New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani helped usher in a socialist sweep in the Big Apple on Tuesday as three congressional candidates he endorsed toppled incumbent, more establishment Democrats.
The trio of victories from Darializa Avila Chevalier, Claire Valdez, and Brad Lander solidified the socialist mayor as the Empire State’s power broker and charted a new course for the Democratic Party in New York City’s congressional delegation. After the socialist and progressive candidates swept their ballots, the Democrats renewed their debate over the central question for the party’s future: To counter President Donald Trump, should the Democrats turn more left or shift to the center?
Former Democratic National Committee Chairman Jaime Harrison took to X to voice frustration with candidates hopping on the Democratic ballot while disparaging the party itself.
“I say this with no ill will or animosity: if you hate the Democratic Party, then please don’t run for our nomination,” Harrison wrote. “Don’t use our resources. Don’t rely on our volunteers. Don’t use our infrastructure. Don’t ask Democrats to invest their time, money, and energy in your campaign.”
Harrison did not mention any candidates by name in his post, but it came after Avila Chevalier had faced scrutiny over past comments she made against former Vice President Kamala Harris and President Joe Biden. Valdez has also sounded off on how the Democratic Party can take lessons from the Democratic Socialists of America, calling the establishment wing “corporate Democrats.”
The former DNC leader told the unnamed candidates instead to “focus on building the party you actually support.”
Harrison’s post got picked up by Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT), who countered the former DNC chairman’s viewpoint, saying the party’s future should follow the momentum of its voters.
“I don’t know man, who is ‘the Democratic Party’ if it’s not the voters? Democratic voters choose candidates, not party leaders. And party leaders need to listen to what voters are telling us – and right now they are demanding our party be bolder,” Murphy wrote.
Hunter Biden, the former president’s son who recently resurfaced on social media after years of turmoil and a pardon from his father, also chimed in on the debate. He wrote on X a list of takeaways from the New York City primary night that included some hits at the Democratic establishment and the centrists of the party.
“Endorsements from the current Democratic leadership now read like warnings. The establishment wing of the party is no longer a sword. It’s a question mark,” Hunter Biden wrote.
“The middle is not a strategy. It’s an empty room. Voters reached past the establishment to grab someone who actually believes something,” Hunter Biden continued.
MIKE JOHNSON SAYS SOCIALISTS HAVE ‘TAKEN FULL CONTROL’ OF DEMOCRATIC PARTY
If Tuesday night was a win for Mamdani, it was a loss for House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) and the democratic establishment.
Jeffries had endorsed incumbent Reps. Dan Goldman (D-NY) and Adriano Espaillat (D-NY), who had pledged their loyalty to the current Democratic House leadership. Goldman fell to Lander, and Espaillat lost to Avila Chevalier.
On the Republican side, House Majority Leader Mike Johnson (R-NY) has hammered Democrats over the results, saying socialists have “taken full control of the Democratic Party, or what was left of it.”