The Democratic Party’s far-left flank is on offense in New York City on the heels of mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani’s win in November.
New York City comptroller Brad Lander, 56, launched an insurgent campaign Wednesday with the backing of leading progressives to unseat Democratic New York Rep. Dan Goldman, 49, who represents a swath of lower Manhattan and parts of Brooklyn that swung hard for Mamdani’s mayoral campaign. The intraparty clash is the latest in more than a dozen Democratic primaries for safe blue seats that are spotlighting stark ideological differences among candidates.
Lander rolled out his campaign with endorsements from Sens. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, Bernie Sanders of Vermont and the far-left Working Families Party. Mamdani also publicly backed Lander, who cross-endorsed each other when the duo were vying for the Democratic mayoral nomination in June.
“Our mayor can have an ally in Washington instead of an adversary in his own backyard,” Lander says in the launch video.
Mamdani told The New York Times Wednesday that Lander is a “trusted ally” and that he is “proud to support” the outgoing comptroller’s congressional run.
Mamdani notably defeated former New York Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo by 23 points in Goldman’s 10th district in June.
Lander’s campaign announcement video also touts his work resisting the Trump administration and the president’s immigration enforcement efforts. The outgoing comptroller was arrested in September after staging a sit-in protesting the detention of illegal migrants in lower Manhattan. He pleaded not guilty to misdemeanor charges related to trespassing and obstructing federal operations Friday.
“When Donald Trump and Elon Musk tried to steal $80 million from New York City, Brad caught it,” Lander’s launch video says in part. “And when ICE agents started kidnapping our neighbors, I fought back.”
Goldman, a two-term lawmaker, has also emerged as a leading critic of the Trump administration’s illegal immigration crackdown.
Support for Israel could become a flashpoint in the heavily-Jewish district’s emerging primary contest.
Goldman, a vocal supporter of Israel, has taken a more measured approach to the country’s war in Gaza and criticized Mamdani’s views of Israel during the mayoral campaign. Lander conversely is a harsh critic of the Israeli state, but is a self-described “progressive Zionist.” Both candidates are Jewish.
Lander does not call out Goldman by name in his campaign launch video, but said that he would not do “AIPAC’s bidding” if elected to Congress. The pro-Israel group has previously contributed to Goldman’s campaign.
Goldman won his safe blue seat after defeating a bloc of far-left candidates in 2022. He is one of the most affluent members of Congress as an heir to the Levi Strauss fortune and could use his personal wealth to fend off Lander’s challenge.
Lander is a former city councilman, who represented Brooklyn’s Park Slope neighborhood within Goldman’s 10th district for more than a decade.
The nearby 12th congressional district is also facing a crowded Democratic primary that could expose ideological divisions in the party’s ranks following longtime New York Democratic Rep. Jerry Nadler’s retirement announcement. The deep-blue seat covers a large chunk of Manhattan.
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