Three progressive congressional candidates endorsed by New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani won their Democratic primaries on Tuesday, underscoring the mayor's growing influence within the party. The victories came in closely watched races in New York City, while voters in Maryland, Utah, and South Carolina also cast ballots in primaries and runoffs.
Brad Lander, the former city comptroller who endorsed Mamdani after his own mayoral bid, comfortably defeated incumbent Representative Dan Goldman. Claire Valdez, a state lawmaker and former union organizer, beat Antonio Reynoso in New York's seventh district, which covers parts of Brooklyn and Queens. In a stunning upset, public defense investigator Darializa Avila Chevalier toppled five-term incumbent Representative Adriano Espaillat in the 13th district, which includes Upper Manhattan and parts of the Bronx.
“What a glorious time to be a New Yorker,” Lander said at his election night party, joined by the mayor. Mamdani later appeared at Valdez's watch party, telling a jubilant crowd: “The old politics that got us into this crisis is not the politics that’s going to get us out of this crisis.” The clean sweep validated Mamdani's gamble in backing left-wing allies, expanding his progressive movement's footprint in Congress.
Elsewhere, Jack Schlossberg, grandson of John F. Kennedy, failed in his bid to revive the family's political legacy. The 33-year-old, known for his large social media presence, lost a crowded primary in New York's 12th district to Micah Lasher, a longtime politician. The race also featured prominent anti-Trump critic George Conway and state assembly-member Alex Bores. President Donald Trump celebrated the defeats of Goldman and Conway on social media, calling Goldman “weak and pathetic.”
Moderate Democrats prevailed in swing districts crucial for November. On Long Island, Representatives Tom Suozzi and Laura Gillen fended off primary challenges. In the Hudson Valley's 17th district, former White House counter-terrorism official Cait Conley won a competitive primary to take on Republican Representative Mike Lawler. “No one is coming to save us,” Conley said. “We are the cavalry.”
