New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani is using the machinery of his office and his rising political profile to push a slate of candidates into Tuesday’s primary, setting up a direct challenge to Democratic Party leadership in New York and Washington. The fight is not just over who wins seats; it is over who gets to steer the party apparatus, and which voices get treated as disposable when the bosses decide the line.
Who Has the Power
Mamdani, a 34-year-old democratic socialist, took office six months ago after being demonized by leaders of both political parties. Now he is testing the limits of that same system by backing candidates aligned with his values, even when that means going against incumbents and party insiders. He will join Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., at a get-out-the-vote rally in Brooklyn on Thursday, an event meant to elevate a slate that includes two candidates running against Democratic incumbents in Tuesday’s primary.
The Mamdani slate includes political organizer Darializa Avila Chevalier, whom Mamdani endorsed over Rep. Adriano Espaillat, the chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, in New York’s 13th District, which includes parts of upper Manhattan and the Bronx. Mamdani is also backing former New York City Comptroller Brad Lander, who is running against incumbent Rep. Dan Goldman in New York’s 10th District, and democratic socialist state Assembly Member Claire Valdez in New York’s 7th District against outgoing Rep. Nydia Velazquez’s handpicked successor. The slate, along with several state Assembly candidates, will be featured at Thursday’s rally.
Valdez said the election is about advancing the political movement Mamdani ignited on his way to City Hall. She said, “Right now there’s really mass dissatisfaction with the way the party leadership has been operating and not standing up strongly enough to Trump,” and said she hopes to “bring a partner to Zohran to Washington.”
Who Gets Crushed
Valdez’s primary opponent, Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso, said he feels like the underdog in the race even though he was endorsed by the outgoing incumbent. He said Mamdani “has a celebrity status that we haven’t seen the likes of since I’ve been alive.” Reynoso added, “He’s going to be our champion for the foreseeable future and he’s doing a great job, and when he says that he’s endorsing someone, it matters,” and said, “I believe that this community has seen me work, they know I’m a progressive champion, and in any other circumstance I would be a favorite to win this race, but I’m not because he has tipped the scale.”
That is the basic arithmetic of hierarchy on display: endorsements from above, access to the spotlight, and the way a mayor’s backing can tilt a race before voters even get to the booth. The candidates Mamdani is elevating are largely aligned on the biggest issues, though there are modest differences, but the structure of the contest still rewards those with institutional leverage and punishes those without it.
The candidates have also sought to replicate much of the platform that sent Mamdani to City Hall, focusing on the city’s high cost of living and presenting themselves as fresh faces not beholden to powerful business interests. That framing puts the pressure where it belongs: on the people forced to live with the cost of decisions made by political and economic elites.
What They’re Calling a Movement
Israel’s war with Gaza has featured heavily among the Mamdani slate, with Lander, Valdez and Avila Chevalier casting their Democratic opponents as too soft on Israel. They are echoing the mayor’s criticism of the country’s leaders and trying to harness what they believe could be a driving force in this year’s elections. The rally in Brooklyn is meant to turn that energy into votes, though the whole spectacle still runs through the same electoral gatekeeping that keeps power concentrated in party hands.
In Washington, Democrats are pleasantly surprised that Mamdani has become less of a political liability for the party in swing district seats than they once feared. But his endorsements have aggravated intraparty fissures, especially among moderates who worry that his far-left brand may eventually tarnish the entire party. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, a fellow New Yorker, has tried to push back against the Mamdani-backed democratic socialist challengers by endorsing and campaigning for the embattled incumbents in a proxy fight with the mayor.
Jeffries and Mamdani have opted to wrestle only in primaries rather than bicker publicly and feed GOP narratives of Democratic disarray. Antjuan Seawright, a Democratic strategist who works with House Democrats, said, “Democrats must understand, and both the leader and Mamdani appreciate this, how to yell in areas where we agree and whisper in areas where we diverge.”
Jeffries’ allies say Mamdani has energized Democratic voters and may be able to reach some Americans who have checked out of the political process, and they prefer that he remain focused on New York City governance rather than traveling nationally. Republicans, however, plan to elevate Mamdani’s profile whether Washington Democrats want them to or not. The GOP has not made Mamdani a central feature of its broader national messaging as it once threatened, but Republican operatives have sought to link him to Democratic House candidates in swing districts across California, Colorado and Wisconsin. They also believe the New York City mayor will loom large in pivotal House races in New York and New Jersey.
Mike Marinella, a spokesperson for the National Republican Congressional Committee, said, “Zohran Mamdani’s socialist brand is as toxic as it comes. And during a time when Democrats don’t have a leader or a message, he’s exactly the kind of bogeyman we can use against Democrats to truly show who is leading their party and the crazy policies they all support.”
Sanders’ adviser Faiz Shakir encouraged Republicans to try, saying Sanders mentions Mamdani in almost every speech as he tours the nation rallying voters ahead of the midterms. Shakir said, “The crowd just goes nuts,” and added, “He certainly is not a political liability.” Brown reported in Washington.