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New York City Comptroller Brad Lander, a progressive former mayoral candidate who later campaigned for Mamdani in the general election, is challenging incumbent Democratic Rep. Dan Goldman in next year's battle for New York's 10th Congressional District. The district is comfortably blue, including Lower Manhattan and parts of Brooklyn, and went easily to Mamdani earlier this year, but Goldman refused to endorse him over his stances on Israel.
We wouldn't blame you for drawing parallels to the New York mayoral race. Lander cross-endorsed Mamdani in the city's ranked-choice primary and became an ardent supporter during the city's general election. He is now running with the Mamdani momentum - and endorsement - behind him, reflecting the mayor-elect's call for a new generation of progressive leadership.
Lander's campaign announcement, echoing Mamdani's campaign style, shows him walking around his neighborhood and uses colorful animations. It highlights his work countering federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and notably criticizes Goldman without naming him.
"I'm running for Congress. Because the challenges we face can't be solved with strongly worded letters or high-dollar fundraisers. And not by doing AIPAC's bidding in a district that knows our safety, our freedom, our thriving is bound up together," Lander said, referring to the influential pro-Israel group.
But this is not a repeat of the mayoral race.
For one thing, Goldman is not Andrew M. Cuomo, the former governor who ran as an independent to try to appeal to centrist Democrats turned off by Mamdani's leftist platform. Goldman has a long track record of progressive policies. He was an original co-sponsor in 2023 of both Medicare-for-all and the Green New Deal. He has advocated for universal child care and introduced legislation to codify the monthly Child Tax Credit that was expanded during the coronavirus pandemic.
Cuomo ran with backing from Trump, who saw Mamdani as an existential threat to the city (though they later appeared to make up in the Oval Office).
And unlike in the mayoral race, Goldman is protected by the House Democrats' tradition of defending their incumbents from primary challengers. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-New York), a fellow Brooklynite, repeatedly demurred when asked to endorse Mamdani until just before the election. Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-New York), another Brooklynite, never endorsed or even said whom he would vote for in the mayoral race.
"Our focus is on the swing districts," Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chair Suzan DelBene (Washington) said Tuesday. "But we have, from the Democratic Caucus broadly, folks across our caucus who will be supporting our colleagues to make sure that they have strong elections."
And House Democratic Caucus Chairman Pete Aguilar (California) looked ahead to when the next Congress is seated in January 2027: "My expectation at that point is that Dan Goldman is a member of the caucus."
Jeffries said earlier this year that he would support all of his incumbents, "from the most progressive to the most centrist and all points in between."
Lander has earned the endorsements of other progressives, including Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont), Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts) and the Working Families Party.
Both Lander and Goldman have been lauded for their resistance to the Trump administration. Lander was part of the city government when it sued the Trump administration this year over its revocation of $80 million in FEMA grants for the city. Goldman, who was lead counsel for House Democrats during the president's first impeachment, has introduced legislation to protect migrants from arrest while attending immigration court hearings and to institute a minimum federal income tax for billionaires.
Mamdani's bid for mayor put Democrats in a bind. While the party was hoping to unify after last year's considerable losses, Mamdani's self-declared democratic socialism and past comments condemning Israel's treatment of Palestinians hit at some of the biggest wedges in the party. Republicans rushed to cast all Democrats running in November's off-year elections as extensions of Mamdani's coalition, and the two moderate Democrats vying for Virginia and New Jersey governorships kept the Mamdani campaign at arm's length.
Israel in particular has carried over as one of the biggest wedges between Lander and Goldman, both of whom are Jewish. Goldman has been endorsed by AIPAC and said during the mayoral campaign that Mamdani had to take more "concrete action" to address the "legitimate" concerns of the city's Jewish constituents. Mamdani was a consistent supporter of pro-Palestinian protests, sharing a stage with Columbia University student Mahmoud Khalil, a pro-Palestinian activist who was detained by the Trump administration. He has also supported the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement against Israel.
Goldman has criticized Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for his judicial overhaul, which he called "antidemocratic," and violence by Jewish settlers in the West Bank.
Lander has often faulted Israel's handling of the war in Gaza, saying the offensive has included war crimes, and he characterizes himself as a liberal Zionist. He has called for conditions to military aid to Israel, saying there is "no military solution" to the conflict.
Democrats have since coalesced around Mamdani, with even those who withheld their endorsement wishing him the best. "It is imperative that we all stand unified in the face of a hostile federal government," Goldman said, "work together to lift up our working families and find common ground to protect all of us."
But not everyone has buried the hatchet. In his campaign announcement, Lander pointedly said, "Our mayor can have an ally in Washington instead of an adversary in his own backyard."
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Previously:
• Dems refuse to release autopsy of their 2024 loss