Democratic mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani has brought on a new campaign manager — who recently served as senior advisor to fire drill enthusiast and Israel-bashing ex-Rep. Jamaal Bowman.
Maya Handa will take the reins of the socialist’s bid for mayor following his stunning Dem primary win over supposed frontrunner Andrew Cuomo last month, Mamdani’s campaign announced Friday.
The Queens assemblyman will face Cuomo, incumbent Mayor Eric Adams and lawyer Jim Walden, all running as independents, in the November general election, along with the Republican nominee, Curtis Sliwa.
Handa most recently ran the day-to-day for the mayoral primary campaign of state Sen. Zellnor Myrie, who struggled to break out from the crowded Democratic field.
Before jumping into the chaotic horse race, Handa served as senior advisor to Bowman, whose last consequential act as a New York representative in DC was pulling a fire alarm to delay a key House vote.
Shortly after, the “squad” member was voted out of office.
Bowman, a vocal critic of Israel who has accused the country of carrying out a genocide in Gaza, is also on Mamdani’s short list for schools chancellor.
Handa, a political operative with ties to the Working Families Party, has a resume packed with lefty lawmakers, including Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s bid for president and Mondaire Jones’ 2020 campaign for Congress.
Mamdani’s campaign also noted Handa’s previously worked for Queens Assemblymember Claire Valdez and Brooklyn Councilmember Shahana Hanif, but those gigs were absent from her LinkedIn resume.
Other new hires announced by Mamdani’s team on Friday were political strategist and progressive organizer Afua Atta-Mensah as senior political director and Deandra Khan — who recently served as top advisor to the president of the Local 32BJ SEIU union — as director of labor and intergovernmental affairs.
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