Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s endorsed candidates won all three of their congressional primaries Tuesday, expanding the influence of New York City’s democratic socialist movement and raising new questions about the direction of the city’s Democratic Party.
The victories by Brad Lander in the 10th Congressional District, Claire Valdez in the 7th District and Darializa Avila Chevalier in the 13th District gave Mamdani his biggest political win since taking office and offered the clearest evidence yet that his popularity can transfer to candidates not named Zohran Mamdani.
The results also delivered a major night for the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA). According to unofficial Board of Elections results, the group’s endorsed slate won 11 of 12 races, including two congressional primaries, two incumbent defenses, and seven of eight state legislative challenger races.
For Mamdani’s supporters, the sweep showed that last year’s mayoral victory was not a one-off. For critics, it showed that the city’s organized left has become highly effective at winning Democratic primaries where turnout remains relatively low and traditional party organizations are struggling to keep pace.
Either way, political observers said the results will reverberate through City Hall, Albany and Washington.
Brad Lander, candidate for New York’s 10th Congressional District, speaks to the media while standing next to Mayor Zohran Mamdani during a watch party after winning the primary elections in Brooklyn, June 23, 2026.REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz
“I think it shows his popularity in New York right now,” said Margaret Groarke, a professor in the Political Science Department at Manhattan College. “If you think about primary races, there’s low turnout, and often people who are voting might not feel that they know a lot about the candidates, or that the candidates are fairly similar, and so having somebody like Mamdani endorse one of them, it makes it easier for voters to make a choice.”
The three congressional races were among the most closely watched contests on Tuesday’s ballot. Lander, the former city comptroller, defeated incumbent Rep. Dan Goldman in a district covering parts of Manhattan and Brooklyn. Valdez, a Queens Assembly member and union organizer, beat Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso and City Council Member Julie Won in the race to replace retiring Rep. Nydia Velázquez.
Avila Chevalier, a Harlem organizer and former public defense investigator, pulled off the night’s biggest upset by defeating Rep. Adriano Espaillat, the chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.
Mamdani had campaigned for all three in the final stretch, including rallying with U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders in Brooklyn and urging supporters to prove that his movement was “never about any one person, any one office, or any one election.”
Lander was backed by Mamdani but was not part of NYC-DSA’s endorsed slate. He had previously been a member of the group before stepping away in 2023 amid fallout over the organization’s promotion of a pro-Palestinian rally held the day after the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel.
Groarke told amNewYork that Mamdani’s influence appeared to matter differently across the three races. Lander, she said, had clear advantages of his own and may have won without Mamdani’s endorsement, though Mamdani helped him by discouraging another progressive candidate from entering the race — Brooklyn Council Member Alexa Avilés.
But she said Valdez’s win over Reynoso and Avila Chevalier’s upset over Espaillat were harder to separate from Mamdani’s backing.
“I think in the other two races, like Claire Valdez is an assemblywoman, but Antonio Reynoso, being the Brooklyn borough president, and a pretty well-known and popular politician, and with the support of Nydia Velázquez, I would have thought that that would be super competitive,” Groarke said. “And obviously in the 13th, Mamdani support for her had a lot to do with her victory.”
Mamdani says election results show New Yorkers ‘hungry’ for change
On Wednesday, standing at a Bronx child care event, Mamdani said the results showed voters were “hungry for a new kind of politics” centered on working people.
“They are hungry for a politics that understands working people should be at the heart of it,” Mamdani said. “And they’re hungry for a politics that looks at the wealthiest city in the wealthiest country in the history of the world and understands that it’s unacceptable that one in four are living in poverty.”
Asked whether the victories represented a personal win or a broader realignment of the Democratic Party, Mamdani repeatedly returned to affordability, citing rent, groceries and utility bills as the issues that drove voters to his preferred candidates.
He also said the three congressional winners, along with state legislative candidates he backed, would bring “a singular focus on the fight of the working person.”
Gustavo Gordillo, co-chair of the New York City Democratic Socialists of America, said the results proved Mamdani’s mayoral victory was “not just a fluke.”
“We saw lasting support from working-class New Yorkers for a democratic socialist agenda and vision for the economy,” Gordillo said. “We cannot be written off as a fringe movement anymore. I think we’re being recognized correctly by the whole political class as power players.”
Gordillo said Mamdani “went all in” for the candidates he endorsed, using his platform to elevate Valdez and Avila Chevalier in particular. He said DSA’s electoral project is now focused on building a deeper bench of democratic socialist officials as future elections roll around.
“We’re not only focused on electing one seat or occupying one position,” Gordillo said. “We need to build a bench of democratic socialists.”
Gordillo said the wins were already translating into new interest in the organization. He estimated that hundreds of people had signed up since election night, including roughly 200 in New York and about 1,000 nationwide by Wednesday afternoon, though he said he did not have final numbers in front of him when speaking to amNewYork.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani speaks at a Bronx child care announcement Wednesday, one day after his endorsed congressional candidates swept three Democratic primaries. Mamdani said the results reflected voters’ desire for politics centered on working people and affordability.Photo by Lloyd Mitchell
The sweep could also increase pressure on Gov. Kathy Hochul and state lawmakers next year, especially around taxes and affordability programs. Gordillo said DSA-backed lawmakers will push harder in Albany to tax millionaires and wealthy corporations to fund programs such as universal child care.
The group’s winning slate included Valdez and Avila Chevalier in Congress; State Senate challenger Aber Kawas; Assembly challengers Christian Celeste Tate, David Orkin, Diana Moreno, Eon Huntley, Illapa Sairitupac and Samantha Kattan; and incumbent state lawmakers Jabari Brisport and Phara Souffrant Forrest. The group’s only loss was Conrad Blackburn’s challenge to Assembly Member Jordan Wright in Harlem.
Groarke said the growing number of democratic socialist and progressive lawmakers will likely “pull the conversation a little bit to the left,” including in budget debates.
“Progressives are always told there’s not enough support for their ideas,” she said. “And it’s like, well, we’re seeing more support.”
Has the DSA taken over NYC’s Democratic party?
But J.C. Polanco, an assistant professor of business and economics at the University of Mount Saint Vincent and a former Republican who now identifies as an independent, offered a much darker assessment of what the results mean for more moderate Democrats.
“Mamdani is now the official king of New York,” Polanco said. “He’s in charge of the New York City Democratic Party.”
Polanco said the key to DSA’s success is not only Mamdani’s popularity, but the group’s ability to organize in low-turnout primaries. He argued that DSA has effectively replaced the role once played by county organizations by giving candidates what he described as a “campaign in a box” — volunteers, canvassers, attorneys, donations and campaign infrastructure.
“They’re better organizers, they’re better campaigners, they have cutting-edge media-savvy technology going for them,” Polanco said. “And they’ve taken over the New York City Democratic Party today.”
Polanco also argued that the results should renew calls for open primaries in New York, where independent voters cannot participate in Democratic primaries even though those contests often determine the winner in November in heavily Democratic districts.
The turnout picture was already a point of debate before Tuesday. Participation was far below last year’s mayoral primary, when Mamdani’s campaign helped drive a surge of new and younger voters. But several analysts cautioned against comparing this year’s congressional and state legislative primaries directly to a mayoral contest.
By 6 p.m. Tuesday, the city’s Board of Elections had reported 420,527 voter check-ins in the 2026 primaries, including 172,743 voters who participated during the nine-day early voting period. More than 1 million votes were cast in the 2025 mayoral primary.
Gordillo said early narratives about turnout falling off were overblown, arguing that 2025 was a historic outlier and that DSA-backed candidates still helped motivate voters this year, particularly those under 50.
The results also revived debate over the composition of the city’s left-wing coalition. Some critics have argued that democratic socialist candidates rely heavily on younger, college-educated and higher-income voters, and have struggled to build the same level of support among Black and Latino working-class voters.
Groarke said that critique is often overstated, particularly in Avila Chevalier’s district, which is majority Latino and heavily Black.
“The idea that they’re appealing to only young white voters is just not mathematically possible,” she said.
Gordillo also pushed back on the criticism, saying most DSA elected officials in New York City are Latino and nearly all are leaders of color. He said the organization’s Bronx and Upper Manhattan branch has grown significantly since Mamdani’s mayoral campaign and said new membership has increasingly reflected the city’s diversity.
U.S. President Donald Trump and New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani speak to members of the media as they meet in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., November 21, 2025. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst
Still, the victories are already being nationalized.
President Donald Trump weighed in Wednesday, calling Mamdani’s three endorsed winners “solid communists” and accusing the media of giving Mamdani more attention than Trump’s own endorsed candidates.
At his Wednesday press conference, Mamdani was asked whether his goal was to make America a socialist country. He did not directly embrace the label in response.
“My goal is to make America a place that every American can afford,” he said.
Mamdani was also pressed on whether the DSA-aligned wins could become a liability for Democrats in the midterms, as Republicans seek to portray the party as too far left. The mayor dismissed that concern, saying Republicans made similar attacks after he won the Democratic nomination for mayor last year.
“What is shining through for New Yorkers and for Americans is a focus on the working person,” he said.
Polanco said Republicans would be foolish not to use the victories as a national attack line in competitive districts. He said the rhetoric of DSA-aligned candidates on issues such as Israel, policing and private property could become campaign material for Republicans trying to hold swing seats, including districts in the New York media market.
“If I were advising Republicans, I would tell the world as to who is now the mainstream of the Democratic Party,” Polanco said.
Groarke was less convinced that the “communist” attacks would add much new weight, saying Republicans already use that language against Democrats. She said Democratic leaders should instead think more seriously about how to make different parts of the party feel included, especially around shared issues such as affordability.
That question now falls in part to House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, who was already the subject of speculation earlier this year about a possible DSA-backed primary challenge. Mamdani had discouraged that effort, but Tuesday’s results could increase pressure on Jeffries and other Democratic leaders to respond to the party’s left flank.
Asked about Mamdani’s role in discouraging a possible DSA-backed challenge to House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries by Brooklyn Council Member Chi Ossé, Gordillo said NYC-DSA has a “robust internal democratic system” for endorsements, but acknowledged that the mayor has weighed in during the group’s endorsement process.
“He understands the power of our organization, and our losses will be read as his losses, and our victories will be read as strengthening both of us together,” Gordillo said.
Mamdani said Wednesday he planned to speak with Jeffries later in the day and looked forward to working with him to deliver for New Yorkers.
Polanco said Jeffries is in a difficult position because he must try to win competitive districts nationally while also guarding against a possible challenge from the left at home. Groarke said Democratic leaders should look for areas of agreement with DSA-aligned members rather than dismissing them outright.
The next test may come in Albany during next year’s budget process, where Mamdani and DSA-aligned lawmakers are expected to push for more aggressive affordability measures.
It could also come in future congressional or state legislative races, where Democratic incumbents may now have to weigh whether crossing Mamdani or the organized left could invite a primary challenge.
Gordillo said DSA’s energy after Tuesday’s wins is “sky high” and suggested the organization is already thinking beyond district-level contests.
“A lesson that we’ve taken from the past few years is that it’s very important for us to put our politics forward and our agenda forward at the highest levels that we can,” he said, adding that top-of-the-ballot races would be a question for the group heading into 2028.