Josh Gottheimer, the moderate Democratic representative of New Jersey, told the Washington Post, external he thought Mamdani had “extremist views” at odds with the Democratic party and that he feared Republicans will use the candidate as a kind of “bogeyman”.
At a campaign event on the Upper East Side, Mamdani told the BBC how he plans to handle the intense scrutiny if he wins, pointing to the energy behind his candidacy.
“There is no doubt that there will be opposition as we see that opposition today, and what has allowed us to surmount the unbelievable amounts of money that has been spent against this campaign in the primary or the general, has been the mass movement that we have created.”
Paloma Nadera, 38, volunteering at the event, said the last time she had been this excited to vote had been for Barack Obama in 2008. Since then she’s been disappointed by what she called the lack of bravery within the party.
“I feel like this race means so much to me because it’s local. It’s going to affect me, my family, my friends, everyone here in New York City.
“But it’s also sort of sending a message, up the chain about what we want politics to start to look like on the Democratic side on a national level.”
Additional reporting by Grace Goodwin
