House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) on Friday endorsed Zohran Mamdani for New York City mayor after months of declining to weigh in on the race.

Why it matters: Jeffries' foot dragging created a rift between him and his left flank, with some progressive members privately grumbling and several Democratic candidates even citing it as their reason for not supporting him as leader. • Jeffries had held off, sources said, due to both genuinely held policy disagreements with Mamdani and out of a desire to protect his battleground-district members. • But progressives have warned that Jeffries' 11th hour endorsement may not be enough to repair the damage to his relationship with the left.

What he's saying: Jeffries, in a statement first reported by the New York Times, said he "deep

See Full Page