
Three Mamdani-Backed Socialists Defeat Pro-Israel Candidates in NY Primaries, 2 Incumbents Unseated
Three Democratic Socialist candidates endorsed by New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani won their congressional primaries Tuesday night, unseating two pro-Israel incumbents and prevailing in a hard-fought open-seat race over a candidate who had drawn support from establishment Democrats, in a sweep that underscored the growing hostility toward Israel within the city’s progressive wing.
In New York’s 10th Congressional District, former NYC Comptroller Brad Lander defeated Rep. Dan Goldman, leading 62.15% to 37.85% as votes were still being counted. Lander, who is Jewish, has repeatedly accused Israel of committing “genocide” in Gaza, and last month told worshippers at a Queens mosque that Israel’s military campaign against Hezbollah in Lebanon was “on its way potentially to being a genocide as well.” He has pledged to oppose further U.S. military aid to Israel and has compared AIPAC to “crypto” and Wall Street as a corrupting influence in politics.
In the open 7th Congressional District, State Assemblymember Claire Valdez defeated Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso to succeed retiring Rep. Nydia Velázquez, leading 55.83% to 35.52%. Valdez, a Democratic Socialists of America member, has called Israel’s actions in Gaza a “genocide” since shortly after Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, massacre, supports the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement, and has campaigned on cutting off all U.S. military aid to Israel, including funding for the Iron Dome defense system. Reynoso himself had also labeled Israel’s campaign in Gaza a “genocide,” though he did so only after entering the race.
In the 13th Congressional District, community organizer Darializa Avila Chevalier ousted five-term Rep. Adriano Espaillat, leading 49.3% to 46.0%. Avila Chevalier, a former Columbia University student activist who helped lead the school’s pro-Palestinian encampment, attended an Oct. 8, 2023, rally in Times Square at which demonstrators carried signs reading “Resistance is Justified when People are Occupied.” She has criticized Espaillat for accepting AIPAC-linked donations and has refused to condemn Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack when pressed by a Jewish Democratic club during her campaign.
Mamdani actively campaigned for all three candidates, appearing alongside them at a rally last week at Brooklyn’s Kings Theater headlined by Sen. Bernie Sanders. At the rally, Mamdani accused AIPAC of being “monsters” who “move millions in dark money to accomplish a single goal: to preserve their power so that they can turn us against one another.” He went on to say that “in the wealthiest city, in the wealthiest country in the history of the world, we need not live in fear of monsters any longer.”
The remarks drew swift condemnation from Jewish organizations and elected officials, who said the language echoed classic antisemitic tropes about Jewish money and power. On Monday, rather than walk back the comment, Mamdani doubled down, telling reporters at City Hall that AIPAC has “fought any attempt to actually deliver safety to people” and represents “a status quo for immorality.” New Jersey Rep. Josh Gottheimer accused the mayor of “laundering antisemitism,” saying that substituting “Jews” for “AIPAC” in his rhetoric would reveal it as classic conspiracy theory.
Mamdani has also faced criticism for his silence after a Brooklyn coffee shop, Poetica Coffee, publicly banned Goldman over his support for Israel. After Goldman bought a coffee at the Park Slope location while campaigning with his young daughter, the shop posted on social media that it would have refused him service had staff recognized him, writing that it does not serve “racists, fascists, homophobes, genocide enablers, or anyone in between,” and telling him, “Enjoy your loss on Tuesday. Don’t ever come to Poetica.” The post, since deleted, also suggested Goldman’s money “probably” came from AIPAC. The Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division has opened an investigation into whether the shop’s actions violated federal public accommodation law. Mamdani’s office declined to comment on the incident when contacted by The New York Times.
Goldman, who responded with restraint, said the barista who served him had been kind to his daughter and that he hoped she would still receive a tip. He called the episode a “sad state of affairs” reflecting a broader climate of division.
Not every statewide race Tuesday broke toward Israel’s critics, however. State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli, a longtime and outspoken supporter of Israel, easily secured the Democratic nomination for a fifth full term, defeating challengers Drew Warshaw and Raj Goyle. With about 31% of the vote counted, DiNapoli led with 65% to Warshaw’s 21% and Goyle’s 14%. DiNapoli, who has served as comptroller since 2007, is the longest-serving non-congressional statewide officeholder in New York and was the only statewide officeholder to face a primary this year. He will face Republican Joseph Hernandez in November.
Several local races in heavily Jewish areas of the city were also decided Tuesday night. In Manhattan’s 12th Congressional District, the nation’s most heavily Jewish, State Assemblymember Micah Lasher won the Democratic primary in a crowded field that included fellow Assemblymember Alex Bores, Jack Schlossberg, and George Conway. Lasher is the chosen successor of retiring Rep. Jerry Nadler, who endorsed him, and both Lasher and Bores opposed conditioning U.S. military aid to Israel during the campaign.
In Queens, Far Rockaway activist Pesach Osina, a member of the Orthodox Jewish community, won the Democratic primary for State Assembly District 23 over attorney Mike Scala, leading 60.59% to 38.88% with 95.8% of scanners reported. Osina will face Republican Tom Sullivan in November to succeed retiring Assemblywoman Stacey Pheffer Amato.
And in Brooklyn’s 43rd Assembly District, covering Crown Heights, incumbent Brian Cunningham defeated challenger Ahron Gluck, who had run with the backing of a faction of local Orthodox Jewish leadership on a platform of neighborhood safety and support for religious schools. With 84.62% of scanners reported, Cunningham led 79.65% to 19.65%.