Three left-wing candidates backed by New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani swept a trio of congressional primaries Tuesday in the city, ousting two incumbents and reshaping the Democratic Party’s posture on Israel in one of the most consequential primary nights in recent memory.
Former city Comptroller Brad Lander defeated two-term Rep. Dan Goldman in New York’s 10th Congressional District, capturing nearly two-thirds of the primary vote in a race that centered almost entirely on the two Jewish Democrats’ divergent views on Israel’s war in Gaza. Lander, a self-described “liberal Zionist,” hammered Mr. Goldman for accepting donations from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee and refusing to label the conflict a genocide. Mr. Goldman had the backing of House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Gov. Kathy Hochul; Lander carried endorsements from Mayor Mamdani, Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts.
Democratic socialist Darializa Avila Chevalier defeated five-term Rep. Adriano Espaillat in the 13th Congressional District, making Mr. Espaillat the sixth House incumbent to lose re-nomination this cycle. Ms. Avila Chevalier, a 32-year-old community organizer and public defender’s office employee, had relentlessly attacked Mr. Espaillat for accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars in AIPAC contributions over his career. With more than 86 percent of the expected vote in, she led 49.4 percent to 45.9 percent, according to the Associated Press. She would become the first woman to represent the district if elected in November.
In the 7th Congressional District, state Assemblywoman Claire Valdez defeated Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso and City Councilwoman Julie Won to become the Democratic nominee in a seat being vacated by retiring Rep. Nydia Velázquez. Ms. Valdez, also endorsed by Mamdani and Mr. Sanders, attacked her chief rival for what she characterized as an insufficient willingness to condemn the conflict as a genocide.
The sweep by Mamdani-aligned candidates follows the mayor’s own history-making democratic socialist victory last year and represents the clearest electoral evidence yet that anti-Israel sentiment has become a net asset — rather than a liability — in New York Democratic primaries.
Mr. Goldman, a former federal prosecutor who led Democrats’ first impeachment proceedings against President Trump in 2019, acknowledged after his concession that the Israel-Palestinian conflict played an “outsized role” in his race. He accused Mr. Lander of deploying “dangerous antisemitic tropes” to win and warned the party against alienating Jewish voters.
“Jews have given back so much to this country. As history has taught us, antisemitic tropes and stereotypes, some of which I heard personally on this campaign, will ultimately be the undoing of our democracy if we all don’t lean in and speak out,” Mr. Goldman said.
Mr. Lander, in his victory speech, called on Democrats to reckon with their internal divisions over the conflict.
“Our party needs to admit that Joe Biden’s ’hug Bibi’ strategy was a catastrophic mistake,” he said, referring to the former president’s alignment with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He also cautioned progressives against ignoring rising antisemitism, saying the movement must be “the people who are standing against this, not looking away from it.”
Ms. Avila Chevalier declared victory to a jubilant crowd, telling supporters: “I see a New York that invests in babies and not bombs.”
The results leave Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Mr. Jeffries, both staunch Israel supporters, navigating an increasingly fractured caucus. Democratic strategist Basil Smikle said the two leaders now face a generational reckoning within the party.
“This is something that Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries are going to have to wrestle with not just in New York, but nationally,” Mr. Smikle said, according to Politico. “They’re going to have to figure out a way to maintain an older coalition that includes a lot of Jewish leaders and voters that were very supportive of Israel, and find a way to work with a younger generation and younger elected officials that don’t have those ties.”
Tuesday’s results were not entirely a rout for pro-Israel Democrats. In New York’s 12th District, Micah Lasher, who has said he would not support legislation banning weapons sales to Israel, won the primary to succeed retiring Rep. Jerry Nadler. And in Maryland, Democrat Cait Conley will challenge Republican Rep. Mike Lawler in a key general election contest.
AIPAC, in a statement, said it was “disappointed that some of our endorsed candidates did not prevail” while commending a slate of pro-Israel incumbents who won less competitive contests. Former Rep. Steve Israel — who chaired Democrats’ House campaign arm in 2012 and 2014 — said the moment demanded a strategic rethink.
“Critics of Israel on the left are having a moment, but that doesn’t mean they represent a majority of congressional Democrats in the country,” Mr. Israel said, according to Politico. “Having said that, pro-Israel Democrats clearly need a better strategy before a handful of primaries approach a tipping point.”
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