UAW Region 9A Calls On 20,000 NYC Members to Rank Zohran Mamdani First and Releases Full Ranked Choice Ballot
NEW YORK, NY – In December 2024, UAW Region 9A became the first labor union to endorse Zohran Mamdani for Mayor, alongside Brad Lander and Jessica Ramos in an unranked endorsement.
At the time, Zohran was underestimated by pundits and polling in the 2-5% range, but our members recognized that his campaign focused on the cost of living crisis would resonate with New Yorkers. Moreover, Zohran’s commitment to build affordable housing, freeze the rent, make buses fast and free, and institute universal childcare echoed the UAW’s demands to make life more affordable for working-class New Yorkers, the majority of whom are renters and commuters.
UAW members were right about the potential of Zohran’s campaign. News this week has Zohran within 8 points of disgraced former governor Andrew Cuomo in the Democratic primary with a little over three weeks left in the race.
Today, UAW is leading the way again. UAW Region 9A is now calling on our 20,000 NYC members to rank Zohran Mamdani firston the ballot for Mayor.
“The decision to rank Zohran first on the ballot affirms our membership’s initial endorsement of his campaign,” said Brandon Mancilla, UAW Region 9A Director. “Some may say we took a chance, but the actual reckless gamble is to endorse status quo candidates that caused the crisis working families face in the first place.”
Our initial endorsement made news for its democratic nature, and this ranking comes the same way—from our members. The members of our NYC Area Community Action Program (CAP) Council representing all UAW local unions in New York City met today and endorsed the following ranking:
First, rank our three endorsed candidates:
- Zohran Mamdani
- Brad Lander
- Jessica Ramos
Brad Lander and Jessica Ramos have continued to prove why they earned our endorsement as steadfast champions of labor and deserve to be right behind Mamdani on the ballot. They are UAW champions as elected officials and would be great Mayors. To defeat Andrew Cuomo, ranking Brad Lander second is the pathway to a better New York.
We are also recommending that our members complete their ballots with two more candidates:
- Zellnor Myrie
- Adrienne Adams
While not endorsed initially by the UAW for this Mayor’s race, Myrie and Adams have previously been endorsed by UAW Region 9A in other races. Today’s full ranking builds upon our press conference last week in which our union siblings from UAW Region 9 shared their experiences during a six week strike against General Motors in 2019 when Andrew Cuomo turned his back on them.
The new ranked endorsement comes with another explicit instruction: don’t rank Andrew Cuomo.
Like our December ranking, this full ballot is to encourage other unions and pro-worker organizations to recommend our ranking to their respective memberships. We believe this ranking ensures the best chance to defeat Andrew Cuomo, and gives working people in New York a fighting shot to build a future in the city they built.