New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani strengthened his influence inside the Democrat Party after three candidates he endorsed won congressional primaries, including two challengers who defeated sitting House Democrats.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani emerged from Tuesday’s primaries with a stronger position inside Democrat politics after three congressional candidates he backed won their races, including two who defeated incumbent members of Congress.
The results marked a major test of Mamdani’s political reach one year after his Democratic primary victory in New York City helped propel him toward election as mayor of the nation’s largest city. Six months into his tenure, Mamdani used the primaries to challenge Democratic establishment figures and promote candidates aligned with his affordability-focused platform and the Democratic Socialists of America.
The most striking result came in New York’s 13th Congressional District, where Darializa Avila Chevalier, a 32-year-old community organizer and democratic socialist, narrowly defeated Rep. Adriano Espaillat, a 71-year-old Democrat who has served in Congress for a decade.
Espaillat, the first Dominican American elected to the U.S. House and chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, had support from prominent party figures, including New York Gov. Kathy Hochul. He is also considered close to House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., and is a member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus.
Chevalier’s campaign drew scrutiny in the weeks before the primary over reported past social media posts, later deleted, in which she called former President Barack Obama “evil” and described former President Joe Biden as a “war criminal.” Her earlier support for abolishing police and eliminating prisons also received attention. Although she moved away from some of those prior positions, Chevalier used her election night remarks to call for abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
“We have to use every tool in our toolbox to make sure that we abolish ICE and keep our immigrant neighbors safe,” Chevalier said.
She described the outcome as a “clear mandate.”
Mamdani also scored a victory in New York’s 7th Congressional District, where state Assembly Member Claire Valdez won the Democratic primary for the seat being vacated by retiring Rep. Nydia Velazquez. Valdez, who is aligned with the Democratic Socialists of America, defeated Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso, who had been backed by Velazquez.
Valdez won by double digits, defeating Reynoso by more than 20 points. According to Decision Desk HQ, Valdez had 58.3% of the vote, compared with 33.1% for Reynoso, with two other candidates also in the race.
The 7th District, which includes parts of Brooklyn and Queens, has been referred to as the “Commie Corridor” because of the Democratic Socialists of America’s electoral strength there. Mamdani also drew some of his strongest support from the district during the previous year’s June mayoral primary.
“Tonight, we haven’t just won an election. We have declared that this movement is durable — that it is growing, and that it will not stop until working people are no longer asked to just build the table, no longer just offered a seat at the table, but will run the table,” Valdez said in her victory speech.
In New York’s 10th Congressional District, former New York City Comptroller Brad Lander defeated incumbent Democratic Rep. Dan Goldman. Lander, who ran against Mamdani in last year’s crowded Democratic mayoral primary before becoming one of his most prominent general-election supporters, won decisively.
With 88% of the vote counted, Lander led Goldman 66.5% to 33.5%. Goldman, who was serving his second term, had won the 2024 Democratic primary by nearly 43 percentage points. Before entering Congress, Goldman served as lead majority counsel in the first impeachment inquiry against President Donald Trump. He had support from Hochul and House leadership.
Lander, Chevalier and Valdez all campaigned on themes that echoed Mamdani’s focus on affordability in a city known for high living costs. All three were also strongly critical of Israel.
Lander, who is Jewish, defended criticism of Israel during his victory remarks.
“You can criticize Israel and not be antisemitic. You can be an anti-Zionist and not be antisemitic,” Lander said.
Mamdani had campaigned aggressively for the three candidates, appearing with them at rallies ahead of the primary. On June 18, Mamdani joined Chevalier, Lander and Valdez at a get-out-the-vote rally at King’s Theater in New York City. Sen. Bernie Sanders also campaigned with Mamdani ahead of the primary and early voting period to support the challengers.
The mayor framed the races as part of a broader effort to change the Democratic Party.
The Democratic Party “must change,” Mamdani said during the campaign.
Speaking Tuesday night at Valdez’s primary celebration, Mamdani said the party needed a different political direction.
“Let’s hear it for a politics…that will never forget working people. For a politics that is ready to write a new chapter in our party’s history, and for a politics that realizes the old politics that got us to this crisis, is not the politics that’s going to get us out of this crisis,” Mamdani said.
Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., a progressive and potential 2028 Democratic presidential candidate, said the New York results reflected a broader shift.
The results in New York City “shows we have a new party,” Khanna said.
The defeats of Espaillat and Goldman are likely to intensify pressure on Schumer and Jeffries, the top two Democrats in Congress, whose political base is New York. The results also gave Republicans another opening to tie House Democrats to Mamdani and the socialist wing of the party as they seek to maintain their narrow House majority in the midterm elections.
“Tonight wasn’t just a bad night for so-called ‘Leader’ Hakeem Jeffries. It 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. And Americans should be terrified by where the Democrat Party is headed,” National Republican Congressional Committee spokesman Mike Marinella said in a statement.
Trump responded overnight on social media, writing, “America the Beautiful will NEVER be a Communist Country!!!”
Despite the victories by Mamdani-backed candidates, more mainstream Democrats prevailed in other Tuesday primaries outside the areas of Brooklyn and Queens where socialist candidates have built consistent support.
In Manhattan, Micah Lasher, a former staffer for retiring Democratic Rep. Jerry Nadler, won the Democratic primary to succeed Nadler.
North of New York City, Army veteran Cait Conley won the Democratic primary in New York’s swing 17th Congressional District. Conley will face Republican Rep. Mike Lawler in a competitive race expected to help determine which party controls the House.
In Utah, former Democratic Rep. Ben McAdams defeated progressive rivals to win the Democratic primary in the newly redrawn and blue-leaning 1st Congressional District.
Republicans also held closely watched contests Tuesday, including a primary in upstate New York to succeed retiring GOP Rep. Elise Stefanik.
Trump-backed Anthony Constantino, a businessman and former boxer running for office for the first time, defeated Robert Smullen, a retired Marine Corps colonel and New York assemblyman. Smullen had support from the state party, but Trump’s endorsement helped Constantino prevail.
In South Carolina, Trump backed both candidates in the Republican gubernatorial runoff to succeed term-limited Gov. Henry McMaster.
State Attorney General Alan Wilson defeated Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette in a landslide. Trump had endorsed Evette late last month, about a week and a half before the gubernatorial primary. Evette finished first in the initial primary, while Wilson finished second in a crowded field that also included Reps. Nancy Mace and Ralph Norman and businessman Rom Reddy.
Because no candidate won a majority in the first round, Evette and Wilson advanced to Tuesday’s runoff. Mace and Norman endorsed Wilson after failing to make the runoff, and Wilson also received support from Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas.
Trump endorsed Wilson on Friday while maintaining his earlier support for Evette, placing the president on both sides of the runoff. As votes continued to be counted, Wilson led Evette by more than a two-to-one margin.
“I believe he recognized what we’ve been doing,” Wilson said of Trump in his victory speech. “I think he saw the fight in our campaign and the energy in our campaign. I think he likes a fight. I think that’s what won him over.”
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