Mamdani looks to flex political muscle in key New York House primaries

Campaign Mamdani looks to flex political muscle in key New York House primaries Comments: by Jared Gans - 06/21/26 12:00 PM ET Comments: Link copied by Jared Gans - 06/21/26 12:00 PM ET Comments: Link copied

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New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani (D) is looking to use his political power to reshape New York’s congressional delegation less than six months after taking office.

The popular mayor has made endorsements in multiple contests ahead of Tuesday’s House primaries in New York, including for progressive challengers to two sitting Democratic congressmen. One of these picks has even put him at odds with his fellow progressives on Capitol Hill.

The primaries will offer an early test of Mamdani’s influence after his historic rise to become the leader of the country’s largest city.

“His honeymoon period as mayor has continued. He’s doing well right now,” said New York Democratic strategist Trip Yang. “He’s taking risks intentionally.”

Mamdani has enjoyed a series of recent political and policy successes while in office. He has partnered with New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) to accomplish key initiatives, including the establishment of a “pied-à-terre” tax on property owners with second homes worth more than $5 million. They recently unveiled an expansion of free childcare to 2-year-olds in New York City too.

The mayor is also riding a high coming off the New York Knicks’s NBA championship victory last weekend, having emerged as a top cheerleader for the team. And he’s sought to use that momentum to advance his progressive vision.

Shortly after the Knicks won the first game of the NBA Finals, an ad featuring Mamdani aired on New York television. It showed Mamdani passing a basketball to three of his endorsed candidates — former city Comptroller Brad Lander, community organizer Darializa Avila Chevalier and New York Assembly member Claire Valdez.

Lander is seeking to unseat two-term Rep. Dan Goldman (D), while Avila Chevalier is aiming to oust longtime Rep. Adriano Espaillat (D). Valdez is running in a competitive open primary to succeed retiring Rep. Nydia Velázquez. Mamdani, joined by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), held a get-out-the-vote rally alongside the candidates in Brooklyn Thursday.

Mamdani’s support for Lander, who became one of the mayor’s most ardent backers in the general election against former Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D), in New York’s 10th Congressional District puts him in line with progressives nationally and locally, including Sanders and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), as well as New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams.

But Mamdani’s endorsements in the two other contests have created much more of a stir.

Mamdani’s endorsement for Avila Chevalier, which only came in late May, took many political observers by surprise. Espaillat, a progressive who chairs the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, provided Mamdani with a key endorsement after he won the Democratic primary for mayor. The congressman originally backed Cuomo.

Multiple reports also suggested there was an understanding that Mamdani would support Espaillat in return.

“He will have diminished level of trust with a lot of people because everyone here knows, and most elected officials know, that there was a commitment to be with Adriano that was reneged upon,” said one New York Democratic strategist who is involved in multiple primary races.

Espaillat has brushed off the significance of Mamdani’s endorsement, and his campaign doesn’t appear to be overly concerned about it, arguing it has brought more scrutiny to Avila Chevalier’s record and past statements.

“If anything, the endorsement has brought more attention to Ms. Avila Chevalier’s candidacy and highlighted the contrast in the race,” Espaillat campaign spokesperson Reginald Johnson said, adding that the congressman is “proud to have the trust of the people he serves.”

Mamdani also broke with Velázquez, a progressive ally, in a contested race for her seat. Velázquez has endorsed Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso, a progressive and ally of Mamdani. But the mayor has backed Valdez, who has support from the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA).

Velázquez has not been quiet about her frustration with Mamdani over the endorsement.

“I’m not going to allow DSA to define who is progressive and who is not,” she said after campaigning with Reynoso, The New York Times reported. “Because the fact that they are here, I paved the way for that.”

The Hill has reached out to a spokesperson for Mamdani for comment.

The New York strategist argued Mamdani is making these endorsements without many tangible benefits as Espaillat and Goldman are consistent Democrats in their voting records.

“This isn’t… ‘We’re going to take out a really bad Dem and replace them with a really good Dem.’ Neither of those fights are this,” they said.

But Mamdani has also been selective in which primaries he weighs in on. He notably poured cold water on the idea of a left-wing challenge to House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), who has at times received criticism from the party’s left flank.

New York City Council member Chi Ossé filed paperwork late last year to challenge Jeffries, but Mamdani dismissed the idea, saying “the focus should be right here on New York City.” Ossé dropped his bid shortly after.

Yang said Mamdani is being intentional getting involved in races where the outcomes likely won’t impact his agenda while maintaining strong relations with state officials he needs to work with to notch accomplishments, like Hochul, Jeffries and state Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie (D).

“He’s taking on some political risk, but I see him as being very calculated and very thoughtful, where he takes risks,” Yang said.

Mamdani has only endorsed in open state legislative races and not against any incumbents.

However, Ester Fuchs, a political science professor at Columbia University, argued Mamdani has more to risk than gain, pointing to his victory in the mayoral race last year. Although Mamdani was the Democratic nominee and won comfortably, he only just clinched a majority of the vote in one of the most Democratic-leaning cities in the country.

“He needs to expand his base in New York, so it is high risk for him to go into two districts and in one case support the opponent of a senior Hispanic incumbent legislator and the other case oppose the preferred candidate of a retiring senior Hispanic legislator,” Fuchs said.

But Dan Lamb, an associate teaching professor at Cornell University’s Cornell Brooks School of Public Policy and former congressional aide, said he expects those involved will move on after the primary ends.

“People never forget, but they have to work together some level after the election,” he said.

“I’ve seen that plenty of times, and politicians have pretty good survival instincts,” Lamb said. “They know that even if they did have a fight during the primary, it’s in their mutual best interest to work together post-primary.”