On Tuesday, left-aligned institutions working within the Democratic Party flexed their political muscles as insurgent progressive candidates carrying all three major contested congressional primaries on Tuesday — two of which were against high-profile incumbents. While the rest of the political class is arguing over whether the brand of democratic socialism that looked ascendant in New York can be exported to other parts of the country, some of the groups behind Tuesday’s win are already testing just that.
In New York’s congressional primaries, the three winning candidates aligned with the city’s popular mayor, Zohran Mamdani. They include state assembly member Claire Valdez, former city comptroller Brad Lander and community organizer Darializa Avila Chevalier. In these races, Lander and Chevalier defeated incumbent representatives while Valdez defeated the sitting Brooklyn Borough president, Antonio Reynoso, who also enjoyed the support of the outgoing Rep. Nydia Velázquez, D-N.Y.
