Brad Lander beat a sitting congressman on Tuesday, and the issue that split them was Gaza.
Lander, the former New York City comptroller, defeated two-term Rep. Dan Goldman in the Democratic primary. Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont had both endorsed him. Goldman had represented lower Manhattan and Brooklyn’s brownstone district since first winning in 2022.
The 10th District is heavily Democratic, which puts Lander in a strong spot for November. He will face Republican Jennifer Moore, who ran unopposed Tuesday.
Two Jewish candidates, one dividing line
Both men are Jewish, and both are progressive. Goldman is a former federal prosecutor who served as lead counsel in Donald Trump’s first impeachment. Lander attacked him for not being tough enough on Israel over its military action against Palestinians. Goldman has consistently criticized Israel’s government and condemned settler violence, but he stopped short of calling the conflict a genocide. Lander has used that word.
Goldman did sharpen his criticism of Israel’s war posture as Lander pressed him and voter sentiment shifted. He also tried to keep his campaign on the high cost of living and opposition to Trump’s agenda.
Lander was acquitted earlier this month on charges tied to a protest inside a building that houses an immigration court. He has pledged to push back against the Trump administration.
Mamdani’s slate
Mamdani, whose first six months in office have drawn praise from establishment Democrats and from Trump himself, pushed hard for three congressional challengers. Two of them identify as democratic socialists, and Lander has often allied himself with the movement. All three have repeatedly promised to “abolish ICE,” condemned the “genocide” in Israel and vowed to “tax the rich.”
“It’s not just a question of electing more Democrats. It’s a question of electing better Democrats,” Mamdani said Tuesday. “When I look at these candidacies, I see in them a willingness to also put working people back at the heart of our politics.”
Establishment Democrats in Washington worry that the slate’s positions could alienate swing voters in midterm races this fall. House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries played down the slate’s influence before the results came in. “We have agreed to strongly disagree,” he said of Mamdani. “There are 215 members of the House Democratic caucus. A handful of primaries that go in one direction or the other, in a given state or two, aren’t going to reshape who we are as House Democrats.”
Sources
- Mamdani ally Brad Lander upsets Rep. Daniel Goldman in a NY Democratic primary
- Mamdani ally Brad Lander upsets Rep. Daniel Goldman in a NY Democratic primary
- Mamdani ally Brad Lander upsets Rep. Daniel Goldman in a NY Democratic primary
