In NYC’s mayoral democratic primary, 67 percent of Jews under 44 voted for candidate Zohran Mamdani.
As NYC’s mayoral elections draw to a close, Middle East Eye spoke to some Jewish voters who chose to support and canvas for the candidate, despite him being regularly smeared as an antisemite.
Jacob Bloomfield has joined thousands of canvassers to get the word out about the campaign.
Bloomfield said he wanted to canvas because, “just talking to people about ideas, face to face, is the most fundamental and, arguably, important aspect of politics”. He believes that young Jews were out supporting Mamdani both because they do not believe Israel represents them, and because – like any other demographic – they have the same concerns about affordability.
Actor and comedian Matt Ketai, 36, has also been out canvassing for Mamdani. He expressed concern about Independent mayoral candidate and former New York governor Andrew Cuomo and others pushing Islamophobic narratives about Zohran and calling him antisemitic.
“All the Islamophobia that I’ve seen and this talk of antisemitism actually makes me feel less safe as a Jew because they’re pushing these concepts and ideas that aren’t actually true”, Ketai said.
Ketai said that the safety of Muslims and Jews is intertwined.
He said he had noticed people using Islamophobic talking points to justify their fears of Mamdani being mayor.
NYC-based journalist Caleb Espiritu-Bloomfield expressed his support for Mamdani, saying he “takes comfort” in the fact that Mamdani is Muslim because Judaism and Islam share common origins. “They’re both Semitic”, he noted, “so the language sounds similar, the food is similar, and many Jewish principles are very close to the five pillars of Islam”.
