Mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani speaks during 'New York is not for sale' rally at Forest Hill Stadium in New York on October 26, 2025. (Shutterstock/Lev Radin)
By BallotWire
06/23/2026
The Wire: New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani went three-for-three Tuesday, as every congressional candidate he endorsed won a Democratic primary, including two upsets that unseated sitting members of Congress.
Why it counts: The sweep proves Mamdani's brand of democratic socialism can travel beyond his own name on the ballot. It hands the left a bloc of new allies in Congress and delivers a direct rebuke to a party establishment that mobilized against him and lost.
The margin: Three districts, three wins.
NY-7: Democratic socialist Assembly Member Claire Valdez beat Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso, the retiring Nydia Velázquez's preferred successor, 56.1% to 35.8% in a field that also included Councilwoman Julie Won.
NY-10: Former City Comptroller Brad Lander routed two-term Rep. Dan Goldman 65.8% to 34%, the night's most lopsided result.
NY-13: Democratic socialist Darializa Avila Chevalier edged five-term Rep. Adriano Espaillat 49.4% to 45.9%, the closest contest of the night.
The fine print: Mamdani branded the trio "our team," even cutting an ad with them that aired after Game 1 of the NBA Finals, and pointed his volunteer army at their districts. The three seats overlapped with his strongest turf in last year's mayoral win, giving his ground game a built-in map.
On the record: The races, Mamdani said, were about "electing better Democrats," not simply more of them.
The counter: Party leaders bet against him and came up short. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Gov. Kathy Hochul, and Velázquez all backed the incumbents or establishment picks. Critics note the wins came in some of the bluest, most gentrified turf in the country, and question whether the model works anywhere else.
The backdrop: The sweep extends a run of democratic socialist victories in progressive strongholds. Janeese Lewis George won the D.C. mayoral primary outright on June 16, and Los Angeles Councilmember Nithya Raman climbed into a November runoff against Mayor Karen Bass. Espaillat became one of several House incumbents to fall to the left this cycle, drawing comparisons to Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's 2018 upset of Joe Crowley.
Looking ahead: All three New York nominees are heavy favorites in November's deep-blue districts. The open question is whether the movement can carry the same momentum into competitive districts and states, where it has yet to prove it can win.