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.”

Erstwhile House lawmaker turned political influencer George Santos announced Wednesday that his lawyers are in talks with the Justice Department after learning Tuesday that the agency “might be looking into me” over bets on a prediction market.

NPR on Tuesday reported that Santos had been flagged by the prediction market Kalshi for placing several bets on the platform that he would not be attending President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address despite announcing plans to do so on social media. Kalshi, the publication wrote, turned the information over to the DOJ and Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

“The bases [sic] of the accusation is preposterous and I look forward to supplying any information asked of me to any agency that inquires, till then media please do not inquire,” he wrote on X.

It’s the latest legal quagmire faced by the former lawmaker, whose brief career in Congress was undone after it was found that he’d fabricated nearly his entire resume, including that he was Jewish and had worked at Goldman Sachs and Citigroup. The House voted to expel him in the wake of a federal indictment and Ethics Committee report.

A judge sentenced Santos to seven years in prison last April for wire fraud and aggravated identity fraud in a case about his personal use of campaign funds and purported charity donations. But he was granted clemency by Trump in October, having spent less than three months behind bars. Santos, though “somewhat of a ‘rogue,’” the president wrote, “had the Courage, Conviction, and Intelligence to ALWAYS VOTE REPUBLICAN!”

House Speaker Mike Johnson had said he hoped “Mr. Santos makes the most of his second chance.”

Now, he may be back in the law’s crosshairs. The DOJ and CFTC did not immediately comment on any probe into Santos.

“I will comment further when appropriate and clarify everything accordingly while being mindful and respectful of any process that might be underway,” he wrote.

Rep. Jay Obernolte is aiming to, by week’s end, unveil a long-awaited discussion draft of bipartisan legislation to impose a federal regulatory framework on Artificial Intelligence.

In an interview Wednesday, the California Republican said negotiators are seeking to resolve some “minutia” pieces of the proposal he’s been working on primarily with Rep. Lori Trahan (D-Mass.). Members involved in talks around the bill have in the last few days started circulating text with some rank and file colleagues, party leaders and industry representatives.

GOP leaders are helping to shape the framework, with Speaker Mike Johnson saying in a separate interview Wednesday that “we’re trying to finalize it, because everybody understands it’s an important issue.”

Johnson was scheduled to meet with Open AI CEO Sam Altman to discuss the legislation Wednesday afternoon. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries also had plans to meet with Altman Wednesday, as does the Democrats’ Commission on AI and the Innovation Economy, which Jeffries convened to help his party develop a cohesive position on the emerging technology.

Trahan, in an interview, was not as forthcoming as Obernolte about the status of their legislation.

“Negotiations are the type of thing where we want to get it right, and I feel like we’re making progress, but I can’t give you a definitive timeline,” she said.

She did, however, divulge that she has briefed Jeffries on the framework — something that had not taken place even a few weeks ago.

“We’ve talked to many, many stakeholders, and Leader Jeffries has been one of them,” Trahan said.