Mamdani-backed socialist wins in New York expose growing rift between Democratic establishment, insurgent left

Ahead of this week's closely watched Democratic congressional primaries in New York, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani stressed that the party "must change."

On Tuesday, the 34-year-old democratic socialist mayor of the nation's most populous city took a major step toward that goal as three far-left congressional candidates he endorsed and campaigned tirelessly for defeated more mainstream Democrats, including two incumbents.

The victories by the Mamdani-backed candidates guarantee that the number of Democratic Socialists of America-aligned candidates will at least double in the next Congress and give Republicans further ammunition as they continue to portray all Democrats as far-left radicals.

A decade after progressive champion Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont came close to capturing the Democratic presidential nomination, and eight years after Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez burst onto the national stage by ousting then-House Democratic Caucus Chairman Joe Crowley in a shocking primary upset, the far left appears further emboldened as it takes on the center-left establishment in a high-stakes battle for the future of the party.

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Darializa Avila Chevalier, the 32-year-old Mamdani-backed community organizer and democratic socialist who narrowly topped incumbent Democrat Adriano Espaillat, the 71-year-old Congressional Hispanic Caucus chair and the first Dominican American elected to the U.S. House, called her victory a "clear mandate."

Mamdani-endorsed state Assembly Member Claire Valdez, who won her primary on Tuesday in New York's 7th District, emphasized in her victory speech that "we haven't just won an election. We have declared that this movement is durable — that it is growing, and that it will not stop until working people are no longer asked to just build the table, no longer just offered a seat at the table, but will run the table."

In the race to succeed retiring Democratic Rep. Nydia Velazquez, Valdez topped the congresswoman's handpicked candidate, Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso, by over 20 points.

Mamdani, whose kingmaker status was dramatically boosted by the primary victories, said Wednesday that he sees "these results as a reflection of the fact that New Yorkers are hungry for a new kind of politics." Looking to the national stage, the mayor added, "My goal is to make America a place that every American can afford

And possibly looking to the national stage, the mayor added, "My goal is to make America a place that every American can afford."

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Rep. Ro Khanna of California, one of the most visible national progressive leaders and a potential 2028 Democratic presidential contender, said the results in New York City "shows we have a new party."

Adam Green, co-founder of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, told Fox News Digital that "New York's clean sweep was a political earthquake that shows voters want shake-up-the-system fighters who are not owned by corporate interests, billionaires, or corrupt Trump allies like AIPAC," referring to the powerful pro-Israel lobbying group.

The results will give Senate Minority Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, the top two Democrats in Congress, major headaches in their own backyard of New York.

The 75-year-old Schumer, who is certain to face a primary challenge from the left if he seeks re-election in 2028, repeatedly pointed to Republican President Donald Trump when asked about the victories by the far-left candidates.

"We have a great unified party, and we're going to stop Trump," Schumer told reporters.

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Jeffries is also likely to be targeted from the left.

The crowd at the Valdez victory party chanted "you’re next" as a cable news interview with Jeffries appeared on the big screens on Tuesday night.

Jeffries told reporters on Wednesday, "I'm going to continue to stand behind every single Democratic incumbent, while of course, continuing to focus on what we actually need to do for this country, which is to take back control of the House of Representatives."

Matt Bennett, one of the leaders at the Third Way, a leading center-left Democratic organization, acknowledged that "there is enormous energy around the far left in very, very blue places, like New York City" and that "they are succeeding in their mission to oust incumbents or mainstream Democrats from blue seats and make them bluer."

But outside what has been labeled New York City's "Commie corridor," which includes parts of Brooklyn and Queens where voters in recent years have consistently backed far-left and socialist candidates, more mainstream Democrats prevailed in Tuesday's primaries.

In the high-profile showdown to succeed retiring longtime Democratic Rep. Jerry Nadler in Manhattan, former Nadler staffer Micah Lasher came out on top.

Miles north of New York City in the state's swing 17th Congressional District, Army veteran Cait Conley won the primary and will challenge GOP Rep. Mike Lawler in a key midterm contest that is one of a handful which will determine if Republicans hold the slim House majority.

In Utah, former Democratic Rep. Ben McAdams defeated progressive rivals to win the primary in the newly redrawn and blue-leaning1st Congressional District. And in Maryland, just outside of Washington D.C., in the race to succeed longtime Rep. Steny Hoyer, Adrian Boafo, who was supported by Hoyer, topped a crowded and diverse Democratic primary field.

Bennett said that the New York City races grabbing outsized attention "are not representative districts, and it remains the case that the far left, in the Trump era, has failed to flip a single seat in Congress from red to blue, House or Senate."

"They’re doing nothing to put a check on Trump or get power back," he argued. "And in fact, they’re making it harder, because they’re handing Republicans very potent ammunition to use against Democrats in swing districts the way the GOP used ‘defund the police’ very effectively in 2020."

Since Mamdani's shocking Democratic mayoral primary win a year ago, Republicans have used him as a cudgel as they work to hold their razor-thin House majority in this year's midterm elections.

National Republican Congressional Committee spokesman Mike Marinella argued that "Zohran Mamdani’s socialist brand is as toxic as it comes."

Pointing to Tuesday's results, Marinella charged that "it was the night the Democrat establishment officially surrendered to Zohran Mamdani and the socialist wing of their party. Every House Democrat, in safe and competitive districts alike, will now answer to the radicals calling the shots. And Americans should be terrified by where the Democrat Party is headed."

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Mamdani says bring it on.

"We've heard from Republicans time and again that they're going to try and make these candidates the face of the Democratic Party. To them. I say that we are ready for that," the mayor said on Wednesday.

Tuesday's primaries were just one chapter in the ongoing struggle between the far left and the establishment. More battles are ahead, including next Tuesday's congressional primaries in blue-leaning Colorado, the high-profile Democratic Senate primary in Michigan, the gubernatorial showdown in Wisconsin in early August, and the Los Angeles mayoral general election in the fall.

And the fight will continue after the midterms, as the 2028 Democratic presidential nomination race officially gets underway.

"For Democrats to win at the national level, they need candidates who span the political spectrum. The party has always had a big tent. But the old battle lines of progressive versus moderate are less important now than insider versus outsider," Democratic strategist Chris Moyer told Fox News.

Moyer, a veteran of multiple Democratic presidential campaigns, said, "More than anything else today, the authenticity question is decisive. Too many politicians are full of s---, and voters have never been better at spotting phonies."