Early voting starts Saturday in New York’s Democratic primaries — with several high-profile races involving far-left insurgents backed by Mayor Zohran Mamdani aiming to take down moderate incumbents.
Some of the contests could disrupt the political landscape as the local Democratic Socialists of America chapter aims to grow its presence both locally and nationally following their candidate Mamdani’s stunning win last year.
“This is the strongest he’ll ever be, and I think that Mamdani movement, he needs to keep that going,” one lefty Democratic operative said.
“Every election is an organizing opportunity, whether you win or not,” said the source, adding the NYC-DSA “have their first socialist mayor and they need him and he needs them.”
A slew of congressional and state chamber seats are up for grabs, with tens of thousands of ballots expected to be cast as early voting gets underway from June 13-21 ahead of the June 23 election.
Here are some of the races to watch:
One of the three congressional hopefuls endorsed by Mamdani is one-term Queens state Assemblywoman Claire Valdez, a fellow DSA member, for New York’s 7th House District.
She’s taking on Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso, who has the backing of retiring Rep. Nydia Velázquez to become her successor for the seat that covers some of Queens and Brooklyn.
While Valdez has the support of the DSA and Mamdani, Reynoso was also endorsed by the progressive Working Families Party, causing internal strife among lefty Dems.
Queens Councilwoman Julie Won is also in the race, and could slice off enough votes to play spoiler for either Valdez and Reynoso, the leading candidates.
Ex-city comptroller and failed mayoral candidate Brad Lander is running to take out incumbent Rep. Dan Goldman in the Democratic primary for the 10th House District covering parts of Lower Manhattan and Brooklyn.
Lander, backed by Mamdani, appears set to top Goldman, according to recent polling.
The pair have clashed on their views of Israel – with Lander more willing to criticize the Jewish state’s government.
Doctoral student Darializa Avila Chevalier received a boost from DSA comrade Mamdani just last month in her campaign to dethrone longtime Rep. Adriano Espaillat in the 13th House District taking in parts of Upper Manhattan and The Bronx.
Avila Chevalier has faced a firestorm over her long list of past inflammatory remarks on social media, including attacking Joe Biden and other establishment Democrats, calling the US “a f–ing disgrace” and saying Israel didn’t exist.
Mamdani claimed this week he hadn’t seen Avila Chevalier’s comments before he opted to endorse her. She has said she is “not interested in relitigating the politics of my tweets.”
The race to replace retiring Rep. Jerry Nadler is packed.
A slew of Democrats are in the running for the 12th House District primary representing a large swath of Manhattan.
State Assembly Members Micah Lasher and Alex Bores are in the lead, along with Kennedy scion Jack Schlossberg, while Republican-turned-Trump critic George Conway and public health pro Nina Schwalbe are trailing further behind.
Other crucial primaries include the one for New York’s 17th House District in the Hudson Valley where Dems are battling for the chance to possibly knock off incumbent Republican Rep. Mike Lawler.
Special ops combat vet Cait Conley, Rockland County Legislator Beth Davidson, Tarrytown Trustee Effie Phillips-Staley, Air Force veteran John Cappello and lawyer-turned-journalist Mike Sacks are on the ballot.
And with upstate Rep. Elise Stefanik leaving Congress, GOP Assemblyman Robert Smullen and businessman Anthony Constantino, who is endorsed by President Trump, are facing off for the Republican nomination in the 21st House District.
A series of state legislative contests are in the spotlight, with Mamdani also dolling out endorsements in five races for state Senate and Assembly, including:
Mamdani has erred against endorsing any challengers to incumbent state legislators, while his lefty pal Ocasio-Cortez has not endorsed in any congressional races in the city.
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