Seventh Congressional District Primary

In New York’s Seventh District, the incumbent congresswoman, Nydia Velázquez, opted not to run for reëlection, setting up a showdown between Antonio Reynoso, the Brooklyn borough president, and Claire Valdez, a New York State Assembly member. Velázquez, who has represented the district since 1993, is supporting Reynoso, her protégé, while Mayor Zohran Mamdani is backing Valdez, a member of the Democratic Socialists of America and an early supporter of Mamdani’s campaign. The Seventh District, often dubbed the “Commie Corridor,” is among the most left-wing congressional districts in the country, and Reynoso and Valdez have put forward similarly progressive platforms—abolishing ICE, Medicare for All, cutting off military aid to Israel—meaning the race has largely become a referendum on Mamdani’s ability to get his political allies elected to national office over establishment-backed Democrats. Julie Won, a New York City Council member, is also running.

Tenth Congressional District Primary

In New York’s Tenth District, which includes parts of lower Manhattan and of Brooklyn, the incumbent congressman, Dan Goldman, is facing a competitive primary challenge from Brad Lander, the former New York City comptroller and a candidate for mayor in 2025. Goldman, who was a lead counsel in the 2019 impeachment trial against President Donald Trump, did not endorse Mamdani in last year’s mayoral election. Lander, who did endorse Mamdani, after dropping out of the mayoral race, has labelled Goldman a “career politician” and has criticized him for spending millions of dollars of his own money to fund his campaign. (Goldman, an heir to the Levi Strauss fortune, is one of the wealthiest members of Congress.) The district is home to a large Jewish population, and U.S.-Israel relations have emerged as a major issue in the race, with Lander calling Israeli actions in Gaza a genocide, and attacking Goldman for his support of U.S. military aid to Israel. Goldman has criticized the government of Benjamin Netanyahu, but has said he sees no evidence that Israel has committed a genocide. Goldman has been endorsed by New York Governor Kathy Hochul, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, and several other establishment figures in the Democratic Party. Lander has been endorsed by Senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren.

Twelfth Congressional District Primary

In New York’s Twelfth District, a crowded field is vying to replace the longtime incumbent, Jerry Nadler, who plans to retire at the end of his current term. The leading candidates include Alex Bores, a State Assembly member; George Conway, a former Republican known for his anti-Trump activism; Micah Lasher, also a State Assembly member; and Jack Schlossberg, a political influencer and the grandson of President John F. Kennedy. The district, which includes wide swaths of Manhattan, is the wealthiest in the country. Lasher, who has received support from much of the New York City political establishment, including Governor Hochul and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, has held a narrow lead in the polls. Bores, a former computer scientist, has made A.I. regulation a cornerstone of his campaign. Schlossberg has been endorsed by the former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi. Mamdani, now a resident of the Twelfth District, declined to endorse a candidate. Nina Schwalbe, a public-health official, is also running.

Thirteenth Congressional District Primary

In New York’s Thirteenth District, the incumbent, Adriano Espaillat, is facing a primary challenge from Darializa Avila Chevalier, a community organizer and a sociology Ph.D. candidate backed by Mamdani. Espaillat was first elected in 2016, and is the chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. In 2024, he ran unopposed in the district’s Democratic primary and won the general election with more than eighty-three per cent of the vote. Chevalier, a member of the Democratic Socialists of America, has never held political office. (Espaillat endorsed former Governor Andrew Cuomo over Mamdani in the mayoral primary election, but supported the Mayor during the general election.) Like several other New York City primary elections, the race has become a proxy for division within the Democratic Party over U.S.-Israel relations. AIPAC, the pro-Israel lobbying group, has supported Espaillat, who has refused to call Israeli actions in Gaza a genocide. (Chevalier has called Israeli actions in Gaza a genocide.) Additionally, Chevalier has been criticized for a series of old tweets she made, in which she advocated for the abolition of prisons and said, “Fuck Kamala Harris.” Espaillat has been endorsed by Jeffries, Hochul, and the New York attorney general, Letitia James, while Chevalier has been endorsed by Senator Sanders and former U.S. Representative Jamaal Bowman.