New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s slate of Israel-critical House candidates has received national media attention for months — but his intervention in a state-level race in Manhattan could also reverberate through the city’s Jewish community and beyond.

The mayor has interceded in a handful of state legislative races this cycle, but perhaps none so contentious as the race for the 69th Assembly District, which covers much of the Upper West Side of Manhattan as well as the Morningside Heights area adjacent to Columbia University. 

The area is overwhelmingly progressive and boasts a large Jewish population. In the 2025 mayoral primary, it awarded Mamdani close to 59% of its vote over former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, and at the end of May the democratic socialist dove into the already costly race to replace sitting Assemblymember Micah Lasher, now a candidate for Congress.

By then, rival left-of-center Jewish factions had already lined up behind each candidate: the anti-Zionist Jews for Racial and Economic Justice behind public defender Eli Northrup, and a suite of long-standing Jewish elected officials — including City Comptroller Mark Levine and his predecessor Scott Stringer — with Rabbi Stephanie Ruskay, associate dean of The Rabbinical School at the Jewish Theological Seminary. A Stringer-backed PAC supporting Ruskay is among several spending heavily in the district.

Notably, Ruskay’s prominent backers also include her longtime friend and mentor, former Manhattan Borough President Ruth Messinger, one of Mamdani’s most prominent Jewish supporters. Multiple sources told Jewish Insider that Messinger had personally asked the mayor not to get involved in the race, but Mamdani did so anyway, even releasing one of his signature social media videos featuring Northrup.

“I don’t discuss political endorsements,” Messinger told JI at an event earlier this month. “I’m working with and supporting the mayor, and I’m working very strongly for Stephanie’s election.”

Mamdani political advisor Morris Katz did not respond to repeated queries about the mayor’s decision to flout a key Jewish ally.

Besides serving in the leadership of one of the central institutions of Conservative Judaism, Ruskay is the daughter-in-law of longtime UJA-Federation of New York CEO John Ruskay. If victorious, she would be the first female rabbi elected to a state Legislature in the U.S.

Like other Jewish Democrats representing the Upper West Side, she has criticized some Israeli policies — including signing a petition from the left-wing group T’ruah in October 2023 that decried IDF airstrikes in Gaza and urged the creation of a “humanitarian corridor” to provide supplies to civilians — while proclaiming her pride and affinity toward the Jewish state, including by participating in the Israel Day on Fifth Parade earlier this month.

“New York City is home to the largest Jewish population outside of Israel, and at a time when antisemitism is on the rise, gatherings like this matter,” Ruskay wrote on X. “They remind us of the deep bonds between New York’s Jewish community and Israel, and of the strength, resilience, and vibrancy of Jewish life.”

Northrup, who is a member of JFREJ but not the Democratic Socialists of America, has also emphasized his Jewish identity, going so far as to include an image from his bar mitzvah on his campaign literature. But he has expressed ambivalence about Zionism, though he has acknowledged “Israel exists and it’s a nation.” 

A victory for Northrup on Tuesday would mean more than just a triumph for Mamdani over his Ruskay-backing rivals — including Council Speaker Julie Menin, who leapt into the fray shortly after the mayor — according to veteran political consultant Hank Sheinkopf. It would signify a  seismic upheaval for the district, where a strong and stable liberal Zionist political machine headed by retiring Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY) long reigned.

On the other hand, Sheinkopf argued Ruskay taking the seat would show that the old neighborhood order remains intact, and that some progressive Jews may be starting to sour on the mayor, especially after his recent attacks on AIPAC.

“If Northrup wins, it tells you that the deep left is more organized than the center left, and the Upper West Side is going to undergo a significant change,” Sheinkopf told JI. “If Ruskay wins, what it says is that local concerns are more important than [Mamdani’s] movement, and people are beginning to understand who he really is.”