Mamdani-backed candidates – Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s endorsed candidates won all three Democratic primary races on June 23, including Democratic Socialists of America members in the 7th and 13th districts. Their victories set up a new Democratic coalition in next year’s Congress and intens
On June 23, New Yorkers woke up to the kind of political result that doesn’t just change a ballot—it changes the argument around who gets to define the Democratic Party.
All three New York City congressional candidates endorsed by Mayor Zohran Mamdani in the Democratic primary were victorious over their respective challengers, delivering wins that two of the candidates would claim as a further opening for democratic socialism inside the mainstream.
Claire Valdez won in New York’s 7th Congressional District, and Darializa Avila Chevalier won in the 13th. Both are members of the Democratic Socialists of America. adding another set of wins for the organization after a “monumental 2025. ” according to the account. The third winner, Brad Lander, is described in the source as the former City Comptroller who defeated incumbent U.S. Rep. Dan Goldman.
The campaign themes described around the Mamdani-backed candidates were consistent: they argued for Medicare for all, spoke directly about the affordability crisis in the city, and pushed against taking money from corporations in favor of grassroots, community-based fundraising.
In a political environment where Republicans often paint progressive Democrats as too extreme to be trusted. the winners’ messaging—at least as laid out in the reporting—was built to stay put rather than moderate itself. The source says they did not throw transgender people or immigrants under the bus to win over moderates. It adds that they stood firmly for legal protections for transgender people and that Immigration and Customs Enforcement should be abolished.
That same approach showed up in foreign-policy questions during the campaign. The source says the candidates were vocally supportive of the Palestinian people amid Israel’s destruction of Gaza. It specifically notes that Lander. described as a “self-described liberal Zionist. ” was not afraid to call the decimation of the Palestinian people in Gaza a “genocide.” It also says Goldman. the incumbent Lander beat. was backed by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.
The outcomes also mattered for the shape of Democratic power locally. The source describes Lander and Avila Chevalier as strong enough to win against established incumbents, while Valdez won in an open primary against the well-established Brooklyn Borough president.
The tension heading into and out of June 23 was not just ideological—it was electoral uncertainty. The source says polling showed Lander ahead of Goldman before polls closed on June 23, but it was unclear whether Valdez and Avila Chevalier would prevail in their respective primaries.
There’s an implied message running through the results: in New York City. voters appear to reward candidates who combine an aggressive policy agenda with discipline on messaging—medicare for all. affordability. limits on corporate money. strong stances on transgender protections and ICE. and explicit advocacy on Gaza—even when the political labels attached to that agenda are the ones opponents use to scare people away.
The source frames the win as more than a local victory. It suggests the next year’s Congress will include “several democratic socialists and progressives. ” particularly if no Republicans win and “barring hell freezing over in November.” It also points to what those gains could do inside the Democratic Party’s leadership ranks. naming Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries.
The author’s bottom line is clear: progressives now have to turn electoral energy into governing leverage. The source says the work doesn’t end with the primary wins—supporters must keep organizing and hold elected officials “feet to the fire” so that democratic socialism and progressive politics can prove they’re viable options for New York City.
Republicans, in the account, are portrayed as stressed about what New York might become. The source counters that the concern on the other side is tied to what the country is becoming, arguing that New York is trying to serve as the proof case.
It closes with a direct claim about what the vote did and did not mean: “No one is taking over New York City or trying to implement sharia law. New Yorkers did, in fact, vote for this.”
Zohran Mamdani New York City politics Democratic Socialists of America Claire Valdez Darializa Avila Chevalier Brad Lander Dan Goldman June 23 primary Medicare for all ICE abolition Gaza American Israel Public Affairs Committee