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{"id":24502,"date":"2026-06-19T01:47:41","date_gmt":"2026-06-19T01:47:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/mamdani-boosts-congressional-slate-ahead-of-primary-election\/"},"modified":"2026-06-19T01:47:41","modified_gmt":"2026-06-19T01:47:41","slug":"mamdani-boosts-congressional-slate-ahead-of-primary-election","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/mamdani-boosts-congressional-slate-ahead-of-primary-election\/","title":{"rendered":"Mamdani boosts congressional slate ahead of primary election"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p>NEW YORK \u2014 With just five days to go until the primary election in New York, Mayor Zohran Mamdani issued a stark warning to members of Congress who believe \u201cincumbency is a substitute for action\u201d: Watch out.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPeople often ask me what I think of the state of the Democratic Party,\u201d Mamdani said to the crowd at the Kings Theatre in Brooklyn as he boosted his endorsed congressional candidates. \u201cThis slate here today is our answer. The Democratic Party must change.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The democratic socialist framed Tuesday\u2019s election as much more than what that means for New York, though. In recounting how people also ask him about the 2028 presidential election, he put it bluntly: \u201cIt starts now. It starts on Tuesday.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor far too long, our party has seen its job as managing decline instead of delivering material change for working people,\u201d Mamdani said. \u201cThat old way of thinking will lose on Tuesday. And frankly, it will lose in South Carolina and New Hampshire. It will fall short of 270 electoral votes, because the party of the past will not be what leads us into the future.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mamdani, joined by Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, urged his supporters to show up for his endorsed candidates \u201cthe way you showed up for me.\u201d They include former New York City Comptroller Brad Lander, who\u2019s challenging two-term Rep. Dan Goldman; state Assemblymember Claire Valdez, who\u2019s vying for retiring Rep. Nydia Vel\u00e1zquez\u2019s seat; and community organizer Darializa Avila Chevalier, who\u2019s trying to unseat five-term Rep. Adriano Espaillat, the chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.<\/p>\n<p>Mamdani\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/hellgatenyc.com\/mayor-mamdani-state-races-endorsements\/\" target=\"_blank\">endorsed slate of legislative candidates<\/a> were at the rally, too.<\/p>\n<p>The rally featured standard stump speeches from the candidates, highlighting the need to support working class New Yorkers and immigrants. Speakers called out the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, the pro-Israel group that has <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/news\/2026\/06\/18\/aipac-looms-large-ahead-of-new-york-primaries-00967068\" target=\"_blank\">loomed over many of these primaries<\/a> \u2014 despite no evident spending from its independent expenditure arm. Sanders also emphasized his call to ban super PACs, which have <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/newsletters\/new-york-playbook\/2026\/06\/18\/dems-awkward-super-pac-dance-00966583\" target=\"_blank\">reshaped primaries across the city<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Taking place just hours after the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/newsletters\/new-york-playbook-pm\/2026\/06\/18\/almost-all-love-at-city-hall-ceremony-for-the-knicks-00967957\" target=\"_blank\">massive ticker-tape parade<\/a> celebrating the Knicks\u2019 historic championship, there were also Knicks references galore.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI hate to break it to you, but OG Anunoby is not here to save the day,\u201d said Mamdani, who was wearing a Knicks jersey under his suit. \u201cThe only hands we can count on are ours.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/election-2-26-new-york-mamdani-51786.jpg\" alt=\"Sen. Bernie Sanders speaks during a get out the vote rally ahead of New York's primary election on June 18, 2026, in Brooklyn.\" data-portal-copyright=\"Ryan Murphy\/AP\" data-has-syndication-rights=\"0\" data-license-id=\"26170035951786\" data-licensor-name=\"AP Photo\/Ryan Murphy\" data-title=\"Sen. Bernie Sanders speaks during a get out the vote rally ahead of New York's primary election on June 18, 2026, in Brooklyn.\"><\/p>\n<p>Sanders, who is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/newsletters\/new-york-playbook\/2026\/06\/08\/the-two-most-popular-men-in-new-york-00953139\" target=\"_blank\">wildly popular in New York<\/a>, previously endorsed Valdez and Lander. Both Valdez and Avila Chevalier are members of the Democratic Socialists of America and are backed by the city chapter in their bids. Sanders had not officially endorsed Avila Chevalier prior to the rally.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy are progressives and socialist candidates winning elections all across this country?\u201d Sanders asked. \u201cThe answer in my view is not complicated. The working class of America understands that our current economic system is rigged, that it is designed to benefit the wealthy and the powerful.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Polling has shown Lander with a lead over Goldman, and a tight race for Vel\u00e1zquez\u2019s seat. Public polling is scarce in the Espaillat race, but recent internal surveys suggest Avila Chevalier is posing a real challenge to the incumbent. Mamdani endorsed her just weeks ago, much later than Lander and Valdez, but his engagement in the race has significantly elevated its profile.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSix months ago, they told us this race was over before it started,\u201d Avila Chevalier said at the rally. \u201cThey told us Adriano was untouchable, that he was an institution, that you don\u2019t run against someone like him and win. That this district was his, and that we should wait our turn. And they said it with such confidence, like the outcome had already been written. Look around. Look at what we\u2019ve built.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mamdani\u2019s decision to get involved in congressional races is stress-testing how the new mayor <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/news\/2026\/06\/03\/mamdani-makes-big-political-gamble-in-backing-espaillat-challenger-00947758\" target=\"_blank\">navigates relations<\/a> with powerful, well-respected party figures \u2014 many of whom he\u2019s on the opposite side of.<\/p>\n<p>Mamdani\u2019s endorsement is expected to be a significant asset for his picks; he had dominant performances across these districts in last year\u2019s mayoral primary. And that shine doesn\u2019t seem to have dulled. Recent polling has shown that Mamdani has high approval ratings.<\/p>\n<p>Goldman did not support Mamdani during last year\u2019s mayoral primary or the general election, as Lander has often pointed out. Espaillat backed former Gov. Andrew Cuomo in the primary, but supported Mamdani in the general election. Valdez\u2019s opponents, Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso and city Council Member Julie Won, both supported Mamdani in the primary.<\/p>\n<p>The mayor has been active on the trail for his congressional candidates of choice in the closing stretch of the campaign. And he touted them all <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/ZohranKMamdani\/status\/2062385284168273972\" target=\"_blank\">in an advertisement<\/a> that ran during the first game of the Knicks\u2019 finals run.<\/p>\n<p>Still, Lander has tried to keep some distance. When asked at a recent press conference why he would appear in that ad with Avila Chevalier, who attended a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/news\/2023\/10\/08\/nyc-palestine-rally-democrats-israel-00120533\" target=\"_blank\">pro-Palestinian rally<\/a> the day after Hamas\u2019 Oct. 7 attack in 2023 \u2014 the same rally Lander said he left the DSA over \u2014 he said it was an \u201copportunity to show New Yorkers that politics can be a team sport.\u201d He also clarified that he has not endorsed candidates in any other congressional primaries.<\/p>\n<p>Avila Chevalier told reporters that she went to that rally to \u201cstand against\u201d Israel engaging in \u201ca response that is often disproportionate and creates a greater loss of life.\u201d She added that she has \u201ccondemned Hamas\u201d and does \u201cnot believe that celebrating the loss of anybody\u2019s life is OK.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Kings Theatre isn\u2019t located in any of the districts these congressional hopefuls are trying to represent \u2014 though it neighbors the seats that Lander and Valdez have their eyes on.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s especially far from Espaillat\u2019s district, which includes parts of upper Manhattan and the Bronx.<\/p>\n<p>While handing out campaign literature to people walking out of the subway in Hamilton Heights, Blue Light News asked Espaillat if he had thoughts about Avila Chevalier appearing at the rally.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI&#8217;m rallying right here in my district with my constituents \u2014 not in Brooklyn,\u201d he replied.<\/p>\n<p><i>Jason Beeferman contributed to this report.\u00a0<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>NEW YORK \u2014 With just five days to go until the primary election in New York, Mayor Zohran Mamdani issued a stark warning to members of Congress who believe \u201cincumbency is a substitute for action\u201d: Watch out. \u201cPeople often ask me what I think of the state of the Democratic Party,\u201d Mamdani said to the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":24503,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24502","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-congress"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24502","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24502"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24502\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24503"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24502"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24502"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24502"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}