NEW YORK \u2013 When Varun Venkatesh cast his ballot in New York\u2019s primary this week, he thought about \u201ca good litmus test for me as a voter.\u201d He wanted to know what the candidates are doing for the Palestinian cause. <\/p>\n
The 27-year-old Brooklyn resident decided to support Claire Valdez, who was backed by Mayor Zohran Mamdani, over Antonio Reynoso, another progressive who was the choice of the Democratic establishment, because she had \u201ca clear and more consistent stance.\u201d<\/p>\n
Valdez triumphed in her congressional primary, as did two other insurgent candidates endorsed by Mamdani<\/a>, and Israel was a key issue in each of the races. Now the question for Democrats is how many more voters like Venkatesh are out there as the party charts its path toward the November midterms and the next presidential election.<\/p>\n The war in Gaza<\/a>, which began during Joe Biden\u2019s presidency and undermined Kamala Harris\u2019 bid to replace him, remains an open wound, and how Democrats attempt to stitch it closed will help define their future. A step in any direction risks alienating pieces of the party’s unwieldy coalition at a time when it’s trying to unify around the mission of retaking control of Congress.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Israel question has become defining,\u201d said Matt Bennett, who leads the centrist Democratic group Third Way and frequently criticizes progressives as jeopardizing outreach to independent voters. He said some in Mamdani\u2019s camp have embraced \u201ca new level of extremism,\u201d warning that \u201cRepublicans are very good at weaponizing crazy ideas on the fringe against mainstream candidates.\u201d<\/p>\n Mamdani has no such concerns as he tries to reshape the Democratic Party from the mayor\u2019s office of the country\u2019s largest city. He sharply criticized the American Israel Public Affairs Committee for defending what he calls \u201ca status quo of immorality\u201d in Gaza, and voters who celebrated his slate’s victories on Tuesday night chanted \u201cFree Palestine.\u201d <\/p>\n The mayor, meanwhile, argues that New York should shape Democrats\u2019 search for their national identity in the coming years.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen does the race for 2028 begin?\u201d Mamdani asked last week on a stage with his slate of candidates. \u201cIt starts now.\u201d<\/p>\n Israel-Palestine conflict animates Democrats’ left flank<\/p>\n Even for a party accustomed to searing debates between progressives and moderates, the schism over Israel has been blistering. Although the U.S. alliance with Israel once had bipartisan support, the ascendancy of Israel’s right wing led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu<\/a> strained those ties over the years. Then the war in Gaza shredded them. <\/p>\n