Mamdani Emerges as Kingmaker, Propelling Democratic Socialists to Victories in the Congressional Primaries

Even though there are 52 major party candidates for New York’s 26 seats in Congress, there is only one real winner coming out of Tuesday night — Mayor Zohran Mamdani. The young, democratic socialist mayor successfully pushed three insurgent left-wing candidates over the top, flexing his political muscle in America’s largest city. Mr. Mamdani took the unlikeliest of paths to Gracie Mansion, yet within 18 months he has done more to shake up his city’s federal delegation than any mayor in modern history. He bet big on three fellow democratic socialists early on and that bet has paid off. In four of the city’s five boroughs, Mr. Mamdani helped those three congressional candidates win their primaries, two of whom beat sitting Democratic House members. In the Tenth District, former city comptroller Brad Lander — who ran against Mr. Mamdani in the 2025 Democratic mayoral primary — defeated Congressman Dan Goldman, who was seeking a third term in the House. In the Seventh District, State Assemblywoman Claire Valdez defeated the Brooklyn borough president, Antonio Reynoso, to succeed Congresswoman Nydia Velázquez. Ms. Velázquez endorsed Mr. Reynoso, though her reputation as La Luchadora, or “The Fighter,” was not enough to put Mr. Reynoso over the top. Mr. Mamdani endorsed Ms. Valdez, his former State Assembly colleague, even though Ms. Velázquez had warned the mayor to stay out of congressional primaries. The most stunning upset of the night, however, is the defeat of Congressman Adriano Espaillat. As chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and a U.S. representative for nearly a decade, Mr. Espaillat was well-positioned to serve as a critical leader in a likely Democratic majority in the House come next year. Mr. Mamdani helped thwart that, however. The mayor made the decision to endorse Darializa Avila Chevalier, a community organizer and PhD candidate at CUNY who made opposition to Israel a tenet of her campaign. Ms. Chevalier was derided as an outsider, as inexperienced, and as out-of-touch with the district. Despite Mr. Espaillat’s attacks — and the hundreds of thousands of dollars in outside spending delivered for him — Ms. Chevalier emerged victorious in a tight election on Tuesday. Even though Mr. Mamdani made three endorsements in the city’s congressional primaries, he stayed out of the one primary in which he had cast a ballot — the race to represent the 12th District. That district, which includes Gracie Mansion, Midtown Manhattan, and the Upper East Side, is one of the bluest in the nation, and the most Jewish. According to census data, nearly one-quarter of the district’s residents identify as Jewish. On Tuesday, the mayor’s wife, Rama Duwaji, stirred up controversy by telling followers on Instagram to vote for Ms. Valdez and Ms. Chevalier. She did not mention Mr. Lander, even though he, too, was endorsed by her husband. Neither Mr. Mamdani nor Ms. Duwaji disclosed for whom they had cast a ballot in the 12th District. The top three candidates all identified themselves as pro-Israel Democrats, even though they had disagreements about to what extent America should support the Jewish state. Beyond this year’s primaries, Mr. Mamdani has proven himself to be a formidable foe in the coming years. If his endorsement record in 2028 is at all similar to his 2026 rout, then there are multiple House Democrats who may be worried about primary challengers. Congressmen Gregory Meeks and Ritchie Torres — both of whom won their primaries on Tuesday, though did not face Mamdani-backed challengers — saw their districts go for Mr. Mamdani in the 2025 mayoral election. The House minority leader, Congressman Hakeem Jeffries, who is more likely than not to be the next Speaker of the House, also saw his district go for the mayor in 2025.

Mamdani Emerges as Kingmaker, Propelling Democratic Socialists to Victories in the Congressional Primaries

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