The Houston Police Officers’ Union made a recruiting pitch to New York Police Department cops in the wake of Zohran Mamdani’s mayoral election victory Tuesday night.
In posts to Facebook and X, the union appealed to New York City cops who might be "disgusted" with Mamdani.
"NYPD, are you disgusted with the election of Zohran Mamdani? Join Us! The Houston Police Department is Hiring Police Officers!" read the posts.
Mamdani, a democratic socialist, defeated Andrew Cuomo on Tuesday night to become the city’s first Muslim mayor in history.
He managed to fend off controversy over his past remarks about the NYPD.
In a 2020 social-media post, he described the NYPD as "racist, anti-queer, & a major threat to public safety" and called for defunding the department.
During his 2025 mayoral campaign, Mamdani tried to change course, telling officers in a public forum that "I’ll apologize to police officers right here … because I am looking to work with these officers."
Despite the outreach, critics continue to highlight a 2023 video in which he warned that when "the boot of the NYPD is on your neck, it’s been laced by the IDF," referencing the Israeli military — a remark that triggered intense backlash.
"If you’re disgruntled where you are, there’s nothing worse than having a disgruntled police officer on your force. We’re about 1,500 officers short," Ray Hunt, executive director of the Houston Police Officers’ Union, told Houston Public Media.
He added, "Come on down to Houston, where we have a very supportive city council, very supportive mayor, and a governor, lieutenant governor, and legislature that supports the cops, and the calls are starting to come in."
Hunt said a number of former NYPD officers now serve in the Houston Police Department.
"One of them was our former president, who’s now the vice president of the Fraternal Order of Police, and he and his wife are both police officers here," Hunt told Houston Public Media.
"And he has been a good recruiter for us from New York because this has just been life-changing for him."
Mark Swanson ✉
Mark Swanson, a Newsmax writer and editor, has nearly three decades of experience covering news, culture and politics.
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