Leftist Democrats score primary wins in New York amid party debate

Zohran Mamdani’s three endorsed House candidates all won in New York, giving the city’s new mayor an early set of victories in the Democratic Party’s fight over whether to moderate or lean harder into the left. The results came as some party leaders urged a move toward the center to broaden appeal, while progressive organizers argued that local electorates were rewarding sharper economic populism and more confrontational politics.

The clearest upset came in New York’s 13th Congressional District, where Darializa Avila Chevalier, a 32-year-old organizer and democratic socialist, narrowly defeated five-term Rep. Adriano Espaillat, the chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. In New York’s 10th District, former city Comptroller Brad Lander beat two-term Rep. Dan Goldman. In the open 7th District race, state Assemblymember Claire Valdez defeated Antonio Reynoso to succeed retiring Rep. Nydia Velázquez, who had backed Reynoso.

For Democratic Socialists of America leaders, the three wins were proof that candidates running on taxing the rich, universal healthcare and other left priorities could still build winning coalitions in New York City. Mamdani, less than seven months after being sworn in, stepped into all three contests and emerged with a clean sweep, a signal that his brand of politics still has traction in the city’s most competitive Democratic primaries.

The results also landed against a bruising backdrop for progressives. In 2024, Westchester County Executive George Latimer defeated Rep. Jamaal Bowman in a New York Democratic primary, a loss widely seen as a setback for the left even as Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez won renomination easily. Brookings has argued that congressional primaries matter because incumbents fear being primaried and may calibrate their message and tone accordingly, a dynamic that gives small-turnout contests outsized influence over the party’s direction.

Turnout underscored how sharply these races were being fought. By 6 p.m. on primary day, about 420,000 New Yorkers had voted, according to New York City Board of Elections totals cited by The New York Times, compared with 831,000 by that point in the 2025 mayoral primary. Early voting in the city had reached 172,743 check-ins by June 21, according to the Board of Elections, about 45 percent of last year’s early-vote total. The numbers pointed to a smaller electorate, but one that was engaged enough to reward candidates on the party’s left flank.