Mamdani quietly builds a 2028 machine, courting labor leaders to keep a left lane open

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani is not eligible to run for president, but he is already working behind the scenes to shape who might, Axios reported on Sunday, urging labor leaders to organise early for the 2028 race so the left is not left without a candidate and the field is not ceded to a centrist front-runner.

Courting labor leaders

According to four people familiar with the conversations, Mamdani recently met Jimmy Williams Jr., president of the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades, at Gracie Mansion, where they discussed possible presidential hopefuls, how the union's endorsement process works and whether Williams had ever considered running for office himself. Mamdani has also met Sara Nelson, president of the Association of Flight Attendants-C.W.A., to discuss the 2028 race, and a meeting with Shawn Fain, president of the United Automobile Workers, is expected soon. Spokespeople for Mamdani, Fain and Nelson declined to comment.

The central question: will Ocasio-Cortez run?

At the centre of Mamdani's thinking is whether Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York will run for president. People familiar with the talks said Mamdani has acknowledged he does not know whether she will enter the contest; if she stays out, progressives could be left without their most obvious national standard-bearer. Asked on WNYC last month whether he wanted her to run, Mamdani said: “I want to see AOC do whatever it is that AOC wants to do,” and called her “an inspiration.”

Back-up names and the labor lane

Michigan's incoming senator Abdul El-Sayed and California Rep. Ro Khanna are among the names mentioned as possible alternatives, and Bhaskar Sunkara, president of The Nation, has argued for a labor candidate — a worker rather than a career politician. Williams said he supports people from the labor movement running for office at every level — “We put a freaking ironworker in Congress. We put a IUPAT member in the Senate” — while making clear he has no interest in running himself.

(Photo: New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani. Image: City of New York)