Less than a week before Election Day came a surprising endorsement for mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani. The United Bodegas of America, which once strongly opposed his plan for city-run grocery stores by saying it would threaten small businesses, now says it is backing him.

"So today, I want all the bodegueros working to make Zohran Mamdani the new mayor in New York City,” said UBA president Radhames Rodriguez.

Mamdani grabbed an egg and cheese with jalapeno minutes before the announcement Wednesday morning at a Bronx bodega on Crotona Avenue.

Just months ago, the United Bodegas of America criticized Mamdani's plans to create city-run grocery stores saying the proposal would destroy the lives of bodega owners and put them out of business but now, the group is publicly endorsing him.

Mamdani said his plan to create one city-run grocery store in each borough isn't meant to compete with bodegas — it's about addressing food access in neighborhoods that need it the most.

"I think that the key part here is I've also heard from a number of bodega owners that some of the highest points of revenue in a bodega have to do with cigarette sales, lottery sales,” explained Mamdani. “These are not the things that a city is interested in making it easier for New Yorkers to purchase. What we are speaking about are groceries at a very small scale that will be done alongside supporting these bodegas."

News 12 spoke to the president of the United Bodegas of America about why they had a change of heart so close to Election Day.

Rodriguez responded in Spanish, despite speaking English throughout the earlier part of the press conference. He said their support comes after seeing Mamdani get attacked just for being an immigrant and because most bodega owners are immigrants, they think they’ll have more opportunities with him than any other candidate.

But not everyone in the association agrees with the endorsement.

"We don't want to go out of business,” said UBA member Jose Guzman, who said he was surprised to hear about the UBA’s endorsement. “Who wants to go out of business?"

Some corner store owners are still undecided, with the election just days away.

Fernando Mateo, the co-founder of the United Bodegas of America, resigned Wednesday.

He told News 12 he stepped down because of the decision to endorse Mamdani.