Chuck Todd: Schumer, Jeffries couldn’t win a primary in New York City right now

Campaign Chuck Todd: Schumer, Jeffries couldn’t win a primary in New York City right now Comments: by Sophie Brams - 06/26/26 10:16 AM ET Comments: Link copied by Sophie Brams - 06/26/26 10:16 AM ET Comments: Link copied

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Former “Meet the Press” host Chuck Todd argued on Thursday that the two highest-ranking congressional Democrats would struggle to win a primary in New York City amid the rise of democratic socialist candidates.

Two democratic socialists backed by Mayor Zohran Mamdani (D) won their respective congressional primaries in the Empire State on Tuesday, pushing the progressive movement further into the spotlight.

Those victories, coupled with other recent high-profile wins by members of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) in various parts of the country, signals a potential leftward shift in the direction of the party.

Todd told NewsNation host Leland Vittert that the shift could have implications for Democrats’ future leadership if the caucus is unable to retake control of the House in November by only a slim margin.

“That Speaker vote is going to be a mess because here’s the reality: The two leaders of the Democratic Party in Congress, Chuck Schumer in the Senate and Hakeem Jeffries in the House, neither one of them could win a primary in New York City right now,” he argued. “Not even close.”

But Todd, who now hosts a semiweekly podcast, also noted that the districts won by DSA candidates in New York weren’t swing districts and he cautioned against using them to draw any broader conclusions about the party’s chances in the upcoming election.

He noted that the “real test” for the progressive left would be how those socialist ideas would fare outside of blue-leaning, urban areas like New York, Los Angeles and Washington, D.C.

“We’ve had cycles of this in cities,” the podcaster said. “But the point is that socialism usually gets stopped in the suburbs, right. That’s where it usually stays in the cities.”

Todd pointed specifically to the Senate race in Michigan, where progressive candidate Abdul El-Sayed is battling Rep. Haley Stevens (Mich.) and state Sen. Mallory McMorrow for the Democratic nomination for retiring Sen. Gary Peters’s (D-Mich.) seat.

“The establishment is absolutely petrified that Abdul El-Sayed could not hold that Senate seat, and it would cost them a shot at the Senate,” he told Vittert, suggesting there were two scenarios that would “totally change everything” depending on the outcome.

The Democratic Party could move farther left if El-Sayed wins the primary and the general election. But a win in the primary and loss in November might send progressives “back into hibernation,” according to Todd.

He suggested that an El-Sayed win in Michigan and one by progressive oyster farmer Graham Platner (D) in Maine could create an opening for Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) or “someone of her ideological ilk” to become the Democratic nominee for president in 2028.

“If those two people do not get into the United States Senate, then I think you’re more likely to see a Josh Shapiro and Andy Beshear,” Todd said, referring to the more moderate Democratic governors of Pennsylvania and Kentucky, respectively.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) earlier this week brushed off concerns around division within the party ahead of the midterms.