Is there a reason Mamdani ran a candidate against Dan Goldman in NY?

[W_HAMILTON]

69. Probably this:

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It's hard to imagine Mamdani putting Cuomo's comeback bid to bed without Lander's assistance. But you don't have to take my word for it. Mamdani adviser Morris Katz put it best Tuesday night: "Hard to tell the story of the Election Day results without Brad Lander, who went all out in the closing 10 days, defending Zohran, spending nearly half a million dollars attacking Cuomo, and building momentum that could not be overcome." You can also hear the appreciation among Mamdani's voters, who gave Lander a hero's welcome when he arrived at the newly crowned nominee's watch party last night.

It's not every day a defeated candidate walks into the winner's campaign celebration and receives such acclaim. But two weeks ago, when Mamdani and Lander cross-endorsed each other—that is, urged their supporters to rank their rival second on the ballot to take advantage of the primary's ranked-choice vote system—it felt like the ground was starting to shift. The pair's affable, charming cross-endorsement video was a soothing balm to what had been a bruising war with Cuomo. Instead of cynicism, voters got to see something that looked more like a budding bromance.

Taken from: https://www.yahoo.com/news/brad-lander-lost-election-became-100000062.html