A fresh wave of progressive candidates won decisively across New York, from a possible historic first for the state Senate to a major congressional upset—an opening that activists argue signals durable momentum going into the 2026 midterms and beyond.
On the morning after New York City’s primaries. the lesson was hard to miss: voters weren’t just shifting their preferences. They were demanding a different kind of public servant—one willing to challenge entrenched power. take a harder line on war spending and civil liberties. and reflect communities that have long felt excluded.
A year earlier, Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s primary win had already been billed as historic. This time. the victories landed with a wider sweep. shattering long-standing assumptions about what elected officials “should” look like and what they should stand for. from citywide races to statehouse bids and congressional contests.
Aber Kawas—described as a Bay Ridge. Brooklyn native—was on her way to becoming the first Palestinian American elected to the New York state Senate. Darializa Avila Chevalier. who helped organize Columbia University’s encampments protesting the Gaza genocide. was poised to represent the university in Congress. Brad Lander. a Jewish candidate. had pledged to cosponsor the Block the Bombs Act. which would restrict military aid to Israel. and he unseated two-term Representative Dan Goldman. Claire Valdez—credited with energizing voters through her push for big. bold domestic- and foreign-policy changes—was also headed to the House of Representatives.
Those wins were only part of a larger pattern the campaign world inside and outside New York says is now becoming visible at every level. The author of the piece argues that the scale of these results has produced shock in some corners. and then points to a competing narrative circulating online—one that credits “gentrifiers” for progressive success in New York City. The thrust of the response was direct: that story. the author says. erases native New Yorkers. communities of color. and working-class supporters who backed the candidates.
The personal case for that claim is rooted in years of organizing. The author says she has spent 25 years in the movement. starting with work organizing Muslim and Arab communities in New York City and cofounding the city’s Muslim Democratic Club. A decade ago. she says. she founded MPower Change and MPower Action to take the work national. registering and mobilizing tens of thousands of voters through the nonpartisan My Muslim Vote campaign.
In that telling, the political moment isn’t accidental. The author describes Muslim Americans—“a mosaic of racial and ethnic identities”—as increasingly registering to vote and running for office within a larger multiracial progressive coalition that challenges the status quo. She ties that coalition’s energy to a set of policies she says have disproportionately harmed her communities: ICE raids. travel bans. racial profiling. and support for Israel’s ongoing genocide in Palestine and terrorizing of families across the region.
The piece then widens from New York to a broader political calendar. It argues that as the 2026 midterms approach and the 2028 presidential race comes into focus. these fights will matter more—not less. It also sets a specific gathering on the horizon: on Saturday. “thousands of us will gather in Washington. DC” to mark America’s 250th by offering a Declaration of Interdependence—framed as a collective vision for the country to carry into the next 250 years. The argument is that bringing that declaration to life depends on “values-aligned” candidates and mobilizing “values-aligned” voters.
The author lays out five issues she says are now central to that effort.
First is a push to prioritize people over profits. arguing the United States is the wealthiest nation while “millions” can’t afford housing. healthcare. food. or transit. The piece asserts that voters sent that message during the 2025 elections and points to campaigns it names—Mayor Mamdani. New Jersey Governor Mikie Sherrill. and Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson—describing them as winning on promises to tackle the cost of rent. utilities. and groceries.
Second comes the demand to protect people from tech oligarchs. The author says AI is being used to surveil communities. automate warfare. displace workers. and consume environmental resources. leaving ordinary people to bear the consequences. She cites multiple examples: Alex Bores. who lost in NY-12 but is described as getting a boost from being cast as a candidate who stands up to tech oligarchs and who encouraged Democrats to seize the issue during his concession speech; Representative Summer Lee (D-PA). described as advocating curtailing AI power and reintroducing legislation like the AI Civil Rights Act and Eliminating Bias in Algorithmic Systems; and Abdul El-Sayed. who the piece says is rising fast in polls and has called for AI and AI corporations to be regulated like a public utility.
Third is a call to spend tax dollars at home rather than waging endless wars. The author says Americans across party lines are tired of seeing tax dollars fund wars “that destroy lives and drive up their daily expenses. ” while enriching corporate shareholders. She highlights growing criticism of the Israeli government and sympathies toward Palestinians across party lines. and adds that receiving financial support from AIPAC-aligned organizations has become a political liability for Democratic candidates. She also points to a specific legislative effort connected to her political community: Aber Kawas. who ran on Palestinian liberation. helped launch the Not on Our Dime bill in 2023 alongside then-Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani. which the piece says would stop New York-based charities from using tax-exempt donations to fund Israeli war crimes and illegal settlements.
Fourth is a defense of free speech. The author describes retaliation against US students and workers advocating for Palestinian rights as “so rampant” that the Council on American-Islamic Relations reported record institutional discrimination last year. She says this wasn’t limited to Muslims but extended to Arab, Jewish, Black, and Asian students and employees. The piece argues voters want protection for political speech without exceptions. and it includes a personal example: the author says El-Sayed pushed back against efforts to smear him. and she then connects that principle to an immigration crackdown described as targeting people who express political views the Trump administration disagrees with—by kidnapping and jailing university students or surveilling social-media accounts to filter out visa applicants it disagrees with.
A separate story is offered as a point of emphasis in that free-speech argument. The author says Representative Adriano Espaillat’s inaction when ICE snatched his own constituent Columbia University student Mahmoud Khalil away from his pregnant wife was a point Avila Chevalier brought up throughout her successful campaign to unseat him.
Fifth is a rejection of racial and religious profiling. The author describes Latino. Black. and Muslim communities living under constant threat of being detained and torn apart from loved ones based on race. national origin. or religion. She argues the policies she cites go against shared values and that hateful rhetoric comes from the same politicians. The piece cites Representative Andy Ogle (R-TN) introducing a bill earlier this year to ban immigrants from Muslim-majority nations and declaring on social media that “Muslims don’t belong in American society.”.
It then ties those claims to a deadly attack described as happening “last month” at the Islamic Center of San Diego. where Amin Abdullah. Nadir Awad. and Mansour Kaziha were killed in a hate-fueled attack. The author also brings the argument back to ICE and civic resistance by saying Lander and Valdez were both arrested at 26 Federal Plaza last year after refusing to leave until ICE allowed oversight of its makeshift detention facility.
The piece closes by arguing the vision it describes can’t be taken for granted, saying the primaries offer a “glimpse” of what can be achieved together by shaping the next 250 years through every vote cast and every policy fought for.
In a separate section. the author of a national political commentary within the same provided text turns to the midterms and the wider political stakes. arguing that with the midterm elections now underway. the key question is whether Democratic candidates will do more than serve as mild alternatives to Donald Trump. The piece says Trump spends over $1 billion a day on a globally destabilizing war on Iran and admits he doesn’t “think about Americans’ financial situation. ” with millions facing surging costs of essentials. It calls for Democrats to advance bold. small-“d” populist ideas rather than “cynical caution” that. in its view. leads to defeat.
That commentary also discusses how progressive journalism is positioned around elections: it says The Nation elevates progressive ideas. movements. and elected officials achieving real change; it says its journalists expose how crypto and AI-funded super PACs are spending hundreds of millions of dollars to knock out candidates it opposes; it says it is reporting on the “devastating impact” of the Supreme Court’s evisceration of the Voting Rights Act; and it says it is sounding the alarm on attempts by red states to quickly redraw electoral maps to disenfranchise Southern Black voters.
The same text includes a fundraising appeal tied to election coverage. stating that this June. The Nation is raising $20. 000 to power its independent journalism ahead of November’s elections. and it ends with a call for readers to donate. It credits Katrina vanden Heuvel as editor and publisher in that closing section.
New York primaries progressive candidates Zohran Mamdani Aber Kawas Darializa Avila Chevalier Brad Lander Claire Valdez Dan Goldman Block the Bombs Act ICE travel bans free speech AI regulation Voting Rights Act