Progressive anti-Israel candidates score major wins in New York Democratic primaries

New York’s Democratic primaries delivered a major boost to the city’s progressive, anti-Israel wing, led by Mayor Zohran Mamdani. Candidates backed by Mamdani won four key races over the party establishment, a result that pro-Israel voters are likely to view as a warning sign. Because New York City is heavily Democratic, primary winners there are usually all but assured of a seat in Washington in November.

State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli, however, held off two left-wing challengers who attacked him over New York pension funds’ record purchases of Israeli bonds. DiNapoli won by a wide margin and said in his victory statement, “Now that the campaign is over, and we need to get back to the hard work we do protecting taxpayers and retirees, investing in New York’s future, pushing back on Trump’s extremism and helping working families make ends meet in the awful economy of the president.”

On the Republican side, Donald Trump notched a notable win upstate as his candidate, Anthony Constantino, defeated establishment figure Robert Smullen in the 21st District race for the seat left open by Elise Stefanik. Constantino spent millions of dollars of his own money on the campaign, which drew criticism after it employed people with criminal records.

In Manhattan and Brooklyn, the left’s biggest congressional victories came in deeply symbolic districts. Brad Lander, a close Mamdani ally, defeated incumbent pro-Israel Rep. Dan Goldman by nearly 30 points in the 10th District after campaigning against the Gaza war, accusing Israel of genocide, and pledging to oppose any U.S. military aid. In Brooklyn’s 7th District, Claire Valdez beat Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso with backing from the Democratic Socialists and young volunteers; she opposes Israeli policy and wants to bar New York organizations from funding activity in Judea and Samaria. In the 13th District, Columbia University graduate Darializa Avila Chevalier, who joined the pro-Palestinian campus encampments, defeated veteran Rep. Adriano Espaillat after winning nearly half the vote and accusing AIPAC of spending millions because she is “a proud Afro-Latina Muslim.”

AIPAC said that despite some losses, voters still chose leaders who support a strong U.S.-Israel partnership, and said more than 180 candidates it backed in both parties advanced to November’s general election. In the Upper West Side’s Assembly District 69, Eli Northrup defeated Reform Jewish candidate Stephanie Ruskay in a contest focused on buffer-zone laws meant to keep pro-Palestinian protesters away from synagogues. In Manhattan’s 12th District, where a large Jewish population lives, Micah Lasher, backed by Nadler and former Mayor Michael Bloomberg, led Alex Bores and Jack Schlossberg by about four points in the race to replace retiring Rep. Jerry Nadler.