Zohran Mamdani’s picks take key House primaries amid a broad battle over Democrats’ direction
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and key allies secured major wins in Tuesday’s congressional primaries as they looked to build on his 2025 victory by expanding the power and presence of the democratic socialist movement in Washington.
Former New York City Comptroller Brad Lander dethroned Democratic Rep. Dan Goldman in the Democratic primary for New York’s 10th District without much tension Tuesday, the first victory for the Mamdani-backed slate. Lander captured about two-thirds of the vote.
Soon afterward, NBC News projected that state legislator Claire Valdez had defeated Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso in the open 7th District, where longtime Rep. Nydia Velázquez is retiring. Velázquez — and a number of prominent city political leaders — backed Reynoso, who leaned on his relationships in Brooklyn and his record on issues like police reform.
But they were no match for Mamdani and other allies, who elevated Valdez, 36, a first-termer in the state Assembly who moved to the city in 2015. She ran a hard-charging campaign calling for “Medicare for All” and a “public option for housing.” And she argued she was a stronger advocate than Reynoso in their approaches to criticizing Israel’s conduct in its war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
Then, Darializa Avila Chevalier — another young democratic socialist and community activist whose campaign flew under the radar before Mamdani endorsed her — defeated 10-year Rep. Adriano Espaillat, chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.
The race turned ugly in the final weeks, with Avila Chevalier charging Espaillat with neglecting his working-class constituents and being out of step with Democratic voters on Israel. Espaillat and his allies, meanwhile, zeroed in on a number of controversial past social media posts by his rival, including one in which she profanely criticized Democratic leaders.
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Other dynamics in play in Tuesday’s primaries across four states included tens of millions of dollars from super PACs funded by the artificial intelligence industry, pro-Israel groups and a pair of wealthy Democrats engaged in a knock-down, drag-out primary in Maryland.
But the success of the Mamdani-led power play across New York City was the biggest news of the night.
The districts, spread out across three of its boroughs, share some similarities. All three are among the city’s most rapidly gentrifying neighborhoods, with Valdez herself a somewhat recent transplant to her district. All three are also among the districts where Mamdani performed the strongest in his mayoral election last fall against Democratic former Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
“It was an honor one year ago to work together to elect him the mayor of New York City,” Lander said of Mamdani in his victory speech, adding, “What a glorious time to be a New Yorker.”
The victories follow other contested primary wins for upstart progressive and socialist candidates in recent months, including veteran and oyster farmer Graham Platner in the Maine Senate primary, Randy Villegas in a California swing district, state Rep. Chris Rabb in a blue district in Philadelphia, and Adam Hamaway and Rep. Analilia Mejia in a pair of New Jersey districts. In other contests, left-aligned candidates Abdul El-Sayed and Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan are top contenders in Democratic Senate primaries in Michigan and Minnesota, respectively.
“It’s a big night for sure,” Rebecca Katz, a prominent Democratic strategist and ally whose firm worked with Mamdani during his 2025 run, said of the Mamdani-backed candidates sweeping Tuesday. “The energy is there, but every congressional district is different. To win in November, Democrats must embrace candidates who can authentically speak to the electorate they’re running to represent.”
For Mamdani, the results represent a significant return on investment of his political capital after he endorsed against a close ally in one race and went back on a promise not to jump into another. He campaigned hard for the candidates he backed, appearing with them during the final days of the contests and cutting an ad alongside them in which he branded the slate as his “team.”
The victories are part of democratic socialists’ effort to prove the durability of their movement and redefine what it means to be a progressive in the modern Democratic Party.
Fiery debates over Israel policy defined all three races, as the challengers all sought to speak to the growing group of Democrats who soured on Israel amid its war in Gaza. All three called Israel’s conduct “genocide” and made the issue an important piece of their campaigns.
Meanwhile, their opponents pointed to what they argued were important progressive victories they helped achieve in recent years. Goldman was lead counsel during President Donald Trump’s first impeachment, Reynoso led the City Council’s Progressive Caucus, and Espaillat is a former undocumented immigrant who has pressed the Trump administration on immigration.
But their challengers argued that it’s not enough for Democrats to cling to the old model of what it means to be a progressive at this pivotal moment — not just as Trump and Republicans control all of Washington, but also as the cost of living continues to loom large in voters’ minds.
Races in other competitive primaries did not produce the same shocks Tuesday. While the shared political DNA of the New York districts helped create fertile ground for anti-establishment campaigns drafting off Mamdani’s success, other forces remained influential in other places.
In Maryland, where retiring Democratic Rep. Steny Hoyer has represented the 5th District for decades, state Del. Adrian Boafo, a former Hoyer aide, won. There’s no indication that the millions a pro-Israel super PAC spent to boost him did anything but help.
In Utah’s 1st District, a new Democratic district in Salt Lake City created after courts struck down the congressional lines there, former Rep. Ben McAdams won the primary over a progressive state lawmaker backed by Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt.
And in upstate New York, former National Security Council official and Army veteran Cait Conley won the Democratic Party’s primary in the 17th District with support from some key national Democratic groups. She’ll take on Republican Rep. Mike Lawler this fall in one of the most competitive congressional districts in the country.
In any case, Republicans framed Mamdani’s victories as signals for where the broader party is heading this fall.
National Republican Congressional Committee spokesperson Mike Marinella said in a statement that Tuesday “was the night the Democrat establishment officially surrendered to Zohran Mamdani and the socialist wing of their party. Every House Democrat, in safe and competitive districts alike, will now answer to the radicals calling the shots.”
Elsewhere in New York City, a dramatic clash between competing visions for AI regulation has drawn tens of millions of dollars into the 12th District. But the winner, Assemblyman Micah Lasher, sidestepped the debate and won the Democratic primary.
Lasher has the backing of Nadler, as well as major state party leaders, including Gov. Kathy Hochul and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg — who remains popular in the Manhattan district, where older voters play an outsize role in elections. Lasher has worked for all three.
Initially, the race looked to be defined either by tech titans spending in response to Assemblyman Alex Bores’ aggressive calls to regulate AI, national attention on a Kennedy family scion or George Conway’s prominent “Never Trump” branding. But ultimately, Lasher leaned on his deep local ties to win the contest.
“This was an unprecedented fight, and one we did not back down from,” Bores said in a statement. “Though we’ve come up short tonight, the example set here was not the one the AI oligarchs intended. They set out to make people afraid to stand up to them. Instead, they learned just how ready people are to push back.”
