Less than seven months after Zohran Mamdani completed his stunning run to defeat former Governor Andrew Cuomo and become the youngest mayor of New York City in a century, a trio of Mamdani backed left-wing congressional candidates accomplished similar feats.
Two of the candidates Mamdani endorsed, New York City Comptroller Brad Lander and community activist Darializa Avila Chevalier, unseated incumbent Democratic congressmen.
One of the defeated, 79-year-old Adriano Espaillat, had served five terms in the House of Representatives and was the leader of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. The other, Dan Goldman, made his name as the lead lawyer in Trump’s first impeachment trial and had the financial support of Aipac, the deep-pocketed pro-Israel lobbying group.
In the third race, state assemblywoman Claire Valdez beat an opponent who had the backing of much of New York City’s Democratic establishment.
It was the kind of clean sweep that suggests Mamdani’s decisive mayoral victory last year was no fluke. He has assembled a coalition in New York City that is capable of elevating like-minded candidates to office, all of who celebrated Mamdani’s backing in their Tuesday night victory parties.
“I want to thank our mayor,” Valdez said. “Tonight we have not just won an election, but we have proved that this movement is durable.”
The trio of victories were a stark illustration of the divisions in the Democratic Party and sent clear a message to its leaders across the US.
