Pro-Palestinian Democrats Backed by Mamdani Win Key New York Primaries

Progressive candidates backed by New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani won Democratic primaries overnight between Tuesday and Wednesday in three New York congressional districts, setting them up to face Republican nominees in the midterm elections on November 3 for House seats.

The biggest upset came in the 10th Congressional District, where former city comptroller Brad Lander defeated incumbent Rep. Dan Goldman by 66% to 34%. Lander, who is Jewish and one of Mamdani’s closest allies, ran on sharply anti-Israel positions, accusing Israel of “genocide,” criticizing Goldman for refusing to use that term or the word “occupation” for settlements in Judea and Samaria, and pledging to oppose all military aid to Israel, including Iron Dome.

Goldman, who is widely seen as one of Congress’s strongest supporters of Israel, tried to argue that Israel was not the district’s main concern and focused his campaign on his congressional experience and the record of the Trump administration.

In the 7th Congressional District, 36-year-old labor organizer and socialist Claire Valdez won decisively over Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso. Valdez has also been a vocal critic of Israel, previously calling the war in Gaza a “massacre” and promising to work against all weapons sales and military assistance to Israel.

A third Mamdani-backed candidate, Darializa Avila Chevalier, won the 13th Congressional District in a very tight race, taking 49.4% against 45.9% for incumbent Rep. Adriano Espaillat. Chevalier helped organize pro-Palestinian encampments at Columbia University and attacked Espaillat for not helping secure the release of protest organizers who were arrested. Espaillat countered in a televised debate that she had “celebrated the deaths of innocent people” at a pro-Palestinian demonstration on October 8, 2023.