Ahead of two competitive New York City congressional primaries, Newsweek turned to Fordham political scientist Boris Heersink, PhD, to help make sense of the growing rivalry between Mayor Zohran Mamdani and U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries. Heersink broke down the asymmetric political risks at play, arguing that Mamdani stands to lose more by backing challengers than Jeffries does by supporting incumbents.
Endorsing in these primaries poses a “bigger political risk” for Mamdani than Jeffries, Boris Heersink, professor of political science at Fordham University, told Newsweek.
“It makes sense that Jeffries and the Democratic caucus in the House (mostly) support incumbent representatives for reelection,” he said. “Mamdani is making the choice to get involved and back challengers. If those challengers fail to win, it spotlights the limits to Mamdani’s political influence in the city.”
Heersink said Mamdani may have been skeptical that Jeffries was vulnerable, “which would make it a not particularly appealing challenge to waste political capital.”
