NEW YORK — Rep. Jerrold Nadler trounced Rep. Carolyn Maloney in their blockbuster Manhattan primary Tuesday, holding on to the district he has represented for three decades and ousting a fellow Democratic congressional titan after an unusually contentious campaign.
Nadler, a veteran Upper West Side liberal, held nearly 56% of the vote total compared with the 24% clinched by Maloney, his colleague-turned-rival from the Upper East Side, according to early state Board of Elections returns from the 12th Congressional District primary. Insurgent candidate Suraj Patel trailed them with about 19%.
Nadler, the powerful head of the House Judiciary Committee, has represented different versions of a West Side-based district for three decades, rarely facing more than token primary opposition since his first 1992 election.
But the usual cakewalk turned into a cage fight when a court-appointed special master redrew New York’s congressional district lines earlier this year to effectively combine Nadler’s political base with Maloney’s. The two congressional veterans — Maloney was also first elected in 1991 — decided to run against each other as a result.
The two cordial allies quickly turned to lobbing political attacks at one another as a potentially career-ending loss loomed for one or the other.
With little of political substance dividing them, Nadler touted his modest upbringing and his long history of fighting for liberal causes.
He called out Maloney, who is married to a wealthy investment banker, for loaning millions to her do-or-die campaign.
Maloney, who leads the similarly powerful House Oversight Committee, suggested that a woman would be better placed to argue the case for abortion rights and gun control.
She also portrayed herself as a more-effective fighter for local causes like the battle to win benefits for 9/11 first responders. Toward the tail end of the campaign, Maloney took on a more aggressive tone, questioning Nadler’s mental state and even claiming he was going “senile.”
One defining moment came during a televised debate when the candidates were asked whether President Joe Biden should run for reelection.
Maloney stumbled by saying she didn’t think Biden will run again, a response that fell flat with Democrats who are rallying behind the president as the party fights to hold Congress.
Nadler later gained momentum when U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, New York’s most powerful Democrat in Congress, endorsed him.
Polls earlier in the race showed a tight race between Nadler and Maloney. But in the last couple of weeks, surveys showed Nadler opening up a decent-sized lead.
Patel mounted surprisingly strong challenges to Maloney in 2018 and 2020 but most his strongest precincts were in areas of western Queens and northern Brooklyn that were cut out of the new district.
The entrepreneur argued that both leaders had been in Washington, D.C., for far too long and presented himself as a leader for the future.
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