Outside Rep. Adriano Espaillat’s primary night party, four men in neon sequins attempted to energize the atmosphere. Inside, the bar had just opened. Espaillat, who spent two decades aiming for Washington and a decade in Congress, arrived to deliver his concession speech and departed in under ten minutes.
Meanwhile, a more significant celebration was underway about three miles away. Zohran Mamdani was concluding a victory tour of three events with candidates who likely would not have reached Congress without his endorsements. This comes just a year after he surprised the political world by defeating Andrew Cuomo in the Democratic mayoral primary.
“We are showing that last June, a year ago tomorrow, was not an anomaly,” Mamdani stated. “It was not the end. It was the beginning.”
These victories underscore Mamdani’s emergence as a new power broker in New York politics and the Democratic Party. House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries is contending with the loss of two incumbent members and the rise of a group of progressive challengers. The long-standing figures in Democratic politics, including those who once saw themselves as insurgents, are reportedly unhappy.
Some express feelings of betrayal and distrust towards the mayor. According to one City Council member who spoke to CNN anonymously, Mamdani is only interested in alliances on his terms. Council members are reportedly discussing ways to counter Mamdani, such as withholding funding for aspects of his agenda or employing smaller tactics to provoke him.
Mamdani and his close associates describe this as a revolution, unfolding on his terms. He supported Darializa Avila Chevalier, a former campaign volunteer with a history of controversial social media posts and attendance at a rally the day after the October 7, 2023, Hamas attacks, propelling her toward Congress over the chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.
This occurred even after Espaillat endorsed Mamdani last year following his primary win against Cuomo, a move other Democrats did not make. Two individuals familiar with Espaillat’s thinking indicated he was initially doubtful of Avila Chevalier’s prospects. However, in a discreet meeting of democratic socialists and other allies at City Hall, he decided to offer his support.
“Mayor Mamdani is modeling a different kind of politics — not billionaire-funded or consultant-driven, but one that champions the needs of working people. That is precisely what New Yorkers are asking for, it’s what his endorsed candidates stand for, and it’s why this slate won tonight,” said Mamdani’s communications director, Anna Bahr, in a statement to CNN.
When asked after Avila Chevalier’s race was called, securing Mamdani’s trifecta, whether the mayor would work to mend fences after these primary contests or if people would now have to approach him, Bahr responded with a concise text: “:)”
Mamdani, a self-proclaimed New York Knicks fan, shared a video clip of star guard Jalen Brunson speaking at the team’s recent championship celebration. In the clip, Brunson says, “There’s a lot of people that have a lot of negative stuff to say. There’s a lot of people who have a lot of opinions. But when you prove them wrong, you don’t have to say shit to them.”
Still celebrating the victories on Wednesday morning, Mamdani indicated he would speak with Jeffries later that day. The mayor expressed his desire to collaborate but added, “I see these results as a reflection of are the fact that New Yorkers are hungry for a new kind of politics. They are hungry for a politics that understands working people should be at the heart of it.”
Jeffries told reporters that his relationship with Mamdani is “a very good one” and that they communicate regularly. “Listen, the mayor and I agreed to strongly disagree about some of his endorsements, and he’s got work to do in terms of the conversations that he’s going to have with members of Congress moving forward,” he said.
Highlighting a major theme of these elections, with many New York candidates emphasizing “Palestine is on the ballot,” a lifelong priority for Mamdani himself, he connected the focus on affordability to opposition to support for Israel. He recalled campaigning with Avila Chevalier in Harlem when a man who had just purchased diapers at a bodega remarked approvingly, “she speaks about babies, not bombs.”
“What could be a better example of what the people of the district want to see versus what the people of the district have been forced to experience, which is tens of billions of dollars being spent at a national level to bomb children overseas while children in our own districts are struggling?” Mamdani asked.
Shortly after Mamdani’s victory last year, Jeffries conveyed a message to Mamdani’s advisors, according to two people familiar with the matter. Jeffries reportedly stated that if they intended to challenge any incumbent Democrats, they should target him.
Initially, Mamdani did not pursue this. To the dismay of some allies, he intervened directly to prevent a potential primary challenge against Jeffries from City Councilman Chi Ossé, mobilizing the local chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America against a politician who had been a friend and supporter.
Mamdani then appeared on NBC’s “Meet the Press” and explicitly stated his desire for Jeffries to become speaker if Democrats secured a House majority. When asked on Tuesday morning why he believed Mamdani was willing to challenge others but not support his potential bid, Ossé told CNN, “I don’t have an answer on that.”
Rep. Dan Goldman, who declined to endorse Mamdani last year due to his anti-Israel stance, despite Goldman’s district overwhelmingly voting for Mamdani, was already a target. Mamdani reportedly advised another democratic socialist city councilwoman against running, stating he would back Brad Lander, who sought a congressional seat after not receiving his preferred position as first deputy mayor.
“I guess easy enough for him to make Brad my problem, not his problem,” Goldman told CNN outside a Brooklyn polling place a few hours before polls closed.
Despite past disagreements, Mamdani actively supported Lander’s campaign. Less than an hour after polls closed, he was on stage with Lander, celebrating a decisive victory.
The race for Rep. Nydia Velázquez’s seat proved more contentious. Velázquez had endorsed Mamdani early in his primary campaign and was acknowledged at his victory party last June. When asked if she regretted supporting him, the congresswoman stated she only supported his agenda and considered him the better choice at the time.
“He made a strategic error of judgement not to see what it means to have relationships at the different levels of government. For a city that relies on federal funding and the state, you try to expand your tent, not diminish it because you’re going to need help from everyone,” Velázquez commented.
The outgoing congresswoman initially hoped for a woman to succeed her, specifically one of Puerto Rican descent. According to multiple sources familiar with the situation, Mamdani made it clear that two individuals fitting this description with strong ties to the district, City Councilwoman Tiffany Caban and State Senator Julia Salazar, were not acceptable. This was because, despite their own ties to the DSA, they had initially expressed skepticism about his mayoral run, fearing it could jeopardize the democratic socialist project if he lost.
Consequently, Mamdani favored Claire Valdez, a one-term assemblywoman with a limited legislative record who had supported him early in the mayoral race. By then, he was aware that Velázquez intended to back Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso.
Mamdani repeatedly urged Velázquez to delay publicly endorsing Reynoso, including the day before an interview was published in which Mamdani endorsed Valdez, a fact he did not disclose to her.
Velázquez learned of the endorsement the following morning and canceled a dinner they had planned for that evening. Three months later, Velázquez stated she remains too upset to discuss the matter further. “All I can tell you is the dinner didn’t happen,” she said.
Following Mamdani’s primary win, Jeffries had been dismissive of the potential threat posed by his political supporters in congressional primaries. Last year, a top advisor referred to them as “Team Gentrification” to CNN. Speaking to CNN on Tuesday before the election results were known, the advisor maintained that the elections did not hold broader significance for Democrats. However, at Valdez’s election night party, attendees began chanting, “You’re next!” directed at him.
Both before and after his election as mayor, Mamdani has faced criticism from many Jewish voters in the city regarding his remarks about Israel. These tensions resurfaced when, at a rally for his three endorsed candidates the previous week, Mamdani characterized the American Israel Public Affairs Committee as among “monsters” in a critique of AIPAC’s campaign spending. This drew condemnation from various Jewish leaders who accused him of employing antisemitic tropes.
“What has emerged with the mayor is he appears to care most about the Middle East, which of course is not part of his job,” Goldman told CNN before polls closed. “But it seems to motivate just about every single thing he does on a political level, and certainly he has invested much more time in the political aspect of things than in the governing aspect of things. And he is creating an increasingly toxic environment, especially for Jews.”
Mamdani may have also alienated some key Black and Latino leaders. New York Attorney General Letitia James, a significant supporter during his mayoral campaign, was notably critical of his endorsements in Tuesday’s primaries.
“Some of the candidates that he has supported are individuals who do not understand the politics of New York City, the cultural differences from district to district, who have not been part of the history and the struggle of some of these districts, and are relatively new to the body politic,” James told CNN, specifically pointing to Mamdani’s perceived lack of understanding regarding deep-seated race and class issues.
James added that she and other political leaders she has spoken with are “disappointed” in Mamdani. “All of us are a little frustrated with the Democratic Party. But you don’t blow it up. That’s what MAGA has done,” James stated.
Standing in Brooklyn on Tuesday with James and Reynoso, Jasmine Gripper, the state director of the Working Families Party, attempted to remain diplomatic. The WFP has been a driving force in pushing New York politics leftward for 25 years, a role now elevated by Mamdani’s win for the DSA. Gripper acknowledged the frustration among some WFP supporters who felt the party should have backed Valdez and Avila Chevalier.
“DSA has a project to elect socialists. The Working Families Party has a project around building governing power on a broad coalition to deliver for working families. There are times where that project is parallel and aligned and united, and that’s great. And then there are times when we differ,” Gripper said. “I hope we can learn to fight cleaner races. I think this one got a little bit too personal, too dirty. And so I hope that’s a lesson we all learn.”
Reynoso, who entered politics as an insurgent against the established Brooklyn Democratic machine, spoke about the critical juncture presented by these elections while campaigning for votes outside a senior center on Tuesday afternoon. “If I win, I think he’s going to have a lot of talking to do,” Reynoso said. “If we lose, maybe he dismisses us.”
