Anti-Israel Democrats score major primary wins in New York City

Three outspoken critics of Israel won Democratic primaries in New York City on Tuesday, a result that sharpened the party’s shift on Gaza and put fresh pressure on its establishment wing. Brad Lander defeated Rep. Dan Goldman, Darializa Avila Chevalier beat Rep. Adriano Espaillat, and Claire Valdez won the race to replace retiring Rep. Nydia Velázquez.

The biggest margin was in the Bronx and Upper Manhattan contest for NY-13, where Avila Chevalier led Espaillat by about 3.3 percentage points with 86% of the vote counted. She had 49.3% to Espaillat’s 46%, a close but decisive result in a district that has long been central to New York Democratic politics. Avila Chevalier, a democratic socialist and former organizer of the pro-Palestinian Columbia University encampments, ran with the backing of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who also supported Lander and Valdez.

The victories were especially striking in New York City, which has the nation’s largest Jewish population and has long served as a proving ground for Democratic attitudes toward Israel. Supporters at the candidates’ victory parties chanted “Free Palestine,” and the winners used their speeches to attack AIPAC and argue for ending or conditioning U.S. military aid to Israel. Those messages would have been easier to dismiss as activist slogans in an earlier cycle; this time they carried three congressional primaries in heavily Democratic territory.

The results land at a moment when the Democratic divide over Israel has widened since Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Israel and the war in Gaza that followed. The new wins increase pressure on party leaders such as Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, who face a progressive flank that says the base has moved faster than the establishment. For Democrats trying to read the national map, the New York races suggest that hard-edged criticism of Israel is no longer confined to protest politics in the city’s activist margins.