NEW YORK (AP) — New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani emerged this week as a rising force within the Democratic Party — and not everyone in that party is happy about it.
While progressives across the country celebrated, some of the most influential Democrats in Washington moved quickly to minimize the significance of Mamdani’s Tuesday victories. The 34-year-old democratic socialist mayor saw his hand-picked slate of congressional candidates defeat three establishment Democrats — including two sitting members of Congress — in primary contests. He also successfully backed five additional candidates in state legislative races.
Just six months into his first term as mayor, Mamdani pulled off a remarkable sweep that stands to grow his influence in both Washington and Albany. On Wednesday, he announced his intention to bring his political agenda to other states while pushing for sweeping changes within the Democratic Party.
“Working people are struggling across the country,” Mamdani said, adding that he hopes to help “write a new chapter in our party’s history, where working people are back at the heart of that struggle. And I believe that will be key in not just the midterms coming up in November, but also in the years to come.”
The reaction from Democratic leadership laid bare the gulf between the party’s progressive and establishment factions, who disagree sharply on how Democrats should govern — and campaign — during the remaining two years of the Donald Trump presidency.
Party leaders are eager to prevent an all-out internal war before November’s midterms, particularly as Republicans deal with their own divisions over Trump’s conflict with Iran, the rising cost of living, and the president’s expensive plans to construct a large ballroom at the White House.
Opposition to Mamdani from senior Democrats was anything but quiet.
“The effort to nationalize New York is going to fail,” said Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut. “What’s happening in New York will be really irrelevant by the time of the elections in November.”
Rep. Marc Veasey of Texas, a vice chair of the New Democrat Coalition, was equally dismissive, suggesting progressives were thinking short-term while moderates had a longer game in mind.
“No one in DSA is trying to win in a red-to-blue seat, or in a tough general election matchup,” Veasey said, referring to democratic socialist candidates.
Progressive Democrats, however, argued the party should embrace its newest nominees.
“What I would like to see, and what I think would be actually productive and beneficial, is a congratulations to these people, a commitment to welcome them in, to understanding the perspectives that they bring,” said Rep. Summer Lee, a 38-year-old progressive from Pennsylvania.
Sen. Bernie Sanders, an independent from Vermont who hit the campaign trail alongside Mamdani and his allies last week, said the New York results delivered an unmistakable message.
“The American people, in New York and increasingly all over the country, are sick and tired of status quo establishment politics,” he said. “I think you’re gonna continue to see it.”
President Trump used the moment to stoke tensions, telling reporters from the Oval Office that Democrats were “going radical left” and that Mamdani’s chosen candidates are “really communist.”
Trump also commented on the defeat of Rep. Dan Goldman — who had previously served as a top attorney during Democrats’ first impeachment of Trump — by Brad Lander, a Mamdani ally.
“When they go more liberal than Dan Goldman, they’re really into Never Neverland,” Trump said.
Mamdani’s three congressional picks were considered a political long shot even by his own team, yet all three won.
Goldman, a two-term incumbent, was quickly unseated by Lander, a former city comptroller.
U.S. Rep. Adriano Espaillat, who chairs the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, was defeated by Mamdani’s most controversial pick, Darializa Avila Chevalier, a democratic socialist who previously helped organize pro-Palestinian demonstrations at Columbia University.
Antonio Reynoso, who had been chosen as the successor to U.S. Rep. Nydia Velazquez, fell to another democratic socialist, Assembly Member Claire Valdez.
All of Mamdani’s candidates ran on pledges to “abolish ICE,” described Israel’s actions in Gaza as “genocide,” and called for taxing the wealthy.
“Voters are just pissed off,” Lander said in an interview. “They want people who show who they’re fighting for, and really get out and fight for things that matter in the lives of working people.”
Progressive leaders called on Democratic leadership in Washington — and potential future presidential candidates — to take the New York results seriously and make real changes in the months ahead.
Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut, considered a possible presidential contender, said it would be “silly” for Democrats to ignore the lessons from New York’s primary results.
“The voters are clearly telling us they want us to be bolder — bolder in the policies we’re proposing and bolder in the tactics we use to fight authoritarians,” he said.
Still, critics of Mamdani within the party were not hard to find.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, who is positioned to become the next House speaker if Democrats reclaim the majority this fall, repeatedly pushed back against Mamdani’s slate in interviews and public appearances.
“He’s got work to do in terms of the conversations that he’s going to have with members of Congress moving forward,” said Jeffries, the top House Democrat, even while acknowledging the two maintain a working relationship.
House Republican operatives said they plan to use Mamdani and his candidates to damage the Democratic brand in competitive midterm races nationwide, while some Republican officials urged their party to take note of the political shift underway.
“Republicans need to wake up. What we saw last night in New York can only be called one thing: a socialist uprising sweeping the Democrat Party,” said Sen. Bernie Moreno of Ohio. “If Republicans don’t act now, we will lose this country as we know it.”
Trump, meanwhile, appeared more focused on Mamdani’s growing national profile than on his policy positions.
“Mayor Mamdani pulled through 3 solid Communists, and has received loud and universal applause from the Fake News Media. Congratulations Mr. Mayor!” Trump wrote on social media. “I went 16-0 last night, helping to elect wonderful American Patriots, and the Media doesn’t say a word.”
Mamdani brushed aside concerns that his victories could hurt Democrats’ chances of winning back Congress in the fall.
“We’ve heard from Republicans time and again that they’re going to try and make these candidates the face of the Democratic Party. To them, I say that we are ready for that,” he said. “For far too long we have been told that it is not possible to fight for working people and win. These candidates have shown that they can.”
Some Democrats acknowledged the difficult road ahead in uniting a fractured party.
“We have to respect the voters. They made their decision,” said Sen. Peter Welch of Vermont.
“The challenge that we have,” he continued, “is to build the different points of view together, all in service of helping people who are struggling to pay their bills to get more economic security. The challenge of unity is enormous. But that’s our challenge.”
