{"id":275234,"date":"2026-06-23T13:46:13","date_gmt":"2026-06-23T13:46:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/275234\/"},"modified":"2026-06-23T13:46:13","modified_gmt":"2026-06-23T13:46:13","slug":"israel-aipac-and-zohran-mamdani-take-center-stage-in-tuesdays-ny-primaries","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/275234\/","title":{"rendered":"Israel, AIPAC and Zohran Mamdani take center stage in Tuesday\u2019s NY primaries"},"content":{"rendered":"

New York Jewish Week\u00a0\u2014 New York\u2019s primary elections are on Tuesday, and there\u2019s no shortage of races that Jewish Americans should be keeping an eye on.<\/p>\n

In New York City, a number of congressional seats are up for grabs \u2014 including the most Jewish district in the country, NY-12. Plus, will it be a rabbi or a Jewish lawyer who wins a state Assembly race on the Upper West Side?<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, as a pair of pro-Israel congressmen take on Zohran Mamdani-backed progressives who are vocally pro-Palestinian and anti-Israel, Tuesday\u2019s results will provide the latest reflection of where Democratic voters fall on the issue.<\/p>\n

Outside the city, a Democratic primary will decide who challenges pro-Israel Republican congressman Mike Lawler for the NY-17 swing seat in November.<\/p>\n

NY-12: The crown jewel<\/p>\n

Rep. Jerry Nadler, a progressive stalwart and Congress\u2019 most senior Jewish member, announced last fall that he would retire at the end of this term, leaving an open seat in the crown jewel district of New York politics: NY-12, which covers the Upper West and Upper East Sides, as well as midtown Manhattan. It is the most heavily Jewish district in the country, and a deep-blue district whose Democratic nominee is sure to succeed Nadler in Congress.<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tGet The Times of Israel’s Daily Edition
\n\t\t\tby email and never miss our top stories\n\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\tBy signing up, you agree to the terms<\/a><\/p>\n

Four candidates (with double-digit polling numbers) are left standing: Micah Lasher, Alex Bores, Jack Schlossberg and George Conway.<\/p>\n

\t\"\"<\/a>
\n\t\tNY-12 Congressional candidates Micah Lasher, Alex Bores, and George Conway participate in a forum moderated by Jewish Insider editor-in-chief Josh Kraushaar at the West Side Institutional Synagogue on May 12. (Jackie Hajdenberg\/ JTA)<\/p>\n

Lasher and Bores, both members of the State Assembly, are leading in the polls, and are seen in many ways as very similar candidates, including in their pro-Israel, anti-Netanyahu stances. They\u2019ve also both supported much of the same state-level legislation aimed at combating antisemitism.<\/p>\n

Lasher, however, has the support of his former boss, Nadler, and much of the West Side political establishment. Bores, meanwhile, has built a coalition<\/a> that includes both pro-Israel moderates and progressive groups critical of the Jewish state.<\/p>\n

NY-10: Jewish incumbent vs. Jewish challenger<\/p>\n

Many wondered what would become of former city comptroller Brad Lander after he reportedly stumped for Zohran Mamdani in hopes of a role in his administration that he didn\u2019t receive.<\/p>\n

Now Lander, who was Mamdani\u2019s most prominent Jewish ally, has the mayor\u2019s full-throated support in his run to supplant incumbent Rep. Dan Goldman in NY-10, which includes Lower Manhattan and brownstone Brooklyn, for which Lander was a three-term City Council member.<\/p>\n

\t\"\"<\/a>
\n\t\tDemocrat Brad Lander approaches microphones outside a federal court in New York on June 11, 2026. (AP\/Larry Neumeister)<\/p>\n

Lander has homed in on Goldman\u2019s endorsement from American Israel Public Affairs Committee, the pro-Israel lobbying group that\u2019s become anathema for progressives. (Goldman\u2019s AIPAC endorsement has also been a sticking point for a number of his progressive critics.) Goldman, in turn, has emphasized that he\u2019s endorsed by both AIPAC and the progressive J Street \u2014 two ideologically dissimilar pro-Israel groups \u2014 as evidence that he comes by his views independently.<\/p>\n

The two candidates have made similar commitments to issues like fighting the Trump administration and ICE, but Lander has separated himself on the issue of Israel.<\/p>\n

\t\"\"<\/a>
\n\t\tRep. Dan Goldman listens during a news conference at the US Capitol, July 2, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo\/Mariam Zuhaib)<\/p>\n

While Goldman has resisted growing calls for Democratic politicians to support conditioning military aid to Israel, Lander says Israel has committed a genocide and opposes aid to Israel for both offensive weapons and the Iron Dome defensive missile system.<\/p>\n

The latest poll<\/a>, conducted in mid-May, had Lander ahead by 34 percentage points.<\/p>\n

NY-13: From Columbia encampment to Congress?<\/p>\n

Darializa Avila Chevalier is a Mamdani-backed, pro-Palestinian and anti-Israel progressive who\u2019s launching a challenge against incumbent Rep. Adriano Espaillat, a more moderate, pro-Israel lawmaker endorsed by AIPAC. Israel and AIPAC have been front and center in Avila Chevalier\u2019s campaign in upper Manhattan and the Bronx, and she has said she would sign onto the Block the Bombs to Israel Act and oppose all military aid to the country.<\/p>\n

\t\"\"<\/a>
\n\t\tNew York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani announces his endorsement of Darializa Avila Chevalier, right, during an appearance on MS NOW\u2019s \u2018The Briefing with Jen Psaki,\u2019 May 28, 2026. (Screenshot)<\/p>\n

Avila Chevalier attended an anti-Israel rally, which the Democratic Socialists of America had promoted, the day after the bloody October 7, 2023, Hamas-led onslaught on Israel. Other DSA members such as Mamdani have distanced themselves from the gathering, which drove some former DSA members like Lander away from the organization.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe went to celebrate the death of innocent people in Israel right after the attack,\u201d Espaillat said during a recent televised debate<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was there at that rally on October 8 because I remembered what happened in 2014,\u201d Avila Chevalier replied, referring to Israeli attacks on Gaza in 2014 which occurred shortly after she returned from an internship in the West Bank. \u201cAnd I knew the reaction would be an outsized reaction that would cause the deaths of thousands upon thousands of people.\u201d<\/p>\n

One recent poll<\/a> had Espaillat leading by 8 percentage points, while another survey<\/a> \u2014 commissioned by a group that\u2019s backing Avila Chevalier \u2014 had her ahead by 4.<\/p>\n

NY-7: Valdez, Reynoso and AIPAC in the \u2018Commie Corridor\u2019<\/p>\n

There is no pro-Israel candidate in the primary for NY-7, a deeply progressive district that covers parts of Brooklyn and Queens, including the so-called Commie Corridor. But that hasn\u2019t stopped AIPAC from becoming a central topic of the race, which is between three progressives who each accuse Israel of committing genocide.<\/p>\n

State Assembly member Claire Valdez, who\u2019s backed by Mamdani and the DSA and is the farthest-left candidate in the contest, suggested that her opponent, Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso, was being boosted by AIPAC expenditures. Valdez\u2019s comments backfired after AIPAC was reported to be uninvolved with the super PAC boosting Reynoso.<\/p>\n

\t\"\"<\/a>
\n\t\tDemocratic congressional candidate Claire Valdez speaks ahead of New York\u2019s primary election, June 18, 2026, in Brooklyn. (AP Photo\/Ryan Murphy)<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Reynoso and City Council member Julie Won, who\u2019s running in third place, have criticized Valdez for benefiting from outside spending by super PACs, including the pro-Palestinian group American Priorities.<\/p>\n

According to the latest poll<\/a> from May, Valdez and Reynoso have 23% and 21% of the vote, with Won trailing at 13%. Forty-three percent remain undecided. The poll has a margin of error of 5.2%.<\/p>\n

Valdez and Reynoso both oppose sending offensive and defensive military subsidies to Israel, and say they would sign onto the Block the Bombs Act.<\/p>\n

Valdez has a longer history of involvement with pro-Palestinian advocacy, and criticized Reynoso for accusing Israel of genocide only after he launched his campaign for Congress. She has attended a number of protests organized by the anti-Zionist group Jewish Voice for Peace in the last three years. She also cosponsored the reintroduction of Mamdani\u2019s failed \u201cNot on our dime!\u201d act in the State Assembly, which is aimed at blocking nonprofits from funding Israeli settlements in the West Bank.<\/p>\n

\t\"\"<\/a>
\n\t\tBrooklyn borough president Antonio Reynoso speaks during a protest, October 10, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo\/Yuki Iwamura)<\/p>\n

Reynoso has the backing of the district\u2019s outgoing Rep. Nydia Velazquez, as well as Rep. Jerrold Nadler, state Attorney General Letitia James and the left-wing Working Families Party. He\u2019s also been endorsed by Hasidic leaders in Williamsburg\u2019s heavily Orthodox community and has been campaigning<\/a> alongside progressive City Council member Lincoln Restler, who is Jewish, to mobilize the community\u2019s voting bloc.<\/p>\n

NY-17: Lawler vs. ?<\/p>\n

In a swing district just north of New York City, three Democrats are battling it out for the opportunity to unseat Republican Rep. Mike Lawler in November. The district is heavily Jewish and includes Rockland and Putnam Counties, as well as parts of Westchester and Dutchess counties.<\/p>\n

Two of the three major candidates \u2014 Cait Conley and Beth Davidson \u2014 are occupying a more moderate space, attempting to appeal to constituents as supporters of Israel who oppose US President Donald Trump and his administration. Effie Phillips-Staley, who has been polling consistently in third place, is a staunchly pro-Palestinian progressive who took a trip to the West Bank this year and drew criticism after appearing<\/a> on streamer Hasan Piker\u2019s show to discuss her experience.<\/p>\n

\t\"\"<\/a>
\n\t\tMike Lawler of New York\u2019s 17th District marches in the 2025 Israel Day Parade, on New York\u2019s Fifth Avenue, May 18, 2025. (AP Photo\/Richard Drew, File)<\/p>\n

Conley, a former Biden national security adviser who has led in the latest polls, was endorsed by the pro-Israel group Democratic Majority for Israel.<\/p>\n

Davidson, who\u2019s Jewish, was a board member at her family\u2019s synagogue and has credited that experience with driving her public service. She told JTA that she wants her campaign to be a \u201chome\u201d for Jews who\u2019ve \u201cfelt lost in the Democratic Party.\u201d<\/p>\n

The primary\u2019s winner will go on to face Lawler, who has the backing of AIPAC \u2014 and its super PAC\u2019s $95 million war chest \u2014 and the Republican Jewish Coalition. The seat is regarded as one of the Democrats\u2019 best chances for a pickup in the fall.<\/p>\n

State Assembly: A rabbi and a lawyer<\/p>\n

As he runs for Congress, Lasher is vacating his Upper West Side 69th Assembly district seat. The two candidates facing off (literally<\/a>) to replace him are Rabbi Stephanie Ruskay, who\u2019s been an associate dean at the Conservative movement\u2019s Jewish Theological Seminary for 10 years, and Eli Northrup, a Jewish lawyer who is policy director for the Bronx Defenders.<\/p>\n

Both candidates describe themselves as progressives. While Ruskay has been backed by a good deal of the West Side\u2019s political establishment, Northrup has more left-wing support, with endorsements from Mamdani and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders.<\/p>\n

\t\"\"<\/a>
\n\t\tRabbi Stephanie Ruskay. (Courtesy via JTA)<\/p>\n

In an interview<\/a>, Ruskay told JTA that she views joining the State Assembly as \u201can extension of my rabbinate\u201d and discussed the centrality of justice to her work in the Jewish professional world. If successful, she would be the first female rabbi elected to office in New York.<\/p>\n

Northrup detailed his complicated views on the term \u201cZionism\u201d in an interview with JTA, echoing the analysis in a Moment Magazine piece that the terms Zionism and Zionist have \u201coutlived their usefulness both as concepts and as terms.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s on in Albany: Hochul vs. Blakeman<\/p>\n

Gov. Kathy Hochul and Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman are shoo-ins to win their respective primaries Tuesday, officially setting up a November gubernatorial election between the two.<\/p>\n

\t\"\"<\/a>
\n\t\tBruce Blakeman, Republican candidate for NY governor, speaks in Bethpage, NY, June 17, 2026. (AP Photo\/Matt Rourke)<\/p>\n

Blakeman, who is Jewish, has framed his candidacy as a fight against not only Hochul, but against Mamdani. In speaking to Jewish voters who oppose the mayor, he has used Hochul\u2019s endorsement and collaboration with Mamdani against her.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am running for governor because we can\u2019t afford to have four more years of Comrade Kathy with three more years of Mamdani the Commie,\u201d Blakeman said at a recent RJC event<\/a>. Blakeman pointed to his record of coming down hard on pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel protesters in Nassau County and blasted Mamdani for skipping the Israel Day parade.<\/p>\n

Hochul, meanwhile, signed a bill creating 50-foot \u201cbuffer zones\u201d outside houses of worship in New York and wrote that she was \u201cproud to march alongside thousands of New Yorkers at the Israel Day Parade\u201d the same day as the RJC event. A number of people marching were seen holding Blakeman campaign signs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"New York Jewish Week\u00a0\u2014 New York\u2019s primary elections are on Tuesday, and there\u2019s no shortage of races that…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":275235,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[16352,8069,5320,21556,18514,426,883,9,24,55,54,81621,56,105894,4510,82],"class_list":["post-275234","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york-city","tag-american-jews","tag-brad-lander","tag-dan-goldman","tag-jerrold-nadler","tag-jewish-voters","tag-kathy-hochul","tag-mike-lawler","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-new-york-city-headlines","tag-new-york-city-news","tag-new-york-jews","tag-ny","tag-party-primaries","tag-us-politics","tag-zohran-mamdani"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/275234","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=275234"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/275234\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/275235"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=275234"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=275234"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=275234"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}