Mamdani-backed candidates sweep Democratic primaries in New York City
Three congressional candidates endorsed by New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani won their primaries, in a sign of his growing influence. Elsewhere, a Kennedy scion lost, and Trump-backed candidates prevailed.
The growing political influence of New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani was on full display Tuesday as three congressional candidates he endorsed won closely watched Democratic primaries in the city. Brad Lander, the former city comptroller who ran for mayor last year before endorsing Mamdani, easily defeated incumbent Representative Dan Goldman. State lawmaker and former union organizer Claire Valdez beat Antonio Reynoso, who was seen as the preferred successor of retiring Representative Nydia Velázquez in the seventh district, covering parts of Brooklyn and Queens. In a stunning upset, public defense investigator Darializa Avila Chevalier toppled five-term incumbent Representative Adriano Espaillat, chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, in the 13th district, which includes Upper Manhattan and parts of the Bronx.
This clean sweep for Mamdani, who invested his political capital to boost left-wing allies, all but guarantees their election to Congress in November, solidifying his progressive movement's influence on the state's delegation. Meanwhile, Jack Schlossberg, grandson of President John F. Kennedy, failed in his bid to revive his family's political legacy, losing in a crowded field of Democrats vying for the seat of retiring Representative Jerry Nadler. In that race, veteran New York politician Micah Lasher, self-described as a "nerd," won the primary. On Long Island, freshman Democratic Representatives Tom Suozzi and Laura Gillen easily fended off primary challenges as they prepare to defend swing-district seats in November. Former White House counter-terrorism official Cait Conley won the Democratic primary in New York's 17th district, one of only three districts nationwide that voted for Kamala Harris in 2024 but elected a Republican to Congress. Upstate, Anthony Constantino, endorsed by President Donald Trump, won the Republican primary in the 21st district.
Elsewhere, in Maryland, Adrian Boafo won a crowded primary to succeed retiring Representative Steny Hoyer, the longest-serving House Democrat. In Utah, former Congressman Brad McAdams won the primary in a newly drawn Democratic-leaning district in Salt Lake City. In South Carolina, state Attorney General Alan Wilson won the runoff for the Republican gubernatorial nomination, while retired Navy Rear Admiral Nancy Lacore won the Democratic runoff in the state's first congressional district.
