{"id":273433,"date":"2026-06-21T22:56:16","date_gmt":"2026-06-21T22:56:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/273433\/"},"modified":"2026-06-21T22:56:16","modified_gmt":"2026-06-21T22:56:16","slug":"mamdani-wants-to-change-the-democratic-party-but-can-he-get-his-house-picks-over-the-finish-line-in-tuesdays-primary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/273433\/","title":{"rendered":"Mamdani wants to change the Democratic Party. But can he get his House picks over the finish line in Tuesday\u2019s primary?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mayor Zohran Mamdani<\/a> told supporters at a Brooklyn rally with his \u201cmentor,\u201d Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders<\/a>, that the Democratic Party \u201cmust change,\u201d casting the June 23 congressional primaries as a test of his political clout, the next test of New York\u2019s progressive movement, and a referendum on the direction of the party.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Speaking to supporters at Kings Theatre on June 18, the democratic socialist mayor urged the crowd to help elect the three progressive congressional candidates he has endorsed: Brad Lander<\/a>, Claire Valdez<\/a>, and Darializa Avila Chevalier.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

The get-out-the-vote rally doubled as a show of force for the city\u2019s left, with Mamdani trying to turn the energy that carried him into City Hall into wins further down the ballot. That coalition was powered in part by young and first-time voters<\/a>, who helped fuel Mamdani\u2019s mayoral primary win and are now central to the question of whether his campaign\u2019s mix of digital organizing and door-knocking can translate to other races.<\/p>\n

Mamdani candidates face weak early voting turnout<\/p>\n

The turnout environment this year is much different from the one that helped propel Mamdani\u2019s mayoral campaign. Through six days of early voting, Board of Elections data<\/a> showed 92,347 citywide check-ins, less than half<\/a> the 212,444 recorded at the same point in last year\u2019s mayoral primary.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The largest raw decline was in Brooklyn, where early voting fell from 78,311 check-ins at this point last year to 26,464 this year. Manhattan now accounts for the largest share of the early vote.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur work has never been about any one person, any one office, or any one election,\u201d Mamdani told the crowd Thursday evening, still decked out in his Knicks jersey from the ticker tape parade and City Hall ceremony earlier in the day. \u201cOur work has been about one movement.\u201d<\/p>\n

That movement, Mamdani argued, now has to prove it can do more than win the mayoralty. He said supporters must knock doors, make calls, text friends and bring neighbors to the polls before Tuesday\u2019s primaries.<\/p>\n

Primary is biggest test yet of Mamdani political strength in Democratic party<\/p>\n

\"\"Mayor Zohran Mamdani rallied supporters at Kings Theatre in Brooklyn on Thursday, telling the crowd his political movement was \u201cnever about any one person, any one office, or any one election.\u201dPhoto by Lloyd Mitchell \"\"Photo by Lloyd Mitchell<\/p>\n

The rally comes just over six months into Mamdani\u2019s term and placed him at the center of a set of congressional races that could help define the city\u2019s progressive politics beyond City Hall. Lander is running in New York\u2019s 10th Congressional District, Valdez is running in the 7th, and Avila Chevalier is running in the 13th, with Lander and Avila Chevalier looking to unseat incumbents Dan Goldman and Adriano Espaillat.<\/p>\n

Thursday evening also sought to boost state legislative candidates backed by the same progressive coalition: Aber Khawas in Queens\u2019 12th State Senate District, Illapa Sairitupac in Lower Manhattan\u2019s 65th Assembly District, Samantha Kattan in Queens\u2019 37th Assembly District, Eli Northrup in Manhattan\u2019s 69th Assembly District and Brian Romero in Queens\u2019 34th Assembly District.<\/p>\n

Mamdani framed Tuesday\u2019s races as a direct challenge to a Democratic establishment that, he said, has failed to meet the urgency of the moment.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople often ask me what I think of the state of the Democratic Party,\u201d Mamdani said. \u201cThis slate here today is our answer.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

He added moments later: \u201cThe Democratic Party must change.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

He argued that the party has been too cautious, too beholden to political calculation, and too focused on telling voters what cannot be done. He said Democrats need to offer an affirmative agenda around affordability, housing, child care and working-class power.<\/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. \u201cIt has seen its job as explaining why we cannot instead of showing how we can.\u201d<\/p>\n

The mayor also tied the New York primaries to the party\u2019s national future, saying the fight over the 2028 presidential race \u201cstarts now\u201d and \u201cstarts on Tuesday.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Mamdani, the congressional races are also a test of whether his endorsement can move voters. So far, Mamdani\u2019s post-mayoral endorsement power has had uneven results. <\/p>\n

Diana Moreno<\/a>, his preferred successor in his former Queens Assembly district, won easily in a February special election, but Mamdani hit a bump months later on Manhattan\u2019s West Side, where Carl Wilson defeated his endorsed candidate<\/a>, Lindsey Boylan, in a closely watched Council race.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Since taking office, he has tried to present his administration as proof that democratic socialist politics can coexist with basic municipal competence. On Thursday, he returned to that argument, saying voters had been offered a false choice between a government that could handle everyday services and one that could pursue larger progressive goals.<\/p>\n

\u201cGovernment can fix crumbling streets, bring people together, and transform our city,\u201d he said.\n<\/p>\n

Democratic socialist scramble to get-out-the-vote
\n\"\"Sen. Bernie Sanders told supporters at Kings Theatre that progressive and democratic socialist candidates were winning across the country, saying Zohran Mamdani \u201ctook on the Democratic establishment\u201d and won.Photo by Lloyd Mitchell<\/p>\n

Sanders, who headlined the rally, helped to give the night a national progressive frame. But the event\u2019s immediate purpose was local: getting Mamdani\u2019s preferred House candidates over the finish line.<\/p>\n

The Vermont senator and democratic socialist firebrand used his remarks to argue that Mamdani\u2019s victory was part of a broader wave of progressive and democratic socialist wins across the country. He said Mamdani had taken on \u201cthe Democratic establishment, the Republican establishment, the President, the oligarchs\u201d and won, then urged the crowd to spend the final days before the primary helping Lander, Valdez and Avila Chevalier win their own races.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat tonight is about,\u201d Sanders said, is making sure that \u201cBrad and Claire and Darializa become the next Congress people for New York City.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

The rally repeatedly returned to the mechanics of turnout. Organizers asked attendees to sign up for canvassing shifts, with the event not taking place in any of the congressional districts. Supporters were repeatedly urged not to leave the theater without committing to get-out-the-vote work. The message of the night was that enthusiasm alone would not be enough.<\/p>\n

Lander, Valdez, and Avila Chevalier each made their pitch as candidates who would confront corporate power, defend immigrants, and push the Democratic Party leftward.<\/p>\n

Lander framed his campaign around \u201csolidarity,\u201d tying together labor rights, protections for immigrants, housing affordability, and opposition to billionaire influence in politics. He pointed to his record in city government, including labor protections for fast food workers, delivery workers and freelancers, and said he would bring that same approach to Congress.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He also linked his campaign to the fight against ICE and U.S. support for Israel\u2019s war in Gaza, saying he would sign on to the Block the Bombs Act and oppose funding for \u201cNetanyahu\u2019s wars.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

And while the former comptroller appeared hand in hand with Valdez and Avila Chevalier, he has not endorsed their campaigns.\n<\/p>\n

\"\"Brad Lander told supporters Thursday that \u201csolidarity\u201d was the force needed to confront ICE, billionaires and corporate power.Photo by Lloyd Mitchell \"\"Claire Valdez, told supporters that working people \u201cdeserve it all\u201d as she made her pitch for Congress.Photo by Lloyd Mitchell \"\"Darializa Avila Chevalier described her campaign as \u201ca movement,\u201d not \u201ca machine,\u201d as she urged voters to help her unseat Rep. Adriano Espaillat.Photo by Lloyd Mitchell<\/p>\n

Valdez, a union organizer and Assembly member who is challenging Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso and Council Member Julie Won to replace retiring Rep. Nydia Vel\u00e1zquez, told the crowd that working people are squeezed by bosses, landlords, debt and war. She described workers in Bushwick, Greenpoint and Maspeth struggling with rent, long hours and corporate pressure, and said her own first union meeting helped her understand solidarity as a source of political power.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor the first time in my working life, I didn\u2019t feel alone,\u201d Valdez said.\n<\/p>\n

Avila Chevalier, who introduced herself as a teacher, public defense investigator, Afro-Latina organizer and Harlem renter, cast her campaign as a people-powered challenge to entrenched political power. \u201cThis is what a movement looks like, not a machine,\u201d she told the crowd, while arguing that Espaillat had failed renters, immigrants and working-class residents in the district.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Mamdani later offered his own case for the three candidates, saying Lander \u201cput his own back on the line\u201d for immigrants detained by ICE, Valdez had organized for a cease-fire and been arrested protesting ICE, and Avila Chevalier had worked to reunite families separated by immigration enforcement. He told the crowd the three candidates represented the kind of leaders New York should send to Congress.<\/p>\n

Mamdani also criticized outside spending against the candidates, accusing powerful interests of trying to protect incumbents and preserve their influence. He singled out AIPAC, accusing the group of moving millions in \u201cdark money\u201d to preserve its power.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we win,\u201d Mamdani said, \u201cwe will make it clear that our movement is more powerful than their money.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Mayor Zohran Mamdani told supporters at a Brooklyn rally with his \u201cmentor,\u201d Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, that the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":273434,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[89536,5057,8069,98,9440,95434,19649,1445,9,11,10],"class_list":["post-273433","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-2026-democratic-primary","tag-bernie-sanders","tag-brad-lander","tag-brooklyn","tag-claire-valdez","tag-darializa-avila-chevalier","tag-kings-theatre","tag-mamdani","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-headlines","tag-new-york-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/273433","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=273433"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/273433\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/273434"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=273433"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=273433"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=273433"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}