Meanwhile, Democrat Jack Schlossberg, the 33-year-old grandson of former President John F. Kennedy, is hoping to write his own chapter in Camelot lore as he competes in a crowded field for a seat being vacated by retiring U.S. Rep. Jerry Nadler. Mamdani has made no endorsement in that race.<\/p>\n
The Kennedy scion is running in one of the country\u2019s wealthiest congressional districts \u2014 covering much of the center of Manhattan \u2014 but faces questions about his lack of work experience against more seasoned opponents.<\/p>\n
The field includes state Assembly members Micah Lasher, a longtime government hand backed by Democratic leaders, and Alex Bores, whose proposals to regulate artificial intelligence have triggered tech industry blowback. Also in the running is George Conway, a former attorney who helped start the anti-Trump group, The Lincoln Project, and has centered his candidacy on impeaching the president.<\/p>\n
Only months into his first term, Mamdani surprised some by aggressively endorsing candidates who are challenging Democrats supported by the party leadership.<\/p>\n
If his slate is successful, Mamdani \u2014 a registered Democrat \u2014 could emerge as a democratic socialist kingmaker with newfound support in Congress, though the play could also risk further dividing fellow Democrats and strain his relationships with party leaders.<\/p>\n
Last month, the mayor endorsed Avila Chevalier, 32, in her race against Espaillat, 71, who was the first Dominican American elected to Congress and represents a district in upper Manhattan and the Bronx. Espaillat backed former Gov. Andrew Cuomo in last year\u2019s mayoral election but then backed Mamdani after he won the Democratic primary.<\/p>\n
Avila Chevalier has not held political office and casts herself as an outsider, unbeholden to corporate or real estate interests.<\/p>\n
She also has blasted the incumbent for her previous backing from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. Espaillat\u2019s allies have called Avila Chevalier unfit for office, pointing out a history of inflammatory and profane social media posts when she was in her 20s.<\/p>\n
Lander, a fixture of the city\u2019s progressive Democrats, got the mayor\u2019s endorsement in a race against Goldman, a progressive former federal prosecutor who served as lead counsel for Trump\u2019s first impeachment.<\/p>\n
The war in Gaza has become a dividing line between the two candidates, both of whom are Jewish, as Lander assails Goldman for not being tough enough on Israel over its military action against Palestinians. Goldman has consistently criticized Israel\u2019s government and condemned settler violence but has stopped short of describing the conflict as a genocide, which Lander has done.<\/p>\n
Still, Goldman has been forced to amp up his criticism of Israel\u2019s war posture in response to Landers\u2019 barbs and shifting voter sentiments, all while seeking to keep his campaign focused on the high cost of living and such issues as opposing Trump\u2019s agenda.<\/p>\n
Mamdani and Lander were opponents during last year\u2019s mayoral primary, but formed an alliance intended to thwart an attempted political comeback by Cuomo. At the same time, Lander\u2019s endorsement of Mamdani helped ease concerns among some Jewish voters about Mamdani\u2019s criticism of Israel.<\/p>\n
Mamdani has also backed a democratic socialist ally, state Assembly Member Claire Valdez, over Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso, in the race to succeed retiring U.S. Rep. Nydia Velazquez in a district covering parts of Brooklyn and Queens. Velazquez backed Reynoso.<\/p>\n
A Trump-influenced race in upstate New York<\/p>\n
In northern New York state, a Trump acolyte with no previous political experience is facing a conservative state lawmaker in the Republican primary for a seat soon to be vacated by U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik.<\/p>\n
Anthony Constantino, head of the custom sticker company Sticker Mule, showcased his enthusiasm for the president by putting a massive \u201cVote For Trump\u201d sign atop one of his company buildings. He also released a hip-hop album titled \u201cThank You President Trump,\u201d and commissioned a statue of Trump and gave it to the president in Florida. Trump has endorsed him.<\/p>\n
Constantino\u2019s opponent, conservative state Assembly Member Robert Smullen, has strong support from local Republicans and has argued that Constantino\u2019s antics, which include regular bashing of the state GOP, make him unfit to serve in the House.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Meanwhile, Democrat Jack Schlossberg, the 33-year-old grandson of former President John F. Kennedy, is hoping to write his…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":274888,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[94244,416,417,9,11,10,10406,87,1211,421],"class_list":["post-274887","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-2024-2026-mideast-wars","tag-elections","tag-general-news","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-headlines","tag-new-york-news","tag-political-endorsements","tag-politics","tag-socialism","tag-u-s-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/274887","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=274887"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/274887\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/274888"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=274887"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=274887"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=274887"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}