Overview
- Zohran Mamdani shared a campaign photo with Imam Siraj Wahhaj, who was labeled by a former U.S. attorney as an unindicted co-conspirator in the 1993 World Trade Center case, though Wahhaj was never charged.
- Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa condemned the photo, and national Republicans including President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance criticized Mamdani over the association.
- New Jersey Democrats such as gubernatorial nominee Mikie Sherrill and Sen. Cory Booker declined to engage on Mamdani’s race, citing focus on their own contests, while Gov. Phil Murphy and Sen. Andy Kim have not weighed in.
- Critics point to Mamdani’s ties to groups like Within Our Lifetime and Students for Justice in Palestine and to his pledge to roll back New York City’s adoption of the IHRA antisemitism definition, a move denounced by Reps. Josh Gottheimer and Mike Lawler.
- Mamdani, a self-described democratic socialist and leading candidate, has secured endorsements from figures including Bernie Sanders, New York Attorney General Letitia James and Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, with Newark Mayor Ras Baraka also backing him.