had a brief conversation. We’ve been in touch over the last few months, and I really do appreciate her outreach.”
The acknowledgment comes as speculation continues to build that Harris, who lost the 2024 presidential election to President Donald Trump, is laying the groundwork for another run in 2028. Her outreach to Mamdani, one of the country’s highest-profile socialists and a rising star on the Left, is likely to fuel questions about how Harris is positioning herself within a Democratic Party increasingly influenced by progressive activists.
Harris called Mamdani two days after his endorsed candidates helped unseat two incumbent Democrats in New York’s primary elections earlier this month, according to Axios, victories that underscored the growing political clout of the party’s left flank. Harris also reportedly met privately with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) on the sidelines of the “Power Rising” conference in Chicago, a gathering focused on empowering black women leaders.
Taken together, the outreach is likely to fuel speculation that Harris is working to strengthen relationships with progressive leaders after years of criticism from some on the Left over her record and political positioning. With the Democratic Party engaged in an internal debate over its future direction following the 2024 election, relationships with influential figures such as Mamdani and Ocasio-Cortez could prove increasingly important should Harris enter the next presidential race.
Harris has also quietly expanded her outreach to pro-Palestinian activists, a constituency that frequently clashed with her 2024 campaign over former President Joe Biden’s handling of the war in Gaza. Members of Harris’s team have reportedly been engaging with activists over the past year, including at least one organizer who helped launch the Uncommitted Movement.
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Uncommitted delegates said the Harris campaign rejected their request to allow a Palestinian American to address the Democratic National Convention, leaving many activists disillusioned and divided over whether to support her in the general election.
It also reported that Harris met last week in Detroit with Abbas Alawieh, a cofounder of the Uncommitted Movement who is now running as a Democrat for a Michigan state Senate seat.
Alawieh has said he voted for Harris in the 2024 election.