Three candidates backed by Mayor Zohran Mamdani and the Democratic Socialists of America won Democratic congressional primaries in New York City on Tuesday, and the wins were celebrated at a party in East Williamsburg, where Mamdani spoke and reflected on his own primary win the year before, according to In These Times.
The three congressional winners were Claire Valdez in New York’s 7th District, Brad Lander in the 10th, and Darializa Avila Chevalier in the 17th, according to The Jewish Star. Lander, a former New York City comptroller, defeated two-term Rep. Dan Goldman. Chevalier toppled five-term Rep. Adriano Espaillat. Both upsets were reported by Black Star News.
The 7th District covers Bushwick and Ridgewood. Bushwick Daily tracked the primary between Valdez and Antonio Reynoso across several weeks before Tuesday’s vote, including a late dispute over super PAC spending that went public after Valdez had pledged to reject PAC money. Bushwick Daily also reported on internal left tensions over which candidates Mamdani backed.
Mamdani actively endorsed and campaigned for all three congressional candidates. Black Star News, in an editorial, reported that all eight candidates Mamdani endorsed on Tuesday won their races, calling the outcome a “Mamdani Tsunami.” When state legislative races are included, seven of the eight DSA-affiliated candidates on the ballot won, according to The Jewish Star. The two figures may not be contradictory (the DSA-affiliated count may include a candidate who ran without Mamdani’s endorsement), but neither outlet reconciled the totals.
Black Star News argued in its editorial that national media attention had fixed too narrowly on Mamdani and was missing voter anger over housing costs, groceries, and U.S. weapons transfers to Israel during the Gaza conflict. “New York City voters voted for drastic change,” the outlet wrote, framing the results as the start of a voter-driven reshaping of the Democratic Party from below.
Punchbowl News reported that the results mean “the House Democratic Caucus is about to get more left-wing next year.” The Week described the outcome as a sign that Mamdani-backed candidates had “swept Democratic House primary races in the city.”
The Jewish Star published an opinion column by Melanie Phillips that characterized the three congressional winners as “extremists” and argued that anti-Zionism had become the “principal driver of Democratic Party politics.” The column reported that Mamdani referred to AIPAC and its supporters as “monsters,” a charge the column framed as antisemitic. All three candidates ran campaigns focused on ending U.S. support for Israel, the column stated.
IfNotNow, a Jewish anti-war group, read the results differently. Executive director Morriah Kaplan said in a statement that Lander “ran a bold, unapologetically Jewish campaign that rejected pro-war lobbies like AIPAC and the endless flow of U.S. weapons to Israel,” calling the win “a blueprint for the future for both the Jewish community and the Democratic Party,” according to The Jewish Star.
Featured image: Bushwick Daily image
