Congress

Mamdani makes big political gamble in backing Espaillat challenger

Published

4 weeks ago

June 3, 2026

NEW YORK — When Mayor Zohran Mamdani endorsed former city Comptroller Brad Lander’s run against Rep. Dan Goldman, many Democrats accepted it as a favor to a political ally — even if it came at the expense of bucking an incumbent.

But each successive endorsement has created new friction that has led some Democrats to question whether the mayor keeps his political commitments.

When he backed Assemblymember Claire Valdez for retiring Rep. Nydia Velázquez’s seat, Democratic power brokers weren’t as understanding, with even progressives openly grousing about how Mamdani spurned Velázquez’s succession plan by opting for a fellow democratic socialist over her preferred pick.

Then, last week, the mayor endorsed another democratic socialist, Darializa Avila Chevalier, in her primary challenge against Rep. Adriano Espaillat — despite his previous commitment to back the incumbent.

“It’s very difficult to say about someone that you don’t trust that person,” Velázquez, an early endorser of Mamdani’s 2025 mayoral run, told Blue Light News after his Avila Chevalier nod. “But your actions are raising serious concerns about taking you at your word — and that is very, very, very problematic in this business.”

The mayor’s involvement in some of the city’s most competitive congressional primaries should come as little surprise. It’s no secret that Mamdani, whose mayoral campaign was boosted by the city’s chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America, entered office unafraid to defy his party’s old guard in bold ways. But he’s also exhibited a tendency to hedge his bets by cooperating with the political establishment, most notably in his dealings with President Donald Trump and Gov. Kathy Hochul.

His decision to support Avila Chevalier is his biggest political gamble yet. While Lander and Valdez face tough races, their paths to victory are generally viewed as more achievable than toppling Espaillat, a five-term incumbent with deep ties to the district. And Avila Chevalier’s social media history — including her description of former President Joe Biden as “a rapist” and calling for the abolition of all forms of policing — hasn’t exactly helped her make inroads outside her far-left base of support.

The endorsement against Espaillat also stands to carry consequences for the mayor well beyond the primary election.

Last summer, Mamdani privately promised Espaillat he would support his reelection run, according to Velázquez and a person with direct knowledge of the conversation who was granted anonymity to discuss it. Mamdani made that behind-the-scenes commitment in conjunction with Espaillat endorsing him in the general election for mayor shortly after he defeated former Gov. Andrew Cuomo in last June’s Democratic primary (Espaillat had supported Cuomo in the primary).

Velázquez, a matriarch of New York’s progressive movement, said in her interview with Blue Light News that Espaillat confided in her that he and Mamdani even shook hands on the reciprocal endorsement pledge last summer.

Acknowledging that she’s still “infuriated” with Mamdani for the way he endorsed Valdez over her preferred pick for her seat, Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso, Velázquez said she will never again take the mayor’s word on anything — whether it be about politics or policy — at face value. And she pointed directly to his broken promise to Espaillat.

“I will say I want it in writing,” Velázquez said.

Applied broadly across the city’s political spectrum, that sort of approach would spell trouble for the mayor given that he negotiates budgets with the City Council while banking on members of the state Legislature and New York’s congressional delegation to push his priorities in Albany and on Capitol Hill, respectively.

Aside from serving in Congress, Espaillat has a number of allies he helped get elected to the Council. And that lawmaking body is currently in the midst of negotiating the Mamdani administration’s first city budget. One Council member said that process has grown more tense due to his Avila Chevalier endorsement.

“Now we know his word isn’t worth anything,” said the member, who was granted anonymity to speak candidly.

A spokesperson for Mamdani declined to comment. In a statement to Blue Light News, Avila Chevalier said, “The establishment can decide their feelings on this. The voters of this district have already proven they trust the mayor and support his vision by electing him last June with a 19 point margin.”

Darializa Avila Chevalier, a Harlem organizer who is challenging Rep. Adriano Espaillat from the political left, is the fifth Justice Democrats-endorsed candidate of the 2026 cycle.

Prior to Mamdani backing Avila Chevalier, her campaign was flying under the radar compared to high-profile primaries across the city. The crowded race to succeed retiring Rep. Jerry Nadler in Manhattan, Lander’s challenge of Goldman and the campaign for Velázquez’s seat have all sucked up much of the city’s political oxygen.

Lander is well-known in Goldman’s district, which covers Brooklyn and Manhattan, and has a loyal progressive following — in part because of his criticisms of Israel. He has proven to be a serious threat to the two-term incumbent: A recent Emerson College survey found Lander leading Goldman by more than 30 percentage points. And he (along with Valdez and Avila Chevalier) can soon expect an influx of ad spending from a progressive super PAC backing candidates who’ve criticized Israel.

The quest for Velázquez’s seat, where Valdez is up against Reynoso and City Council member Julie Won, is more open. But the Brooklyn-Queens district, which has been dubbed the “Commie Corridor,” featured some of Mamdani’s best performances in last year’s mayoral election — a sign that his support on the trail there will be a powerful asset. The DSA also has a strong base in the district, and the organization is working overtime to boost Valdez over Reynoso, who has the backing of the progressive Working Families Party.

Avila Chevalier’s race, meanwhile, presents as more of a longshot. An organizer at Columbia University’s pro-Palestinian encampment, Avila Chevalier was recruited to run for the seat by Justice Democrats, a progressive group. The district, which covers upper Manhattan and the Bronx, delivered for Mamdani in last year’s mayoral election — and offered Espaillat detractors an opening.

But Espaillat, the first formerly undocumented member of Congress, has held the 13th District since 2017 and before that represented portions of it as a state senator. Over the years, he has built a robust network of political allies known as the “Squadriano.” Even before the Mamdani endorsement, outside groups had committed more than $1 million in outside spending to boost him over Avila Chevalier, who outraised him in the first quarter of the year — an indicator that political observers were aware the race could be close.

Avila Chevalier’s backers were also aware it would be a difficult fight.

When the city chapter of the DSA discussed endorsing Avila Chevalier in December, some leaders expressed concerns about the organization’s bandwidth for the race this cycle, especially since it was also backing Valdez.

“I worry we’re not going to have capacity for two very challenging congressional races,” Gustavo Gordillo, co-chair of the city’s DSA chapter, said at the December endorsement meeting, according to audio obtained by Blue Light News. “A weak performance in 2026 will create a narrative that the left isn’t the future, that we aren’t on the rise. We can’t make that mistake again. We have to concentrate our resources.”

That sentiment has clearly shifted, as the DSA chapter ultimately endorsed Avila Chevalier — along with Valdez — in January.

Asked about his past reservations about Avila Chevalier, Gordillo said in a statement Tuesday that his group “was proud to support Darializa’s campaign early on. Since our endorsement of Darializa, membership in our Bronx / Upper Manhattan branch has outpaced every other branch in the city. What that tells us is that uptown and the Bronx are ready for change.”

Things haven’t always been copacetic between Avila Chevalier and the DSA, though.

“Glad I trusted my gut on DSA and their racial justice organizing cause babyyyy the stench of anti Palestinian racism on the BDS thing ain’t gonna wash out easy,” she wrote in a March 2022 post from her since-deleted X account, an archive of which has been obtained by Blue Light News.

The broadside against the DSA was referring to the national DSA’s decision at the time to de-charter the organization’s BDS Working Group amid internal policy feuds. In her statement Tuesday, Avila Chevalier said she is proud to have the backing of the DSA, which has a “strong history of elevating pro-Palestine candidates to office, even at times when it was politically inconvenient to do so.”

The Mamdani endorsement is poised to accelerate Avila Chevalier’s momentum — likely bringing in more attention and money to Avila Chevalier in the closing stretch of her campaign.

Public polling is scarce in the race. Earlier this year, Avila Chevalier’s campaign touted an internal survey that found her trailing Espaillat by 14 percentage points in a head-to-head matchup.

But before pulling the trigger on endorsing Avila Chevalier in a joint TV appearance last week, Mamdani reviewed another, yet-to-be-released poll that showed her with a better outlook, according to a person with direct knowledge of the mayor’s deliberations who was granted anonymity to discuss them.

“There was a close examination of the numbers, and the polling is looking good for her,” said the person, who did not know more specifics about the poll or who conducted it.

Mamdani has stuck by Avila Chevalier in recent days as more reports emerge about her social media activity. When asked Tuesday if her posts raised concerns for him, Mamdani pivoted to touting her as a “champion for working people.” When pressed again on the posts, he dodged the question, replying: “She said herself that a lot of these don’t reflect her views today.”

For his part, Espaillat has sought to downplay Mamdani’s endorsement. On Saturday, he gathered with more than a dozen unions and elected leaders for a show-of-force rally that included Council Speaker Julie Menin — whom Mamdani has frequently found himself on the opposite side of. In a statement, Espaillat spokesperson Reginald Johnson said, “We can’t gamble the future of our working families to score political points.”

Other powerful Democrats are standing by Espaillat in the aftermath of Mamdani’s intervention. Speaking to reporters Tuesday, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said, “The mayor and I have agreed to strongly disagree” regarding Espaillat, whom he called “a bold, effective leader.” Jeffries vowed to “work hard to make sure he’s reelected.”

Former Democratic Rep. Max Rose, who has been outspoken about Mamdani endorsing Avila Chevalier, said that the nod sends the message to the New York delegation that “what matters actually is what the DSA tells him to do, not who you are and what you’ve stood for.”

“The mayor’s capacity to be on his own politically will not last forever,” Rose said. “He will need others to stand with him when he is politically weakened, and I promise you, if he only has the DSA to stand with him, that will not be enough.”

Congress

AOC endorses El-Sayed in Michigan Senate race

Published

2 hours ago

July 2, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) endorsed Abdul El-Sayed’s campaign for Michigan’s open Senate seat on Thursday, a decision that comes as progressives look to capitalize off a series of recent high-profile primary victories in New York, Colorado and elsewhere.

Her endorsement could provide El-Sayed with a critical boost just over a month before the state’s Aug. 4 primary. The former public health official is locked in a heated contest against Rep. Haley Stevens (D-Mich.) and state Sen. Mallory McMorrow for the right to take on Republican Mike Rogers in the general election.

It also comes as El-Sayed has risen to the top of the pack in recent public polling.

Virtually any Democratic path to flipping the Senate in this year’s midterms would see the party hold the open Michigan Senate seat, with two-term Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.) retiring at the end of his term.

The race has emerged as perhaps the largest battleground over the ideological future of the party. El-Sayed, who unsuccessfully ran for governor in 2018, has collected endorsements from progressives, while Stevens has the tacit backing of Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, with AIPAC also boosting her candidacy.

El-Sayed, Ocasio-Cortez said in an interview with The New York Times, is her party’s best chance.

“Despite our ideological differences and whatever disagreements there are in the party, every single one of us sees this moment as existential,” she said. “And I think many people are willing to put aside differences in order to give us the best chance at winning. And I think that Abdul gives us that right now.”

Congress

Capitol agenda: The GOP confronts its lost summer

Published

3 hours ago

July 2, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Congress is settling in for a do-nothing summer.

House leaders lost control of their chamber with just eight legislative days before a planned five-week summer recess. And President Donald Trump’s demands for action on a stalled elections bill — along with his series of mercurial power moves — have left Senate Republicans frustrated and morose as major legislation piles up.

Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Majority Leader John Thune are confronting the reality that ticking items off their pre-midterm to-do list is looking increasingly unattainable.

Wednesday’s events only made that clearer:

— RECON 3.0: Key rank-and-file House members and chairs huddled in Johnson’s office Wednesday to plot a path forward on a long shot policy bill under the party-line reconciliation process.

Those who attended — including Rep. August Pfluger, an avowed cheerleader for the bill — acknowledged hope is fading fast. Members are mired in fights over how to pay for the package, and their goal of advancing a budget blueprint for the bill this week is dashed.

“After this recess, if it doesn’t happen in the first couple of days, then I think it’s in real trouble,” Pfluger, chair of the conservative Republican Study Committee, said in an interview.

— EMERGENCY IRAN FUNDING: Trump has asked Congress to direct billions of dollars to cover the war with Iran — but support for the emergency funding is in serious doubt.

Key Republicans left a classified briefing from senior Pentagon officials Wednesday frustrated by unanswered questions. They want to know how the requested $67 billion would be spent — and whether servicemember paychecks and munitions stockpiles might be at imminent risk.

“We need more information,” said Rep. Ken Calvert, the top House Republican responsible for shepherding the supplemental bill, which also includes farm assistance, disaster and Ebola aid.

— IMMIGRATION: As hard-liners continue to gum up the GOP agenda over the SAVE America Act, some are similarly incensed over Johnson’s failure to act on an immigration measure he promised weeks ago to take up.

Johnson held a call Wednesday with Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan and other members to try to find a path forward but didn’t make much progress, according to five people granted anonymity to discuss the details.

Some centrist Republicans don’t want to vote on it before the midterms, they said, and farm-state members are demanding GOP leaders add guestworker visa provisions — something immigration hard-liners sharply oppose.

And while only a handful of potential developments appear capable of pulling the GOP majorities out of their summer torpor, the contemporary Congress tends to act only when deadlines force it to. That has made the early part of this summer especially languid on Capitol Hill.

It didn’t help, some members noted this week, that lawmakers were sent home early rather than hash out their differences in person.

“We shouldn’t be leaving town,” Rep. Ralph Norman said. “We ought to be working, and we’re not doing it.”

What else we’re watching:

— THE GOP’S DIRTY LITTLE SAVE AMERICA SECRET: House conservatives bristled this week over the Senate’s refusal to pass the SAVE America Act, shutting down the floor in protest. But their outrage has obscured an inconvenient truth for the Republicans locking arms with the president to push for his election security bill: It can’t even pass the House — at least not the version Trump wants. Johnson acknowledged as much this week, appearing to concede he does not have the votes to move forward with a drastic crackdown on mailed ballots that Trump has repeatedly demanded be added to the legislation.

— TRUMP’S CLAYTON REVIVAL: Trump threw Senate Republicans a rare bone Wednesday — telling reporters that Jay Clayton would have a hearing for his director of national intelligence nomination in two weeks. The president’s remarks were welcome (but in several corners, surprising) news for GOP leaders, who had watched in frustration as Trump scuttled both Clayton’s nomination hearing and passage of a key surveillance tool renewal last month.

Meredith Lee Hill, Mia McCarthy, John Sakellariadis and Jordain Carney contributed to this report.

Congress

Congress is settling in for a do-nothing summer

Published

6 hours ago

July 2, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

The Republican congressional agenda is melting in the summer heat.

Intraparty fights, tight margins, election-year pressures and an indifferent president have grounded the pre-midterm legislative plans of GOP leaders on Capitol Hill, with just a handful of days left to do anything about it.

House leaders, in particular, appear to have lost control of their chamber with just eight session days before a planned five-week summer recess. They discarded two of those days this week, sending members home early for Independence Day after a member rebellion left them unable to move major bills.

Meanwhile, President Donald Trump’s demands for action on a stalled GOP elections bill and a series of mercurial power moves have left Senate Republicans frustrated and morose as major legislation piles up — including the annual defense policy bill, fiscal 2027 spending measures, an extension of government spy powers, the farm bill and more.

“Who needs Democrats when you have your own party derailing the Trump agenda?” Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-N.Y.) lamented Tuesday as members unexpectedly scattered for the upcoming holiday.

Absent strong leadership or presidential intervention, the contemporary Congress tends to act only when deadlines force it to, and that has made the early part of this summer especially languid on Capitol Hill.

Lawmakers blew past a supposed June deadline for the surveillance program’s renewal, with spy agencies able to rely on existing wiretaps into early next year. The Pentagon bill doesn’t have to get done until the end of the year, and government funding expires Sept. 30, when it is likely to be extended beyond the November election — along with the farm bill.

Still, frustrations are mounting among the lawmakers who toil at the committee level to prepare bills for a dysfunctional House floor.

“We lost four bills that we might have been able to get across the floor,” House Appropriations Chair Tom Cole (R-Okla.) said Tuesday. “We’re losing time, and time is a very precious commodity.”

The one major piece of legislation passed in recent weeks, a bipartisan housing bill, remains unsigned by Trump, who recently called it a “big yawn.” And the GOP’s chances of passing a new policy bill under the party-line reconciliation process are looking increasingly remote.

House GOP leaders hoped a Trump administration request for defense funding would jump-start plans for that longshot bill, which could carry other Republican priorities ahead of the midterms. Instead, members are mired in fights over how to pay for the package, and hopes of moving forward with a budget blueprint for the bill ahead of the July 4 recess collapsed last month.

Key rank-and-file members and some House chairs huddled in Speaker Mike Johnson’s office Wednesday to plot a way forward on a reconciliation package, but another meeting with Budget Committee Republicans was canceled after GOP leaders sent lawmakers home early.

Those who stayed — including Rep. August Pfluger (R-Texas), an avowed cheerleader for the party-line bill— acknowledged hope is fading fast.

“After this recess, if it doesn’t happen in the first couple of days, then I think it’s in real trouble,” Pfluger, chair of the conservative Republican Study Committee, said in an interview.

Only a handful of potential developments appear capable of pulling the GOP majorities out of their summer torpor.

In the Senate, members are on guard for a potential Supreme Court confirmation fight — especially after National Public Radio mistakenly published a false report about Justice Samuel Alito’s retirement.

Otherwise the chamber is set to debate its version of the defense policy bill and process a handful of Trump nominations later this month before starting its summer recess. Other bills, including those dealing with college sports and cryptocurrency regulations, could also come to the floor.

Republicans in both chambers believe they could be forced to act on an emergency Pentagon funding request that the White House transmitted to Capitol Hill last week to cover the expense of the war with Iran. Farm assistance, disaster aid and other bipartisan priorities could ride along on that bill.

But the military funding request is facing serious doubts as GOP lawmakers bristle at a lack of information from the Trump administration on how the requested $67 billion would be spent — and whether servicemember paychecks and munitions stockpiles might be at imminent risk. Key Republicans left a classified briefing from senior Pentagon officials at the Capitol Wednesday frustrated at the unanswered questions.

“We recognize that the department needs more money fast,” said Rep. Ken Calvert of California, the top Republican responsible for shepherding the supplemental bill through the House. “We’ve got to figure out exactly how much that is, and we’ve got to do that as fast as possible.”

Asked as he left the briefing when exactly the Pentagon needs the money, Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-Fla.) said, “Now.”

“This is really, really, really crucial,” he said.

But even if the administration coughs up the details appropriators like Calvert and Diaz-Balart are demanding, there is no sign the hard-liners holding the House floor hostage are willing to end their blockade — to say nothing about a potential Democratic filibuster in the Senate.

The 13 Republicans who tanked a procedural vote Tuesday had a variety of grievances. Some wanted to pressure the Senate to take up the elections bill, the SAVE America Act. Others wanted to protest Johnson’s failure to act on a border security measure, as they claim he promised to do weeks ago.

“When leadership is making promises and not following through and then you don’t do anything about it, then it’d be, shame on me,” said Rep. Eric Burlison (R-Mo.).

But the proposed border bill is entangled in other intra-GOP conflicts, according to five people granted anonymity to describe internal conversations. House GOP leaders and leadership staff huddled in a series of closed-door meetings Wednesday over the various issues, with still no solution to reopening the floor.

Johnson held a call Wednesday with Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) and other members to try to find a path forward without making much progress, according to the five people.

It didn’t help, some members noted this week, that members were sent home early rather than hash out their differences in person.

“We shouldn’t be leaving town,” Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.) said. “We ought to be working, and we’re not doing it.”

Calen Razor and Katherine Tully-McManus contributed to this report.