Claire Valdez, Brad Lander, and Darializa Avila Chevalier won their primaries Tuesday night, sending a sign of strength for an NYC left led by Mayor Zohran Mamdani. The post Socialists Are Setting the Agenda in New York City appeared first on The Intercept.
What Washington Examiner chief political correspondent Byron York calls the “Trump effect” could determine the outcome of the midterm elections, for better or for worse. “Almost everything in the past eight years can be described in terms of Donald Trump, and I think that this Democratic turnout increase is a Trump effect,” York said on […]
Darializa Avila Chevalier won the Democratic primary election for New York City’s 13th Congressional District on Tuesday night, defeating Rep. Adriano Espaillat (D-NY). Chevalier, a self-described socialist whom New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani endorsed, defeated the five-term congressman by a margin of 49.4% of the vote to Espaillat’s 45.9%, good for a lead of […]
Today is Election Day in New York, with a number of primary challengers hoping to unseat Democratic establishment politicians. The Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) have a packed slate of 10 candidates across congressional, state Assembly and state Senate races. “People are really looking for something else other than these corporate Democrats,” says Liza Featherstone, author and columnist for Jacobin. Describing the DSA as a key part of the “grassroots base” of the left wing of the Democratic Party, Featherstone says DSA members want elected leaders who have come out of movements themselves, not just lifelong politicians who only turn to movements for endorsements every four years. Palestine is a key issue in many of the races, with DSA challengers taking a strong stand against genocide, while some incumbents have received large donations from AIPAC-linked super PACs. “People are absolutely disgusted with the U.S. relationship with Israel, absolutely appalled by the killing that we’ve seen,” says Featherstone. Today’s primary results will show to what extent the DSA is seen as a genuine alternative to the establishment wing of the Democratic Party.
Analysts were left stunned Wednesday morning after a trio of progressive congressional candidates backed by New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani swept Tuesday’s Democratic primary elections in New York, many of whom drew comparisons to the late 2000s Tea Party movement that reshaped the Republican Party.“CLEAN SWEEP FOR ZOHRAN!!!” wrote progressive political commentator and former congressional candidate Krystal Ball in a social media post on X to her more than 625,000 followers. “It's a new day in the Dem party.”Democratic congressional candidates Claire Valdez, Brad Lander and Darializa Avila Chevalier all won their respective primary elections Tuesday, with two of them ousting their establishment Democratic opponents, and by significant margins. Their victory comes in spite of House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) having “campaigned aggressively against Mamdani’s candidates.”“The Democratic Tea Party is here,” wrote Zachary Donnini, the head of data science at the news outlet VoteHub. “Tonight is shaping up to be one of the more consequential nights in recent Democratic politics, with Mamdani- and DSA-endorsed candidates reforming the party.”The Tea Party movement began in the late 2000s but fundamentally transformed the Republican Party during the 2010 midterms when a wave of far-right fiscal conservatives transformed the party and ousted multiple incumbents. Progressive Democrats have long hoped for their own party to undergo a similar transformation, and according to several journalists, that moment may have arrived on Tuesday.“The primary season is not over yet. And already, the number of Democratic socialists in Congress is set to double,” wrote Prem Thakker, a journalist with Zeteo. “Claire Valdez, Darializa Avila Chevalier, and Chris Rabb will join Bernie Sanders, Rashida Tlaib, and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. And there may yet be more to come.”And MS NOW columnist Eric Michael Garcia, using a tongue-in-cheek reference to the “Star Wars” character “Yoda,” made the following quip: “Begun the Democratic Tea Party has.”The Democratic Tea Party is here. Tonight is shaping up to be one of the more consequential nights in recent Democratic politics, with Mamdani- and DSA-endorsed candidates reforming the party.— Zachary Donnini (@ZacharyDonnini) June 24, 2026
Darializa Avila Chevalier walked out of a radio interview after being pressed about controversial social media posts in her NY primary race.
Divides over what GOP priorities should be ahead of this fall's midterm elections are testing the relationship between President Trump and Senate Republicans.
The Democratic Party is undergoing a hostile takeover by democratic socialists — as evidenced in New York's primaries on Tuesday where Democrat establishment-types suffered humiliating defeats at the hands of radicals cut from the same cloth as New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani.With over 90% of the votes in on Wednesday morning, incumbent Rep. Daniel Goldman trailed former NYC Comptroller Brad Lander 65.8% to 34% — a whopping 31.8 percentage points.'We are Westerners fighting for the total eradication of Western civilization.'Lander was endorsed by Mamdani, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), and the Working Families Party, and ran largely to the left of Goldman, heir to the Levi Strauss fortune.Goldman — who was endorsed by AIPAC, Gov. Kathy Hochul, and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries — did his apparent best to join his opponent, who is also Jewish, in criticizing Israel and virtue-signaling to radical would-be voters, but his best was nowhere near good enough.After getting steamrolled at the ballot box, Goldman told supporters, "The voters of New York’s 10th Congressional District have spoken, and while this is certainly not the outcome I hoped for and worked so hard for, I respect their decision."RELATED: CNN data analyst stunned by Democratic Party's takeover by Mamdani's fellow travelers Brad Lander and Mayor Zohran Mamdani. Spencer Platt/Getty Images.President Donald Trump weighed in on Truth Social, writing, "Weak and pathetic Congressman Dan Goldman just lost, BIG! I guess people didn’t like him illegally targeting President TRUMP. In any event, this jerk is finally GONE!"Rep. Adriano Espaillat, the five-term Democrat who leads the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, also lost to a Mamdani-backed radical, democratic socialist Darializa Avila Chevalier.Chevalier is a black identitarian who co-founded Columbia University Apartheid Divest, a radical coalition that posted "death to America" on social media earlier this year; stated, "We are Westerners fighting for the total eradication of Western civilization"; and asked for "community and instruction from militants in the Global South, who have been on the frontlines in the fight against tyranny and domination which undergird the imperialist world order."'NEVER be a communist Country!'In addition to her involvement with the international intifada, Chevalier helped advance the Columbia rape hoax and made headlines for advocating against all deportations, claiming, "Israel doesn't exist," and demanding a "world without prisons or police." She was backed by Mamdani, the local Democratic Socialists of America chapter, and Justice Democrats PAC.With 88% of the votes in, Chevalier leads Espaillat — who enjoyed endorsements from Hochul, Jeffries, and New York Attorney General Letitia James — 49.4% to 45.9%.Espaillat endorsed Mamdani for mayor last year.Claire Valdez, a Mamdani-backed democratic socialist member of the New York State Assembly, won her primary race for Democratic incumbent Rep. Nydia Velazquez's seat, beating the Democratic establishment's apparent preference and Velazquez's desired successor, Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso.Valdez campaigned on abolishing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, "demilitar[izing] the border," making it easier for illegal aliens to gain lawful permanent residence, defunding Israel, and super-charging the "Green New Deal." Like the other radicals, she also enjoyed support from Sanders, Justice Democrats PAC, and the DSA.Following the Mamdani-backed candidates' clean sweep, Trump wrote, "America the Beautiful will NEVER be a communist Country!"Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!
All three of the congressional candidates endorsed by New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani were victorious in the closely-watched races, dealing a massive blow for establishment Democrats. Meanwhile, Jack Schlossberg, the 33-year-old grandson of former President John F. Kennedy, failed in his bid to win a congressional seat in Manhattan.