Democratic socialists take on incumbents in New York primary
| New York
On a balmy Saturday morning, six volunteers for the Democratic Socialists of America gather at a Queens playground to knock on doors for congressional hopeful Claire Valdez. Before they spread out across South Ozone Park, Umit Muradi, one of the lead canvassers, cautions the group not to rap too loudly.
鈥淗ere are the rules. No cop knocks. We don鈥檛 want anyone thinking ICE is at their front door,鈥� he says. 鈥淧ersuasion is important, but this is also about getting out the vote.鈥�
One year ago, a little-known Queens legislator and democratic socialist named Zohran Mamdani mobilized across New York en route to one of the biggest political upsets in the city鈥檚 history. Now, six months into his term, Mayor Mamdani and his allies are looking to extend that winning streak and expand the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) agenda in Washington.
Why We Wrote This
Zohran Mamdani鈥檚 mayoral victory last year has aided the rise of far-left challengers in this week鈥檚 U.S. House primaries. With a potential House speaker also from New York City, the outcome could affect Democratic Party stances on key issues in Congress.
Ahead of Tuesday鈥檚 New York primary, Mr. Mamdani has endorsed three candidates for the U.S. House. They include Brad Lander, a former mayoral rival turned ally; Darializa Avila Chevalier, a community organizer and Ph.D. student from Harlem; and Ms. Valdez, a first-term state assemblymember from Queens. Mr. Lander, who is not a DSA member but has been embraced by progressives, and Ms. Chevalier are both trying to oust Democratic incumbents. Ms. Valdez is running for retiring 17-term Democratic congresswoman Nydia Velazquez鈥檚 seat; Ms. Velazquez has endorsed a different candidate in the race.
If they win 鈥� and if Democrats go on to retake control of the U.S. House 鈥� this trio of far-left candidates could help reshape the Democratic Party鈥檚 position on everything from taxes and housing to healthcare and foreign policy. Their success would reinforce a wider trend of such candidates gaining nationally in local and congressional elections. And it would also further raise the mayor鈥檚 profile as a national progressive leader and kingmaker.
Mr. Mamdani has been cutting television ads for his endorsees and making with them. He has also endorsed a number of DSA-aligned candidates for the State Legislature. At a get-out-the-vote rally for all three congressional candidates in Brooklyn on Thursday, alongside fellow democratic socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, Mr. Mamdani offered some blunt criticism of the Democratic establishment.
鈥淔or too long, our party has seen its job as managing decline rather than delivering for working people,鈥� Mr. Mamdani said. 鈥淭hat old way of thinking will lose on Tuesday. ... The party of the past will not be what leads us into the future.鈥�
Over the past year, the DSA has notched a string of major victories in America鈥檚 largest cities. Both New York and Seattle now have democratic socialist mayors, and Washington is poised to join them, after a democratic socialist won that city鈥檚 Democratic mayoral primary last week. In Los Angeles, the mayoral contest has come down to a two-person race between a relatively unpopular Democratic incumbent and a democratic socialist challenger.
Some strategists say the DSA鈥檚 urban takeover is just the beginning, and that Washington is the next logical target.
鈥淲inning races in Congress is [part of] a national plan to create a real movement and take over the reins of governance both at the local and national level 鈥� and it鈥檚 working,鈥� says Hank Sheinkopf, a New York-based political consultant. 鈥淪hould they win New York seats, their influence will go up significantly since [Brooklyn Democrat and Minority Leader] Hakeem Jeffries could become speaker, and the pressure on him will be extreme.鈥�
Mr. Jeffries has endorsed both House incumbents, and he made a campaign appearance in Manhattan earlier this month on behalf of veteran Rep. Adriano Espaillat. 鈥淭he mayor and I have agreed to strongly disagree as it relates to these congressional races,鈥� the Democratic leader said .
Lander leads incumbent Goldman
Of the three Mamdani-backed challengers, Mr. Lander appears to have the best chance of winning. After serving as a New York City Council member for three terms and city comptroller for one term, he ran last year for mayor, ultimately finishing third in the primary. But his alliance and cross endorsement with Mr. Mamdani, which helped stymie former Gov. Andrew Cuomo in that race, earned goodwill from progressives across the city.
A month after Mr. Mamdani won, Mr. Lander Rep. Dan Goldman, a Manhattan Democrat who served as lead counsel in the first Trump impeachment inquiry. Even though Representative Goldman is an incumbent, Mr. Lander is well known in the Brooklyn part of the 10th Congressional District; a May Emerson College showed Mr. Lander leading in the district by 57% to 23%.
On many issues, the two men hold similar positions. Mr. Goldman has touted his visits to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) at 26 Federal Plaza and vowed to lead a into the Trump administration. Mr. Lander celebrated his after he was last fall trying to visit the federal building鈥檚 holding cells, and he the Trump administration after the Federal Emergency Management Agency seized $80 million in city funds that were being used to house migrants.
A notable point of difference, however, is over Israel. Mr. Goldman, who was in Tel Aviv when Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, has Israel鈥檚 subsequent offensive in Gaza. But he avoids using terms like 鈥済enocide鈥� and 鈥渁partheid,鈥� marched in last month鈥檚 Israel Day parade, and has been endorsed by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). Mr. Lander, by contrast, accuses Israel of committing genocide in the Palestinian territory, skipped the parade, and has urged the United States to aid for Israel鈥檚 defense systems.
鈥淪olidarity reaches out across the world,鈥� Mr. Lander said at the rally Thursday. 鈥淚t reaches to Palestinian kids in Gaza who can鈥檛 go to school because our tax dollars paid for the bombs that destroyed them all.鈥�
Contention between Chevalier, Espaillat
Israel is also a potent issue in the 13th Congressional District, where Ms. Chevalier has made Palestinian rights a centerpiece of her campaign. She has repeatedly Israel as an apartheid state, and says she was spurred to run for office by over Representative Espaillat鈥檚 inadequate response to Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil鈥檚 detainment last year.
The race has been unceasingly negative. Ms. Chevalier, a legal services investigator in Harlem, has Mr. Espaillat over his support from AIPAC, whose super PAC has spent nearly on TV ads attacking her. She accuses him of putting corporate donors ahead of his voters.
鈥淲e deserve someone who will fight for us in the same way we fight for each other every single day,鈥� she said at the Thursday rally. 鈥淵ou cannot take working people for granted, and you cannot outspend a movement whose time has come.鈥�
Mr. Espaillat, who chairs the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, has cast Ms. Chevalier, a Columbia University graduate, and her DSA supporters as elitist trying 鈥渢o impose their failed ideology鈥� on a community of working-class people who don鈥檛 share their extreme beliefs. He and his allies have highlighted her in Times Square the day after Oct. 7, 2023, that appeared to celebrate the attack on Israel.
Ms. Chevalier has come under fire for social media posts in which she called for the abolition of prisons and police, and for the U.S. to 鈥渁bolish the border,鈥� declaring, 鈥淎ll deportation is wrong.鈥� During a debate, she for some posts, including one that used an expletive to attack former Vice President Kamala Harris.
Still, many voters appear to be in the mood for change. While the five-term congressman led Ms. Chevalier by 8 percentage points in a June Mercury Public Affairs , a Data for Progress internal showed her edging him by 4 points. Enrollment in the DSA鈥檚 Bronx and upper Manhattan chapters is up , so the DSA might have the numbers to compete with Mr. Espaillat鈥檚 vaunted political machine.
A close race for Valdez
If there is one candidate the city鈥檚 democratic socialists seem most excited about, it is Ms. Valdez. The assemblymember and former union organizer had served less than a year in the State Legislature when Mr. Mamdani .
Ms. Velazquez, the district鈥檚 retiring incumbent, has endorsed Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso, pitting two progressive candidates against each other. (A third candidate, City Council member Julie Won, is considered a long shot.)
Few policy differences separate the top contenders. Ms. Valdez and Mr. Reynoso both call Israel鈥檚 assault against Palestinians a . Both the mayor鈥檚 proposal to redevelop Sunnyside Yards for affordable housing. Mr. Reynoso says he鈥檇 to build more market-rate and affordable units, while Ms. Valdez favors expanding and passing .
Polls show a close race, with Ms. Valdez narrowly leading Mr. Reynoso, 23% to 21% with 43% undecided, in a May Emerson College . Ms. Valdez is being boosted by a run by Mamdani allies, which expects to spend $2 million on the contest, while Mr. Reynoso has the support of a political action committee funded by unions. In the final weekend, Mr. Mamdani accompanied Ms. Valdez to take and launch canvasses in several Brooklyn neighborhoods where he dominated at the polls last year.
Ms. Valdez says the movement to fight for working New Yorkers is bigger than her own political ambitions.
鈥淲hatever the outcome of these races are, we still have not won a dignified life for working people. That鈥檚 what we鈥檙e fighting for,鈥� she says in an interview. 鈥淲inning this election won鈥檛 immediately abolish ICE; it won鈥檛 tax the rich; it won鈥檛 end the [Palestinian] genocide. But it will put people in place to actively organize towards that.鈥�
