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<\/p>\nFILE – Anaheim Ducks right wing Troy Terry (19) plays during the third period of an NHL hockey game against the Nashville Predators on April 16, 2026, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo\/George Walker IV, File)<\/p>\n
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NEW YORK (AP) \u2014 Not long ago, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani was demonized by leaders of both political parties. On Thursday night, the 34-year-old democratic socialist was celebrated as a political force, the face of the region’s sports renaissance, even the leader of \u201cMamdanistan.”<\/p>\n
In a rally with Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., that drew thousands to a Brooklyn theater, the emboldened mayor delivered a fiery message to Democratic leaders in Washington \u2014 and even those considering 2028 presidential bids \u2014 as he worked to elevate a slate of likeminded candidates in Tuesday’s New York primaries.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople often ask me what I think of the state of the Democratic Party. This slate here today is our answer,” Mamdani declared. “The Democratic Party must change.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe party of the past will not be what leads us into the future. We need a Democratic Party with backbone.”<\/p>\n
He shared the stage with three congressional candidates, including two running against Democratic incumbents. All three identify, or have identified, as democratic socialists. They promised to \u201cabolish ICE,\u201d condemned the \u201cgenocide\u201d in Israel and vowed to “tax the rich” if elected.<\/p>\n
The collection of congressional candidates he\u2019s backing represent a political gamble for Mamdani, whose picks may not win Tuesday, and a potential headache for Democratic leaders, who fear that Mamdani\u2019s allies may push the party too far left. It’s the latest way Mamdani is testing the limits of his newfound political muscle, even if it means challenging his own party\u2019s leadership.<\/p>\n
Sanders cheered him on Thursday night, noting that democratic socialists fighting for working-class voters like Mamdani have been elected across the country in recent months.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe politics and the policies of the democratic establishment are no longer good enough,\u201d Sanders charged. \u201cIn this dangerous and unprecedented moment in American history, tinkering around the edges just won\u2019t work.\u201d<\/p>\n
Establishment Democrats are not pleased with the mayor’s decisions.<\/p>\n
Mamdani endorsed political organizer Darializa Avila Chevalier over Rep. Adriano Espaillat, the chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, in New York’s 13th District, which includes parts of upper Manhattan and the Bronx.<\/p>\n
Mamdani is also backing former New York City Comptroller Brad Lander, who is running against incumbent Rep. Dan Goldman in New York’s 10th District. And in New York’s 7th, he’s supporting democratic socialist state Assembly Member Claire Valdez against outgoing Rep. Nydia Velazquez\u2019s handpicked successor.<\/p>\n
All three congressional candidates stood arm-in-arm with the mayor Thursday and spoke from a podium emblazoned with the sign \u201cOur team, our year.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cRight now there\u2019s really mass dissatisfaction with the way the party leadership has been operating and not standing up strongly enough to Trump,\u201d Valdez told The Associated Press before the rally, where she promised to \u201cFree Palestine\u201d and \u201cabolish ICE.\u201d<\/p>\n
She said she hopes to \u201cbring a partner to Zohran to Washington.\u201d<\/p>\n
Valdez’s primary opponent, Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso, said he feels like the underdog in the race, even though he was endorsed by the outgoing incumbent. He said Mamdani \u201chas a celebrity status that we haven\u2019t seen the likes of since I\u2019ve been alive.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s going to be our champion for the foreseeable future and he\u2019s doing a great job, and when he says that he\u2019s endorsing someone, it matters,\u201d Reynoso said in an interview. \u201cI believe that this community has seen me work, they know I\u2019m a progressive champion, and in any other circumstance I would be a favorite to win this race, but I\u2019m not because he has tipped the scale.\u201d<\/p>\n
The candidates are largely aligned on the biggest issues, although there are modest differences.<\/p>\n
Israel\u2019s war in Gaza has featured heavily among the Mamdani slate, with Lander, Valdez and Avila Chevalier casting their Democratic opponents as too soft on Israel. The mayor\u2019s candidates also sought to replicate much of the platform that sent him to City Hall, focusing on the city\u2019s high cost of living and framing themselves as fresh faces not beholden to powerful business interests.<\/p>\n
Avila Chevalier went after Espaillat at Thursday\u2019s rally for accepting major donations from real estate developers and Wall Street.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou cannot take working people for granted. And you cannot outspend a movement whose time has come,\u201d she said. \u201cWe are done being ignored.\u201d<\/p>\n
On Capitol Hill, Democrats are pleasantly surprised that Mamdani has become less of a political liability for the party in swing district seats than they once feared.<\/p>\n
But Mamdani\u2019s endorsements have aggravated intraparty fissures, especially among moderates who worry that Mamdani’s far-left brand may eventually tarnish the entire party.<\/p>\n
And House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, a fellow New Yorker, has tried to push back against the Mamdani-backed democratic socialist challengers, endorsing and campaigning for the embattled incumbents in a proxy fight with the mayor.<\/p>\n
But Jeffries and Mamdani have opted to wrestle only in primaries rather than bicker publicly and feed into GOP narratives of Democratic disarray.<\/p>\n
\u201cDemocrats must understand, and both the leader and Mamdani appreciate this, how to yell in areas where we agree and whisper in areas where we diverge,\u201d said Antjuan Seawright, a Democratic strategist who works with House Democrats.<\/p>\n
For now, Jeffries’ allies acknowledge that Mamdani has energized Democratic voters and may be able to reach some Americans who have checked out of the political process. They also prefer that Mamdani is hyper-focused on New York City\u2019s governance rather than traveling across the country.<\/p>\n
And yet Mamdani made clear Thursday that he wants his message to be heard nationally.<\/p>\n
He referenced the Democratic Party’s 2028 presidential nomination contest, saying it begins Tuesday when New York Democrats pick their general election nominees.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor far too long our party has seen its job as managing decline instead of delivering material change for working people,\u201d Mamdani said. \u201cThat old way of thinking will lose on Tuesday. And frankly it will lose in South Carolina and New Hampshire.\u201d<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Republicans plan to elevate Mamdani’s profile as well.<\/p>\n
The GOP hasn’t made Mamdani a central feature of its broader national messaging as it once threatened, but Republican operatives have sought to link Mamdani to Democratic House candidates in swing districts across California, Colorado and Wisconsin. They also believe the specter of the New York City mayor will loom large in pivotal House races in New York and New Jersey.<\/p>\n
The Republican bet is that vulnerable Democrats cannot afford to break with Mamdani too cleanly for fear of alienating progressive voters, even as they cast him as a radical.<\/p>\n
\u201cZohran Mamdani\u2019s socialist brand is as toxic as it comes,\u201d said Mike Marinella, a spokesperson for the National Republican Congressional Committee, House Republicans\u2019 campaign arm. \u201cAnd during a time when Democrats don\u2019t have a leader or a message, he\u2019s exactly the kind of bogeyman we can use against Democrats to truly show who is leading their party and the crazy policies they all support.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sanders’ senior adviser Faiz Shakir encouraged the GOP to try.<\/p>\n
He said \u201cthe crowd goes nuts\u201d when Sanders mentions Mamdani in almost every speech as he tours the nation rallying voters ahead of the midterms.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s seeing that opportunity \u2014 that we can radically change the Democratic Party,\u201d Shakir said of Mamdani, whom he described as a friend. \u201cHe certainly is not a political liability.\u201d<\/p>\n
Brown reported in Washington.<\/p>\n
From left, Democratic congressional candidates Brad Lander, Claire Valdez, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-VT., Mayor Zohran Mamdani and candidate Darializa Avila Chevalier gesture on stage during a Get Out The Vote rally ahead of New York’s primary election, Thursday, June 18, 2026, in the Brooklyn borough of New York. (AP Photo\/Ryan Murphy)<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n Democratic congressional candidates, Claire Valdez, Brad Lander, and Darializa Avila Chevalier gesture on stage with Mayor Zohran Mamdani during a Get Out The Vote rally ahead of New York’s primary election, Thursday, June 18, 2026, in the Brooklyn borough of New York. (AP Photo\/Ryan Murphy)<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-VT., speaks during a Get Out The Vote rally ahead of New York’s primary election, Thursday, June 18, 2026, in the Brooklyn borough of New York. (AP Photo\/Ryan Murphy)<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n Mayor Zohran Mamdani speaks during a Get Out The Vote rally ahead of New York’s primary election, Thursday, June 18, 2026, in the Brooklyn borough of New York. (AP Photo\/Ryan Murphy)<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n Mayor Zohran Mamdani, right, gestures on stage with U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-VT., during a Get Out The Vote rally ahead of New York’s primary election, Thursday, June 18, 2026, in the Brooklyn borough of New York. (AP Photo\/Ryan Murphy)<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n
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