Mayor Zohran Mamdani this week is looking to flex his muscles not at City Hall, but at the United States Capitol. The mayor, who is popular with the city’s Democratic voters, is taking a historic step by challenging the stalwarts of his party in an effort to install three allies in Congress. Welcome to Washington, where Democrats will turn their eyes to the Empire State on Tuesday for the results of this year’s Democratic primaries. From the Trump-loving North Country to the “Commie Corridor” of Brooklyn and Queens, Democrats will choose their nominees for this year’s federal elections for the House of Representatives. In four of the five boroughs, Mr. Mamdani is playing for keeps. At the Bronx and Harlem, he’s chasing the chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. At parts of Brooklyn and Queens, the mayor is breaking with a close ally and grande dame of progressive New York politics. At Lower Manhattan and western Brooklyn, Mr. Mamdani is trying to install a onetime competitor who’s taking on a sitting congressman. Mr. Mamdani and the Democratic Socialists of America see an opening to build a parallel power system apart from the party establishment. Tuesday’s primaries will be a test of the possibilities. Take the case of Congressman Adriano Espaillat. He has represented Harlem and parts of the Bronx for nearly a decade. As chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and ally of House leadership, Mr. Espaillat is poised to play a critical role in the next Congress should Democrats take the House.That kind of seniority apparently matters little to Hizzoner. He is supporting a community organizer, Daraliza Avila Chevalier. As an activist, she helped to reunite families who had been separated by immigration enforcement officers. She counts the anti-Israel Columbia student Mahmoud Khalil, who was detained by ICE for more than three months, as a friend. She has been criticized for attending a rally the day after the October 7, 2023, attacks on Israel. The rally drew more than 1,000 attendees gathered in opposition to the Jewish State. In a now-deleted post on X, the Democratic Socialists of America. which co-sponsored the rally, defended the Palestinian Arabs’ “right to resist 75 years of occupation and apartheid.” Ms. Chevalier has defended her presence, even as Mr. Espaillat has gone after her. “I knew that [Israel’s] reaction would be an outsized reaction that would cause the deaths of thousands upon thousands of people,” Ms. Chevalier said at a recent debate.Turn then to New York’s Seventh District, where Congresswoman Nydia Velázquez is retiring after more than three decades in the halls of Congress. Known as La Luchadora, or “The Fighter,” Ms. Velázquez was an early supporter of Mr. Mamdani, even when other top Democrats in the city were siding with Governor Andrew Cuomo in the mayoral race. Ms. Velázquez has anointed Brooklyn’s borough president, Antonio Reynoso, to be her successor. Mr. Mamdani, though, has chosen to back a close ally, Assemblywoman Claire Valdez, rather than defer to the outgoing congresswoman. Ms. Velázquez made clear early on that she did not appreciate the mayor stepping on her toes. In an interview with the New York Times, she warned Mr. Mamdani that “honeymoons are short” and that the city would be better served if his attention was not on contested primaries. Because Ms. Valdez and Mr. Reynoso have nearly identical policy platforms, the fight for the Seventh District is less about politics and more about the strength of Mr. Mamdani’s endorsement. The seat where Mr. Mamdani is most likely to be successful is the Tenth District, which covers Lower Manhattan and parts of western Brooklyn. There, Congressman Dan Goldman, a pro-Israel Democrat, is facing off against the former city comptroller, Bradford Lander. Mr. Lander, like Mr. Goldman, describes himself as a liberal Zionist, though Mr. Lander supports ending the sale of all offensive weaponry to Israel. Mr. Lander has won the support of other prominent progressive leaders like Senators Elizabeth Warren and Bernard Sanders. Though he isn’t as left-wing as Ms. Chevalier or Ms. Valdez, Mr. Mamdani sees in him a close ally who, unlike Mr. Goldman, will be a loud progressive voice in Congress. Not in recent memory has a sitting mayor bucked the party establishment in the way Mr. Mamdani is now. If his bet pays off on Tuesday, some potential presidential candidates may begin a courting effort to try to lock down his support.
