Welcome to the online version of From the Politics Desk, a newsletter that brings you the NBC News Politics team’s latest reporting and analysis from the White House, Capitol Hill and the campaign trail.
In today’s edition, Scott Wong explores how Republicans are increasingly eager to elevate NYC mayoral front-runner Zohran Mamdani. Plus, Bridget Bowman digs into the polls to see how Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy is hanging over the race to replace him in New Jersey. And make sure to check our our reader poll on the government shutdown.
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— Adam Wollner
Republicans work to make Zohran Mamdani the face of the Democratic Party
By Scott Wong
Top Republicans are seizing on House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries’ endorsement of Zohran Mamdani for mayor of New York, casting the self-described democratic socialist as the new face of the Democratic Party ahead of next year’s midterm elections.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., called the endorsement by Jeffries, D-N.Y., a “seismic shift in politics.”
“We saw our clearest sign yet that this radical insurgent movement in the Democrat Party is succeeding, and they are ending what has always been known as the Democrat Party in America,” Johnson told reporters in the Capitol today. “After a monthslong pressure campaign from the far left, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries finally relented. He gave in, and he gave his endorsement to the socialist running to be mayor of New York City.”
Added House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La.: “Hakeem Jeffries is now all-in for the socialist agenda of Mamdani. He is the head of their party now. When he gets elected mayor of New York, he’s giving the marching orders to the rest of the Democrats, and they want to raise taxes on everybody.”
The comments are an attempt by GOP leaders to tie all Democrats on the 2026 ballot to Mamdani, hoping to paint the party as too far left.
Some key Democrats, including Jeffries’ counterpart, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., have not endorsed Mamdani, a 34-year-old Muslim American state assemblyman.
Jeffries wavered on Mamdani’s candidacy for months. The Democratic leader needs to flip just a handful of GOP-controlled seats to win the House majority — and the speaker’s gavel. If he rejected Mamdani, it would alienate an energized progressive base and could depress turnout in the midterms. But hugging Mamdani too closely would put moderate Democrats in jeopardy.
Asked on CBS’s “Face the Nation” on Sunday if House Democrats should “mimic” Mamdani’s populist message on affordability, Jeffries pushed back and said Democrats had already been focusing on the “affordability crisis that Donald Trump and Republican policies have made worse in the United States of America.”
“No,” Jeffries said emphatically. “What we’re going to mimic is our own views as it relates to the need to make life more affordable here in America.”
How views of New Jersey’s governor are shaping the race to succeed him
By Bridget Bowman
Recent public polling in the New Jersey governor’s race has shown Democratic Rep. Mikie Sherrill leading Republican Jack Ciattarelli by varying degrees. Like many campaigns in the last decade, President Donald Trump and voter perceptions of his performance have loomed over this race.
But Sherrill’s lead also appears to be tied to how voters in New Jersey view another politician: Gov. Phil Murphy, a Democrat.
Polls conducted in recent weeks have not tested Murphy’s job approval rating, but a Fox News survey conducted Oct. 10-14 found 47% of voters had a favorable view of the two-term governor, while 49% had an unfavorable view of him. Sherrill led Ciattarelli in that survey by 5 points, within the poll’s margin of error.
In the handful of public polls that did test Murphy’s job approval during the fall campaign, the three surveys that showed Murphy with an approval rating in the high 40s also had Sherrill with bigger leads. In two surveys putting Murphy’s job approval at 35%, including one that was conducted for Ciattarelli’s campaign, the gubernatorial results showed a tied or near-tied race — the best results Ciattarelli has enjoyed in the whole campaign.
The shift depending on Murphy’s approval rating underscores how views of the current two-term administration could be a key factor in the race.
Ciattarelli has tied Sherrill to Murphy and cast himself as the candidate representing change in the race, placing blame for the state’s woes on Murphy and Democrats, who control the state Legislature.
“Politicians like Mikie Sherrill and Phil Murphy just don’t get it,” Ciattarelli says in one recent TV ad. “They’re making New Jersey unaffordable, especially for the middle class. We need a change.”
Sherrill, meanwhile, has also put some distance between herself and Murphy on the issue of the state’s rising electricity costs, while also casting herself as a candidate who will bring change to state government.
“Make no mistake, I’ll also fight Trenton to bring down costs for families,” Sherrill said in a recent debate.
More from the 2025 campaign trail:
- New Jersey: Bridget also reports that former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg is hitting the campaign trail for Sherrill this week.
- Virginia: Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro — another potential 2028 presidential contender — joined Abigail Spanberger, the Democratic nominee for governor, for a series of events yesterday, Adam Edelman reports. By comparison, Republican nominee Winsome Earle-Sears has not brought in as many outside voices to help make her case in the closing stretch of the race.
- New York City: Zohran Mamdani and two of his most prominent backers, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., framed his election as a one-on-one battle versus Trump and his administration at a raucous rally in Queens, Allan Smith writes.
📊 Reader poll: How long will the shutdown last?
The ongoing government shutdown is now the second-longest in U.S. history. The longest was during Trump’s first term and lasted 34 days.
Do you think the current shutdown will break that record? Vote in our poll below:
🗞️ Today’s other top stories
- ✈️ Frequent flyer: Trump has arrived in Japan, the second stop on his three-country Asia tour. He met with Emperor Naruhito and will have a bilateral meeting with newly elected Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi. Read more →
- 🗣️ Trade talks: Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping are expected to reach a deal to avert a new 100% U.S. tariff on Chinese goods, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on “Meet the Press” following talks with Beijing’s top trade negotiator. Read more →
- 🩺 Check-up: Trump revealed he underwent an MRI during his visit to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center earlier this month, but did not provide details about the purpose of the scan. Read more →
- ⛔ Shutdown, Day 27: The country’s largest union representing federal workers is calling for lawmakers to pass a short-term spending measure to immediately end the government shutdown. Over the weekend, the Agriculture Department posted a new message to its website blaming Democrats for the upcoming suspension of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or food stamps, saying the benefits will halt beginning Nov. 1 because of the shutdown.
- 🗺️ Redistricting roundup: Indiana Gov. Mike Braun has called for a special session to consider redrawing the state’s congressional map, even as some GOP lawmakers remain opposed to the effort. In New York, a new lawsuit was filed over the state’s lines, arguing that Black and Latino voting power was being diluted in Staten Island. And House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., traveled to Illinois to discuss potential redistricting efforts with lawmakers. Read more →
- 🗳️ 2028 watch: California Gov. Gavin Newsom said in an interview on “CBS News Sunday Morning” that he would be “lying” if he denied plans to consider a presidential bid. And former Vice President Kamala Harris told the BBC that she could “possibly” run for president again.
- Follow live politics updates →
That’s all From the Politics Desk for now. Today’s newsletter was compiled by Adam Wollner.
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