Mamdani-backed candidates sweep Democratic primaries in New York City

Zohran Mamdani ’s growing influence over the Democratic party was on show in New York City on Tuesday as three congressional candidates endorsed by New York’s democratic socialist mayor won closely watched primaries. Brad Lander, the former New York City comptroller who also ran for mayor last year before endorsing Mamdani, won his race comfortably, defeating the Democratic representative Dan Goldman. Claire Valdez, a state lawmaker and former union organizer, defeated Antonio Reynoso in New York’s seventh district, which encompasses parts of Brooklyn and Queens and is currently held by the retiring 17-term Democrat Nydia Velázquez. Reynoso had been endorsed by Velázquez and Hakeem Jeffries, the Democratic House minority leader who has sought to push back against the party’s left wing. And in a stunning upset, the public defense investigator Darializa Avila Chevalier defeated the five-term incumbent Adriano Espaillat in the state’s 13th congressional district. Mamdani had waded into the primaries earlier this year, spending his political capital to boost three leftwing allies – a gamble that would test his popularity and his influence. With his slate of candidates all but certain to be elected to Congress in November, Mamdani has left his stamp on the state’s congressional delegation and expanded his ascendant progressive movement. …