All three candidates backed by New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani won their primary races on Tuesday, boosting the Democratic Party’s progressive wing in America’s largest city. The victories included defeats for two incumbents and a win in the open 7th Congressional District, strengthening the left’s influence in New York politics.Community organiser Darializa Avila Chevalier defeated five-term congressman Adriano Espaillat in a primary contest for a district spanning upper Manhattan and the Bronx. Endorsed by Mamdani, the 32-year-old doctoral student at the City University of New York will now advance to the November general election. AP reported that opposing views over Israel were at the center of the clash between incumbents and their Mamdani-backed challengers.In another major upset, former New York City Comptroller Brad Lander defeated two-term Congressman Dan Goldman, while Democratic Socialist state Assembly member Claire Valdez won the race to succeed retiring Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez. Landers ran against Mandani in the 2025 New York City democratic mayoral primary. Lander, who was also endorsed by Vermont’s democratic socialist senator Bernie Sanders, easily beat Goldman by 65.7 per cent to 34.1 per cent, with most votes counted.The results hand Mamdani at least two new allies in Congress and represent a setback for establishment democrats, including House democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries, who campaigned against several of the mayor’s preferred candidates.Speaking on election day, Mamdani said, “It’s not just a question of electing more Democrats. It’s a question of electing better Democrats.”“When I look at these candidacies, I see in them a willingness to also put working people back at the heart of our politics,” he added, according to AP.The contests highlighted divisions within the Democratic Party. Before polls closed, Jeffries sought to downplay the significance of the races.“We have agreed to strongly disagree,” Jeffries said of Mamdani on Capitol Hill, according to AP.“There are 215 members of the House Democratic caucus. A handful of primaries that go in one direction or the other, in a given state or two, aren’t going to reshape who we are as House Democrats,” he added.All three Mamdani-backed candidates campaigned on promises to ‘abolish ICE’, condemned the ‘genocide’ in Gaza and pledged to ‘tax the rich’ if elected.Following his victory, Lander described Israel’s war in Gaza as ‘genocide’ and referred to ‘Trump’s fascism’.The primary results are likely to sharpen debate within the democratic party ahead of the midterm elections, with progressives seeking greater influence in Washington and party leaders weighing the electoral impact of a leftward shift on key policy issues.
