New York’s Most Powerful Democrat Hasn’t Endorsed Mamdani. Yet.

Gov. Kathy Hochul might ordinarily relish the king-making power that she wields in New York as its most powerful Democrat.

But in the New York City mayor’s race, Ms. Hochul pointedly avoided making an endorsement in the Democratic primary and still has not backed its winner, Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani.

“I’m having very interesting conversations right now,” Ms. Hochul deflected earlier this month when asked again whom she might support, adding, “There’s no urgency.”

The governor is not alone in her hesitancy. Prominent Democrats from New York — including the Senate minority leader, Chuck Schumer; Senator Kirsten Gillibrand; and the House minority leader, Hakeem Jeffries — have not made an endorsement in the race. Of the 10 House Democrats in New York City, only four have endorsed Mr. Mamdani.

Like House Democrats, Ms. Hochul is facing re-election next year, potentially against Representative Elise Stefanik, a top Republican supporter of President Trump. Some political observers think that an enthusiastic endorsement of Mr. Mamdani could hurt the governor in more conservative areas of the state.

“We still have many differences, I don’t know how you whitewash that away,” Ms. Hochul said in an interview on Fox News over the weekend.

“But there are also areas of alignment, including affordability,” she added. “His election touched a nerve and people said, ‘You know what? We’re just not getting ahead.’”

In many ways, Ms. Hochul’s dilemma reflects a larger one facing the national Democratic Party, whose leaders know they need to reframe the party’s messaging. But even as they covet the success of Mr. Mamdani, they are still quite resistant to abandoning party orthodoxy.

Mr. Mamdani is certain to push for the type of ambitious, expensive policies that have become his rallying cry: free buses, freezing the rent and universal child care. While Mr. Mamdani could impose a rent freeze on stabilized apartments through mayoral control of the Rent Guidelines Board, his other priorities would probably require new taxes on the wealthy, passed by the Legislature with Ms. Hochul’s approval.

But Ms. Hochul is deeply opposed to raising income taxes, on the theory that the state ought not give the high earners who contribute an outsize portion of the state’s tax base any reason to decamp to Florida. She has repeatedly rejected the Legislature’s attempts to raise taxes on the wealthy. And while Ms. Hochul may have no choice but to raise taxes to offset the impact of federal budget cuts, those around her say she would turn to such a move only as a last resort.

“The biggest question is how does he pay for his initiatives?” asked Brad Hoylman-Sigal, a state senator and the Democratic nominee for Manhattan borough president.

“And will he have the mandate after November to make the case to Hochul that it’s in her best political interest, and interest of the state, to compromise on some of those areas where she may be instinctively opposed?”

Mr. Mamdani’s proposals come at a difficult time for the state, which is already facing a projected $10.5 billion budget deficit, following federal funding cuts. Ms. Hochul has said that number could grow as the impact of tariffs reverberates across the state.

Still, current and former aides and advisers to the governor say that she is considering endorsing Mr. Mamdani, following the lead of unions and local party leaders from Central Brooklyn to the Upper West Side..

In contrast to his open and at times scathing criticisms of Ms. Hochul as an assemblyman, Mr. Mamdani has been on a charm tour since his campaign began — taking every opportunity to compliment Ms. Hochul’s handling of the state and making clear he is eager to work with her.

“Everything we’ve seen from him since the primary, I do get the sense of an individual who both wants to be collaborative and wants to expand his coalition,” said Anthony Hogrebe, communications director for Ms. Hochul. He added, “That has also been this governor’s approach.”

Of course Ms. Hochul — like New York City voters — could choose to bypass Mr. Mamdani, 33, for a familiar alternative.

There is Mayor Eric Adams, 64, who is hoping that voters focus on his success in bringing down crime and encouraging housing construction. There is also Mr. Cuomo, 67, who is running on his executive experience and the bet that New Yorkers will want a strong hand in difficult times.

Both have had complicated relationships with Ms. Hochul as well as their share of baggage, from Mr. Adams’s ties to President Trump, his now-abandoned federal indictment and Mr. Cuomo’s resignation after sexual harassment accusations that he has denied.

But with Ms. Hochul’s approval ratings at 53 percent, an alliance with someone like Mr. Mamdani — young, digitally savvy, with a dedicated base — could help her in New York City, where she may need to run up the score in her own election.

Current and former staffers say that the governor is looking seriously at ways to collaborate with Mr. Mamdani, and that child care is among the most promising.

Ms. Hochul, who has embraced the mantle of “first mom governor,” is particularly sensitive to the issue of child care. She has expanded eligibility to care statewide and set aside money to shore up providers following the pandemic. But establishing a truly universal system would be tremendously complicated and expensive: Experts say that New York City alone would cost no less than $5 billion. Extending care statewide would cost at least twice as much.

This is not the first time that a governor and mayor have sparred over funding for child care: A nearly identical disagreement led Mr. Cuomo and Bill de Blasio, a two-term mayor of New York City, to years of acrimony and dysfunction.

Ms. Hochul, however, is not Mr. Cuomo. Famously pragmatic, the governor has successfully dealt with a number of men with outsize personalties — including Mr. Cuomo, her former boss, and Mr. Adams. Most recently, she was able to de-escalate tensions with President Donald J. Trump enough to get New York’s offshore wind projects back online and secure investment in the renovation of Penn Station.

“She has demonstrated an ability to work with men in power that, I think, has to do with her personal skills. She has total control over her ego,” said Kathryn Wylde, who leads the Partnership for New York City. “She doesn’t come off as a threat, but she’s tough as nails.”

The governor will also have her own leverage. New York City remains structurally dependent on the state, an arrangement that has long fed antagonism between mayors and governors. Not only is the city unable to raise income taxes on its own; it must also seek approval to run its own schools and manage its traffic laws.

Ms. Hochul has also increasingly operated in ways that maximize her authority, leaning on lawmakers to accept changes to bills in exchange for her signature and holding up the state budget until the Legislature yielded to her agenda.

How the governor might deal with a prospective Mayor Mamdani may depend on how committed he is to the specifics of his agenda rather than its overall principles. State Senator Liz Krueger, who endorsed the New York City comptroller, Brad Lander, in the mayoral race, said that she was uncertain if Mr. Mamdani would value his principles more than pragmatism, or follow the more recent lead of another democratic socialist, Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

“If Mamdani follows that kind of thoughtful, progressive but impure model of politics that A.O.C. has mastered, I can totally see people who think they can never get on board with him, getting on board with him,” Ms. Krueger said. “I’m not sure who Mayor Mamdani will be.”