Zohran Mamdani Silent on Former Campaign Spokesman’s Child Solicitation Conviction Amid Scrutiny of Radical Ties

Edited by: Fern Sidman

As Queens Assemblyman and avowed socialist Zohran Mamdani mounts his campaign for New York City mayor, serious questions continue to swirl about his judgment, vetting practices, and ideological affiliations—particularly in light of a disturbing chapter in his campaign’s past. According to a detailed investigation by The New York Post that appeared on Saturday, Mamdani’s 2020 Assembly campaign employed a communications director with a criminal record for soliciting sex from a minor—an alarming fact that has resurfaced and cast a long shadow over his mayoral bid.

The former spokesman in question, now known as Matthew Thomas, was convicted and served jail time for a disturbing 2014 case in which he solicited a 16-year-old boy for a threesome involving himself and Daniel Simmons, a former deputy attorney general in Delaware. At the time of the arrest, Thomas went by the name Matthew Coogan. He later legally changed his name in 2017, according to court records reviewed by The New York Post.

Despite the gravity of the offense, Mamdani has remained tight-lipped about his former aide’s past. When questioned by The New York Post last year, Mamdani claimed ignorance. “I didn’t know about this before I hired him,” he said. Yet critics argue that such a significant oversight reflects not just a lack of thorough background checks, but a deeper pattern of troubling associations within Mamdani’s political orbit.

Thomas, once a prominent figure in the Queens chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA)—an organization that has routinely drawn criticism for its anti-Israel stances—was a key figure in Mamdani’s rise to political prominence, the report in The New York Post said.  He played a central role as communications director in Mamdani’s 2020 campaign, during which the Assemblyman gained attention for his radical platform and affiliation with the DSA.

Notably, Thomas’s controversial political past was not confined to Mamdani’s circle. As The New York Post reported, Councilwoman Tiffany Cabán—another DSA-aligned socialist and critic of mainstream Democratic policies—also employed Thomas as a researcher for her unsuccessful 2019 campaign for Queens District Attorney. Together, Mamdani and Cabán paid Thomas over $22,000 for his services—despite his criminal record, which, according to critics, should have been disqualifying for any role involving public-facing communications or campaign strategy.

“This isn’t just a lapse in vetting—it’s a complete failure of judgment,”  Queens Councilman Robert Holden, a vocal critic of New York’s far-left flank told The New York Post.“Mamdani is a radical socialist who would be an absolute disaster for our city—his policies belong in a Marxist fantasy, not on the streets of New York. The fact that he hired someone convicted of soliciting minors without even checking his background shows he’s not just unfit to lead—he’s downright dangerous and lazy.”

The details of Thomas’s criminal case are deeply unsettling. He was charged with two counts of sexual solicitation of a child and conspiracy in Delaware. Though he avoided rape charges—due only to a legal technicality in Delaware law that permits sexual relations with 16-year-olds if the perpetrator is under 30—he ultimately served three months in jail, according to the report in The New York Post and Delaware Online.

Adding another layer to the controversy is Thomas’s connection to Daniel Simmons, his co-conspirator in the 2014 case. Simmons was a top deputy to then-Delaware Attorney General Beau Biden—the late son of President Joe Biden and once considered a rising star in national Democratic politics before his untimely death in 2015.

As of now, Thomas resides in Delaware and could not be reached for comment by The New York Post. Mamdani’s current campaign spokesperson, Andrew Epstein, offered only a terse statement, saying Thomas has not worked for Mamdani since the 2020 campaign and declining further comment.

Still, the political fallout could be significant. Mamdani has already faced criticism for his anti-Israel positions and alignment with organizations accused of radical activism, The New York Post reported. This new scrutiny—linking his campaign to a convicted sex offender with extremist ties—only deepens concerns among voters who question the judgment and ideological motives of those seeking to run America’s largest city.

While Mamdani attempts to position himself as a grassroots reformer, his political alliances and hiring history are raising red flags for moderate Democrats and centrist voters wary of extreme ideologies and lax accountability. As The New York Post reported, the optics of this situation are difficult to ignore—and potentially devastating for a candidate already walking a tightrope between progressive idealism and political viability.

With the mayoral race heating up, voters are left to ask: If this is the caliber of judgment shown in assembling a campaign team, what would a Mamdani administration look like in City Hall?