Mamdani beat Hakeem Jeffries and is the new king of New York – It will have effects beyond the Empire State

Mamdani beat Hakeem Jeffries and is the new king of New York – it will have effects beyond the Empire State Zohran Mamdani made an audacious gamble and is now the king of New York, Eric Garcia writes. But it comes with multiple risks for moderate Democrats, Hakeem Jeffries and Chuck Schumer as well as some upsides for Republicans - Bookmark - CommentsGo to comments Last year, when President Donald Trump canceled congestion pricing in New York City, the White House posted a mock-up TIME cover of him with a crown with the label “Long Live the King.” It turns out that there was a new king of New York who was a product of Queens. But it was not the president. Rather, Astoria’s Zohran Mamdani would be the new monarch. A year and a half ago, the backbencher legislator and democratic socialist caused a political earthquake when he beat Andrew Cuomo to become the Democratic nominee for mayor of New York City. But that all feels like a tremor compared to the tsunami that Mamdani triggered in New York on Tuesday evening: the longtime soccer fanatic scored a hat trick worthy of the World Cup when all three of his endorsed candidates won their primaries. In the the 10th district, his political ally Brad Lander, the former comptroller who cross-endorsed him in the 2025 mayoral primary, was rewarded handsomely when he trounced incumbent Rep. Dan Goldman. In New York 7th, he took on retiring Rep. Nydia Velázquez’s hand-picked successor and backed assembly member Claire Valdez in the heart of the Democratic Socialists of America’s organizing base in Queens and Brooklyn. This would be enough for most political operators. But in a reach worthy of OG Anunoby, he backed graduate student and organizer Darializa Avila Chevalier to beat incumbent Rep. Adriano Espaillat. This came despite the backing of House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and the fact Espaillat leads the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. There is no dispute about this: Mamdani gambled much of his political capital on these primaries. Had they failed, he would be seen as foolish for taking on the entrenched Hispanic political establishment, to say nothing of the fact that Espaillat endorsed him in the general election last year. Despite being a political neophyte, Mamdani has moved at a breakneck pace, quick to publicize his wins and take half a loaf when the whole one is not for sale. At the same time, he’s proven to be much more malleable than some of his socialist allies would like, hence why he earned criticism from the Democratic Socialists of America over his plans to beef up law enforcement. And while he collaborated with the governor when it comes to childcare, he has yet to realize his plans to freeze the rent or provide free buses, two key tenets of his ambitious campaign platform. But Mamdani’s victories send a warning shot to the two leaders of the New York Democratic Party in Washington: House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer. For Jeffries, these three progressives will likely be a thorn in his side when they go to Washington. If Democrats only win a narrow House majority, it could lead to days of delay becoming speaker in the same way Kevin McCarthy struggled when Republicans took the House in 2023. A handful of House insurgents joined then-Rep. Matt Gaetz and filed a motion to boot McCarthy later that year and ground the House to a halt until Republicans picked archconservative Mike Johnson to lead them. Jeffries will likely need to put promises in writing to stave off a revolt like the one that consumed McCarthy. On top of that, Jeffries’s top recruits in swing districts will likely need to answer for inflammatory remarks about getting rid of police and whether Israel exists, which Avila Chevalier tweeted in the past and then deleted. Just outside New York, Democrat Cait Conley wants to unseat Rep. Mike Lawler, a Republican who represents a district that voted for former Vice President Kamala Harris. Lawler has hitched himself to Trump, appearing publicly with the president, and has sought to tie Democrats to Mamdani and paint them all as radical. Expect him to do the same with Valdez, Lander and Avila Chevalier. Then there is the issue of Schumer. Like Goldman, Schumer refused to endorse Mamdani after he won the primary. In the same token, he’s been criticized for being too supportive of Israel. Schumer notably opposed President Barack Obama’s Iran nuclear agreement before he became Democratic leader. This move shows that Schumer, who has seen his approval ratings nosedive in the past year, could be vulnerable to a primary challenge. While some have speculated that Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) will make a run for the White House, the blood in the water might convince her to stay nearby and seek a promotion to the upper chamber. Lastly, it would be tempting to say that the races show that the American Israel Public Affairs Committee is now irrelevant, it’s not entirely true. Yes, all three Democrats condemned Israel’s war in Gaza as a genocide. Yes, Avila Chevalier made incredibly inflammatory tweets about Israel and still won. But down in Maryland, AIPAC poured truckloads of money to elect Adrian Boafo to succeed former House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer in Maryland’s fifth district. The lesson here is that the only way to defeat AIPAC’s gobs of money is to have major institutional backing like an endorsement from the mayor and an army of volunteers on the level of the DSA. Some might argue that primaries in solidly blue districts are irrelevant. But arguably, they are just as important if not more. These candidates have little to lose, but a challenge from their base if they deviate can drag centrists in their caucus into more ideological positions. And for now, Mamdani’s in the bus driver’s seat. Even if that bus still requires a small fee. Join our commenting forum Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies Comments