Congress
Mamdani makes big political gamble in backing Espaillat challenger
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.”
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.”
Senate Judiciary Chair Chuck Grassley rescheduled a planned vote on Todd Blanche’s nomination as attorney general late Friday in a preemptive move as negotiations between the Trump administration and GOP holdouts continue.
The vote, now set for Tuesday after a scheduled Thursday vote was postponed, isn’t an indication that a deal allowing for Blanche’s confirmation is near, so much as it is a nod to Judiciary Committee rules that require three days of notice for a panel meeting.
There is no sign that President Donald Trump is about to acquiesce to the unflinching demands of Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), who wants a controversial settlement agreement between Trump and the IRS substantially pared back.
Cornyn, who lost his primary to a Trump-endorsed candidate, wants the Justice Department to nullify a $1.8 billion “Anti-Weaponization Fund” and limit the scope of a tax audit immunity component of the pact.
Trump told reporters earlier Friday the fund is “dead” but added “I wish it weren’t.”
“I’d like to see them compensated,” he added, referring to people he considers victims of government abuse, including participants in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack.
To advance Tuesday, Blanche needs to pick up Cornyn and Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), another senator on the panel with similar concerns. He can’t lose any GOP votes if he wants to be reported favorably out of the Judiciary Committee.
“Chairman Grassley wants Todd Blanche’s nomination to be successful,” said a Judiciary Committee spokesperson, who declined to be named. “Noticing the markup gives more time for the White House to secure the votes for the President’s nominee. Grassley would like to see Blanche confirmed before the August recess as he has an excellent record restoring law and order and keeping Americans safe.”
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise is zeroing in on one of House Republicans’ biggest contests — a purple district in Nebraska — when he starts his recess campaign sprint.
Scalise will travel to Nebraska’s 2nd Congressional District in the Omaha area for an event with Republican Brinker Harding in the coming days, according to a person with direct knowledge of the matter granted anonymity to share plans not yet made public. Republicans are digging in to defend the seat, which Kamala Harris won in the 2024 presidential race and is among Democrats’ best pick up opportunities this fall as they seek to flip the House.
Harding is running against Democratic consultant Denise Powell to replace retiring GOP Rep. Don Bacon. Bacon, a moderate-leaning Republican, flipped the Omaha district red in 2016.
After Nebraska, Scalise is planning to travel across the country throughout August, including to defend GOP incumbents Mariannette Miller-Meeks’ and Zach Nunn’s key battleground seats in Iowa’s 1st and 3rd Congressional Districts and Derrick Van Orden in Wisconsin’s 3rd Congressional District.
He’ll boost candidates working to flip blue districts like Laurie Buckhout in North Carolina’s 1st Congressional District, Derek Merrin in Ohio’s 9th Congressional District and Mike LiPetri in New York’s 3rd Congressional District.
Scalise also plans to travel to Michigan, Colorado, South Carolina and Texas for campaign events over the August recess.
President Donald Trump goaded John Cornyn on social media Friday morning, accusing the Texas senator of withholding his vote on Todd Blanche’s attorney general nomination in retaliation for Trump’s central role in his political demise.
Cornyn, who lost his May primary to Texas’ scandal-ridden attorney general, the Trump-endorsed Ken Paxton, has threatened to block Blanche’s nomination in the Senate Judiciary Committee until the White House promises to permanently shelve its $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization fund” in writing — something Trump appears unwilling to do.
“John Cornyn never had a problem with the so called “Fund,” which will not benefit me, but rather the great American Patriots who were hunted down like dogs and whose lives were unfairly and illegally destroyed by the Crooked Joe Biden Administration, until after I decided to Endorse and Support his Republican Primary opponent in Texas, who easily won the Nomination for the United States Senate,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
Several Republicans bristled at the fund, which could have been deployed to compensate Americans who faced charges after the Jan. 6 Capitol riot and which gives the president and his family audit immunity over taxes. At his July confirmation hearing, Blanche said that the fund, part of a settlement the president reached with the IRS, was defunct. But the administration has been “reluctant to change” the text of the settlement, Cornyn told reporters Thursday.
Trump signaled his continued support for the Jan 6 rioters on Friday.
“I will always feel that these victims of government abuse should be paid back for what they were forced to endure, their lives have been ruined!” he wrote. “Millions of people agree with me, as was proven in my landslide Presidential win, where this was a major subject of debate, and so did John Cornyn, until he lost his Election to an opponent that I Endorsed.”
On Thursday, the president suggested that he could punt a Senate vote on Blanche until after Cornyn — and Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) — leaves the chamber at the end of the year. Cornyn, however, suggested on social media that there are other Republican senators with concerns about the fund.
“After the midterms, who knows who’s going to be the next United States senator from North Carolina or Texas?” Cornyn told reporters.
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