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    Mamdani Travels to Uganda in Break From Mayoral Campaign

    Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic nominee for mayor of New York, said that he and his wife were going to the African country where he was born to celebrate their recent marriage.Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic nominee for mayor of New York City, said on Sunday that he was visiting Uganda, where he was born, in a break from campaigning for the general election in November.In a video posted on X and Bluesky, Mr. Mamdani said he was making the trip to Africa with his wife, Rama Duwaji, whom he married in February, to celebrate their marriage with family and friends.He left the city during the traditional summer lull in the weeks after the June primary, while, at the same time, his most formidable opponent, former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, was seeking to strengthen his own run on an independent ballot line with appearances across New York in the aftermath of his surprise defeat by Mr. Mamdani.In a statement, Mayor Eric Adams, a Democrat who is running for re-election as an independent, criticized his opponent for taking a vacation. (Mr. Adams has taken numerous trips abroad before and after becoming mayor, including a weeklong “spiritual journey” to Ghana shortly after his election in 2021.)“At a time when public safety, housing, and education remain top concerns for working New Yorkers, the mayor is here — managing the responsibilities of running the largest city in America,” Mr. Adams said in a prepared statement. “This election is about who’s prepared to lead, not who can rack up the most passport stamps or press headlines. Eric Adams is working. Others are sightseeing.”A spokesman for Mr. Cuomo did not immediately respond to a request for comment.Mr. Mamdani’s spokesman, Jeffrey Lerner, said in a statement that the candidate would return to New York before the end of the month “and looks forward to resuming public events and continuing his campaign to make the most expensive city in America affordable.”We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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    NY Agrees to Settle Ex-Cuomo Aide’s Harassment Claims for $450,000

    The former executive aide, Brittany Commisso, accused Andrew M. Cuomo of groping her when he was governor. The state did not admit wrongdoing.New York State has agreed to pay $450,000 to settle claims from a woman who accused Andrew M. Cuomo of groping her in 2020, when he was the governor and she was an executive aide, according to a settlement document reviewed by The New York Times.The settlement, with Brittany Commisso, is the second one the state has made this year in connection with Mr. Cuomo’s treatment of women while in office. Mr. Cuomo resigned in 2021 amid accusations he harassed 11 women, including Ms. Commisso. He is now running for mayor of New York City.Under the terms of the agreement, which will need a judge’s approval, Ms. Commisso would drop all claims against the state, including an accusation that she was retaliated against after coming forward about her experience. She also agreed not to seek employment with the executive chamber through 2030. The deal does not include any admission of wrongdoing on the part of the state or Mr. Cuomo.Mariann Wang, a lawyer for Ms. Commisso, called the settlement “a complete vindication of her claims.”It is a blow to the former governor, who has been trying to reinvent himself as a friendly and trustworthy figure as he struggles to mount a political comeback. A representative for Mr. Cuomo, Rich Azzopardi, said that the state had agreed to settle the suit over Mr. Cuomo’s objections.This week, Mr. Cuomo announced that he would continue his bid for mayor as an independent after losing the Democratic nomination to Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani, a 33-year-old democratic socialist from Queens.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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    Mamdani Wins Backing of Major Health Care Union That Had Endorsed Cuomo

    Local 1199, which represents 200,000 health care workers in New York City, rescinded its support of Andrew Cuomo and is now endorsing Zohran Mamdani for mayor.Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani, the upstart democratic socialist who convincingly won the Democratic primary for mayor of New York City, was endorsed on Friday by the city’s powerful health care union, Local 1199 of the Service Employees International Union.Since his win last month, Mr. Mamdani has quickly coalesced much of the city’s organized labor behind him, receiving endorsements from unions representing millions of teachers, hotel workers and nurses, among other professions.Many of these unions, including Local 1199, had endorsed former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, who is now running in the general election as a third-party candidate.The health care union’s initial support of Mr. Cuomo was seen as a sign of the longtime alliance between the former governor and the union’s former leader, George Gresham. The two had a tight relationship going back to Mr. Cuomo’s time in office, when he influenced state policies to aide Mr. Gresham and his members.But with Mr. Gresham voted out of office this spring, the union’s executive board voted on Friday to endorse Mr. Mamdani, with the union’s recently elected president, Yvonne Armstrong, lauding Mr. Mamdani’s “plan to ensure frontline caregivers can continue working and living in our city.”“Working people across New York City are uniting to defend our neighborhoods and our city from unprecedented attacks from extremist politicians and their billionaire donors who are taking away health care, ripping families apart and endangering our democracy,” Ms. Armstrong added in a statement.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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    ‘Morally Offensive and Fiscally Reckless’: 3 Writers on Trump’s Big Gamble

    Frank Bruni, a contributing Opinion writer, hosted a written online conversation with Nate Silver, the author of “On the Edge: The Art of Risking Everything” and the newsletter Silver Bulletin, and Lis Smith, a Democratic communications strategist and author of the memoir “Any Given Tuesday: A Political Love Story,” to discuss the aftermath of the passage of President Trump’s One Big, Beautiful Bill.Frank Bruni: Let’s start with that megabill, the bigness of which made the consequences of its enactment hard to digest quickly. Now that we’ve had time to, er, chew it over, I’m wondering if you think Democrats are right to say — to hope — that it gives them a whole new traction in next year’s midterms.I mean, the most significant Medicaid cuts kick in after that point. Could Trump and other Republicans avoid paying a price for them in 2026? Or did they get much too cute in constructing the legislation and building in that delay and create the possibility of disaster for themselves in both 2026 and 2028, when the bill’s effect on Medicaid, as well as on other parts of the safety net, will have taken hold?Lis Smith: If history is any guide, Republicans will pay a price for these cuts in the midterms. In 2010, Democrats got destroyed for passing Obamacare, even though it would be years until it was fully implemented. In 2018, Republicans were punished just for trying to gut it. Voters don’t like politicians messing with their health care. They have been pretty consistent in sending that message.I’d argue that Democrats have an even more potent message in 2026 — it’s not just that Republicans are messing with health care, it’s that they are cutting it to fund tax cuts for the richest Americans.Nate Silver: What I wonder about is Democrats’ ability to sustain focus on any given issue. At the risk of overextrapolating from my home turf in New York, Zohran Mamdani just won a massive upset in the Democratic mayoral primary by focusing on affordability. And a message on the Big, Beautiful Bill could play into that. But the Democratic base is often more engaged by culture war issues, or by messages that are about Trump specifically — and Trump isn’t on the ballot in 2026 — rather than Republicans broadly. The polls suggest that the Big, Beautiful Bill is extremely unpopular, but a lot of those negative views are 1) among people who are extremely politically engaged and already a core Democratic constituency, or 2) snap opinions among the disengaged that are subject to change. Democrats will need to ensure that voters are still thinking about the bill next November, and tying it to actual or potential changes that affect them directly and adversely.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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    Adams Eclipses Mamdani in Recent Fund-Raising, as Cuomo Lags Behind

    Mayor Eric Adams reported raising $1.5 million over the last month, but his inability to qualify for matching funds may hamper his re-election bid.When Eric Adams appeared at a campaign fund-raiser in Florida earlier this month with people who are aligned with a Young Republicans group and President Trump, the event seemed incongruous for a sitting Democratic mayor of New York City.But this is no ordinary mayor’s race.As Mr. Adams makes a long-shot re-election bid as an independent candidate in November, he has begun to expand his fund-raising network to try to compete with the Democratic nominee, Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani.The latest fund-raising period in the race suggests that the mayor still holds sway with some donors — even if they are outside the typical New York donor world.Of the $1.5 million that Mr. Adams raised during the most recent filing period, from June 10 to July 11, nearly half came from outside New York City. Eight donations arrived from Florida on the day of the fund-raiser, totaling $2,325.Mr. Mamdani also posted a strong fund-raising haul during that period. He raised $852,000, including $256,000 that is eligible for public matching funds, effectively boosting his total to $1.1 million, according to his campaign. And in a sign of his growing national stature, roughly 45 percent of his contributions came from outside New York State. He now has just over $2.6 million on hand.Former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, in contrast, raised just $64,000 during the recent fund-raising period, in part because he was not actively fund-raising while he mulled whether to continue his campaign as an independent in November. He has almost $1.2 million on hand, and, after releasing a video on Monday confirming his intention to run, is expected to now start focusing on raising money.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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    Your Questions About the New York City Mayor’s Race

    Readers wanted to know more about Zohran Mamdani, how he won the Democratic primary (and how Andrew Cuomo lost), and what it all means. We have answers.Good morning. It’s Wednesday. Today we’ll answer some reader questions about Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani and the New York City mayor’s race. We’ll also explain why the subway floods so often during rainstorms.Shuran Huang for The New York TimesAssemblyman Zohran Mamdani stunned New York City, the country and many in his own party when he defeated former Gov. Andrew Cuomo in the Democratic mayoral primary last month.As voters and political observers digest the primary results and look toward the general election, questions have also arisen: about the candidates, how journalists are covering the race and what it all means. We asked readers for their questions, and more than 100 poured in from all over the world. Our reporters and editors have answered 21 so far, a few of which are below. Read the full article here.We’ll keep at it until the November election, sharing selections in this newsletter. Submit your questions here.How does Mamdani’s race and subsequent win reflect the overall picture of politics — especially the identity of the Democratic Party — going into November and beyond?— Samantha Kaplan, Annapolis, Md.Age distribution of voters in New York City mayoral electionsIncludes 2025 mail ballots processed through the morning of June 26

    Sources: New York City Board of Elections; L2By Alex LemonidesWe are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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    Andrew Cuomo Test Drives a Warmer, Friendlier Version of Himself

    Mr. Cuomo, the former governor of New York, has vowed to run a more energetic campaign than he did in the mayoral primary, and aimed to demonstrate that on Tuesday.There were stops at a pizzeria in Queens, a coffee shop in Harlem and a few places in the Bronx. The childhood home got a visit. Hands were shaken; smiles were exchanged.Tuesday was Day 1 of former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo’s reimagined and reinvigorated campaign to become mayor of New York City, a corrective bid to what even his allies conceded had been a lackluster effort to win over voters.The appearances reflected the first faint signs of a different sort of Cuomo campaign taking shape — one that seemed inspired in part by the go-anywhere, talk-to-anyone strategy successfully deployed by Zohran Mamdani, a democratic socialist and state assemblyman who captured the Democratic primary.But in Mr. Cuomo’s hands, the shift in approach served a very particular mission: portray Mr. Mamdani as a socialist enemy of New York City, and convey Mr. Cuomo’s regret for neither effectively nor energetically delivering that message during the campaign.Sitting across from his daughter Mariah at Gaby’s Pizza in Queens, Mr. Cuomo took responsibility for his lackluster primary campaign, saying, “I did not communicate my vision effectively.”“There was this ‘play it safe, make no mistakes’ attitude,” he added, as a fleet of campaign videographers recorded his every move. “That was not who I am. It’s not what New Yorkers expected from a campaign.”We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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    Mamdani Prepares to Meet With New York City’s Wary Business Leaders

    On Tuesday, Zohran Mamdani, a democratic socialist running for mayor, will meet with the who’s who of the corporate world as he prepares for the general election.In the weeks since Zohran Mamdani’s stunning victory in the Democratic mayoral primary, some corporate and finance leaders have predicted an exodus of wealthy investors from New York City. They have called him a Marxist and an out of touch idealist, and have warned of rough times ahead for the city if Mr. Mamdani, a democratic socialist, wins the general election in November.On Tuesday and Wednesday, leaders on Wall Street and across the business world will have an opportunity to confront Mr. Mamdani directly in meetings with the Partnership for New York City, a consortium of 350 members representing banks, law firms and corporations.The meetings were requested by Mr. Mamdani, a Queens assemblyman who says he wants to work with the business community. Mr. Mamdani has recently moderated some of his stances that have generated the most controversy as he shifts his focus to the general election. Tuesday’s meeting will take place behind closed doors with no news media present, and more than 100 executives are expected to attend.The Partnership’s board is a who’s who of powerful business leaders including Henry Kravis of KKR, Rob Speyer of Tishman Speyer and J.P. Morgan’s chief executive, Jamie Dimon, who last week publicly criticized Democrats for “falling all over themselves” to support Mr. Mamdani’s policies including city-run grocery stores and a rent freeze on rent-stabilized apartments. “There’s the same ideological mush that means nothing in the real world,” Mr. Dimon said at an event in Europe.But as much as corporate leaders express reservations about Mr. Mamdani’s left-leaning policies, some of them are taking a pragmatic approach to the upstart candidate, who is leading in polls.Kathryn Wylde, the Partnership’s chief executive who had a frosty relationship with the city’s last progressive mayor, Bill de Blasio, has been open to working with Mr. Mamdani.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More