Three progressive congressional candidates endorsed by New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani won Democratic primaries Tuesday, a sweep that signaled the democratic socialist mayor’s expanding influence and gave the party’s leftmost flank a set of likely new House members from heavily Democratic city districts.
The former New York City Comptroller Brad Lander defeated incumbent Dan Goldman, the democratic socialist Assemblywoman Claire Valdez won the primary to replace retiring Rep. Nydia Velázquez, and the public defense investigator Darializa Avila Chevalier upset Rep. Adriano Espaillat, a five-term incumbent who currently chairs the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.
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Velázquez and Chevalier were also backed by the New York City chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), of which Mamdani is a member. The DSA, which first became prominent in 2016 as a result of Bernie Sanders’s campaign for the Democratic nomination, has grown significantly in the intervening decade and is now flexing its influence in major urban areas across the country, to the consternation of many Republicans and some centrist Democrats.
President Donald Trump sent Mamdani an apparently sarcastic congratulations, writing on his Truth Social account, “Mayor Mamdani pulled through 3 solid Communists, and has received loud and universal applause from the Fake News Media. Congratulations Mr. Mayor!”
The victories are a major triumph for Mamdani, who has sought to translate his mayoral victory into broader political power. All three nominees will be heavily favored in November.
