New York City’s Mayoral Race Is Dividing the Fashion Girlies
As early voting got underway in New York City’s mayoral election over the past week, a surprising subset of characters has come forward with endorsements: lifestyle- and fashion-content creators.
Fresh off the heels of her over-the-top engagement party, Danielle Bernstein of WeWoreWhat infamy posted an Instagram Story last week that appeared to voice her support for former governor Andrew Cuomo, who’s running as an independent after losing the Democratic primary to Zohran Mamdani. Bernstein emphasized the importance of voting for someone who prioritizes “SAFETY for all New Yorkers.” She went on to write, “At this moment, experience matters and while the most qualified candidate may not have the most sterling reputation, he has the knowledge required to help our city thrive,” apparently referring to the sexual-harassment allegations that led Cuomo to resign as governor. Melissa Wood-Tepperberg, the wellness influencer and Pilates instructor known online as MelissaWoodHealth, also posted a similar nameless endorsement to Instagram Stories on her personal account, writing, “The thought of having someone inexperienced run this city scares the life out of me,” and urging her followers to “vote like our city depends on it, because it does.”
Much like Amy Schumer posting a picture of her voting sticker to Instagram Stories with the caption “rhymes with duomo,” neither Bernstein nor Wood-Tepperberg had to name any candidate in order for followers to pick up on their message (although Wood-Tepperberg did post a photo of her and her husband meeting with Cuomo to her Stories later on). Backlash quickly ensued. “To come online and tell your predominantly female audience that they would be safer to vote for a man who has been accused of sexual harassment by 13 different women just because the other candidate is what? Muslim? Because that’s the implication here,” one TikToker said of Bernstein. Comments under reaction videos to Wood-Tepperberg’s posts ranged from calling the wellness influencer “out of touch” to leaving step-by-step instructions on how to cancel a membership to her online fitness platform.
Several influencers have also voiced their support for Mamdani. Kelsey Kotzur, a lifestyle-content creator, posted a video on TikTok with the caption, “How it feels canceling out we wore what’s vote,” and “Vote 4 Zohran Mamdani.” Viewers expressed their exasperation with influencers like Wood-Tepperberg in the comments of Kotzur’s video, with one saying that they “gave up” on the pilates instructor after her endorsement. One commenter all the way from London, however, lamented how Kotzur’s video made them “sad,” writing that their “mayor who has the same general ideas as Mamdani” has made London “really scary and unsafe.” I wonder if those “same general ideas” simply boil down to both Mamdani and London mayor Sadiq Khan being Muslim?
Influencer Halley Kate McGookin also posted a TikTok video saying “Hot People VOTE” and clarifying “Zohran Mamdani to be exact” in the caption. While many of the comments praised McGookin for her endorsement — “PERIOD! Danielle Bernstein could neverrrrrrr” and “If you’re making racists mad, you’re doing something right” among them — not everyone in her audience was happy to hear that their favorite follow had such progressive taste. “Why move to ny and then vote to destroy it. Just stay where you came from,” one commenter wrote. Another decried McGookin’s choice, saying she was too “removed from Sept 11” because she is “so young,” seemingly trying to link Mamdani to the terror attacks (he was 9 years old at the time). One person even wrote they found the influencer’s post “so scary” that it made them start searching for apartments in Miami.
As the world increasingly feels like it’s on fire, creators’ audiences are expecting more than just apolitical content from the people they’re getting makeup recommendations from and supporting financially by shopping through their affiliate links. It’s all very damned if they do, damned if they don’t, but perhaps these influencers could ask themselves one guiding question before they speak out about politics: Can I back who I’m endorsing by name and with my full chest? If the answer is no, perhaps it’s worth another think.