Democrats' Jeffries and Mamdani wings face off in New York
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Rep. Dan Goldman speaks to reporters after voting in New York City on July 19. Photo: Spencer Platt/Getty Images
New York's congressional primaries on Tuesday will be a key test of strength for the left-wing movement challenging the Democratic Party's establishment.
Why it matters: Several of these races pit the interests of House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) against those of democratic socialist New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani.
- Mamdani, one of the left's most prominent figures both in New York and nationwide, is backing three left-wing insurgents vying for NYC-based House seats.
- Two of those insurgents are running against incumbent Democrats — and Jeffries almost always supports his incumbents.
State of play: In the state's 10th district, Jeffries is supporting Rep. Dan Goldman (D-N.Y.) while Mamdani is backing NYC comptroller Brad Lander.
- In the 13th district, Jeffries-backed Rep. Adriano Espaillat (D-N.Y.) faces a spirited challenge from Mamdani-endorsed democratic socialist Darializa Avila-Chevalier.
- Mamdani is also supporting democratic socialist State Assembly member Claire Valdez in the 7th district over Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso, though Jeffries hasn't endorsed in that race.
Zoom in: Lander, who famously cross-endorsed with Mamdani in last year's NYC mayoral race, is seen as an extremely formidable foe to Goldman and polls have generally shown him with a large lead.
- In NY-13, outside groups are spending heavily in support of both Espaillat and Avila Chevalier, though Espaillat's allies have a clear financial edge.
- Mamdani has cut multiple ads supporting Lander, Avila Chevalier and Valdez and campaigned heavily for all three.
Yes, but: Mamdani has avoided more direct confrontations with Jeffries, most notably opposing City Councilman Chi Ossé's aborted attempt to primary the Democratic House leader.
- These also aren't perfectly clear-cut battles of left vs. center: Goldman and Espaillat are both members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, but have come under fire from the left in part for their support of Israel.
- Things get even more complicated in NY-7, where Reynoso is backed by retiring progressive Rep. Nydia Velázquez and the Working Families Party, which also supports Lander.
Zoom out: The other big contest in New York on Tuesday is the 12th district, where several major Democratic candidates are duking it out to succeed Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.).
- The race includes high-profile figures such as Jack Schlossberg, the grandson of former President John F. Kennedy, and prominent anti-Trump figure George Conway.
- But the two frontrunners are Assembly member Micah Lasher, who is backed by Nadler and former NYC Mayor Mike Bloomberg, and Assembly member Alex Bores.
- The race has attracted tons of outside spending for and against Bores, an architect of New York's AI regulations, with OpenAI-connected super PAC Think Big spending nearly $8 million to oppose him and Anthropic-affiliated Jobs and Democracy PAC spending $9 million to defend him.
