Mamdani-Endorsed Progressives Poised to Win Congress Seats in Tuesday's Midterm Election

Three New York City progressive Democrats are expected to win their midterm congressional races in Tuesday's election. The three candidates endorsed by Mayor Zohran Mamdani are Claire Valdez, Brad Lander and Darializa Avila Chevalier.

In June, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani stood before a packed house of voters at Brooklyn's historic Kings Theatre, rallying support for a new wave of candidates hoping to build on his progressive momentum by winning seats in Congress. The crowd answered chants of 'Abolish ICE', 'Tax the rich' and 'Free Palestine' with roaring applause.

Within days, all three congressional hopefuls endorsed by Mamdani had won their Democratic primaries, becoming the party's candidates in the midterm election. Lander, the former New York City comptroller, defeated Congressman Dan Goldman in a race in which Israel was the defining issue. Avila Chevalier, a community organiser, unseated longtime Congressman Adriano Espaillat. Valdez, a lawmaker in the New York State Assembly and member of Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), won the contest to succeed retiring Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez. Both Valdez and Avila Chevalier had the backing of New York City's DSA chapter.

The candidates' heavily Democratic districts mean they are likely to win congressional seats in Tuesday's midterm elections. The June Democratic Party primaries effectively served as the main event for voters.

The three congressional candidates' platforms overlap on issues like abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), ending US military aid to Israel and establishing a public healthcare system dubbed Medicare for All. But their paths into progressive politics differ.

Lander spent years in the New York City government, most recently as comptroller overseeing the city's finances. After losing to Mamdani in the 2025 Democratic mayoral primary, he backed Mamdani in the election. His congressional campaign against incumbent Goldman brought him national attention, with Israel and Palestine emerging as the defining issue in the race to lead a district with one of the largest Jewish populations in the United States.

Lander has described Israel's military campaign in Gaza as genocide and its occupation of Palestinian territory as apartheid. He also identifies as a Zionist who embraces pro-Palestinian activism, arguing that the positions are not mutually exclusive, and has long supported a two-state solution. He said an approach to more shared safety for Israelis and Palestinians and for Jews and Muslims makes more sense.

Two weeks before Tuesday's election, Israeli forces detained Lander in the occupied West Bank while he was volunteering to help with the olive harvest. Israeli authorities have since revoked his travel documents for a planned return visit. Lander said the main story he came home with was not his detention or the revocation, but the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians in the West Bank, which he said he saw with his own eyes. Lander has also long called for ICE to be abolished, including during President Donald Trump's first term in office.

Avila Chevalier's political rise was similarly shaped by immigration and Palestinian rights. After interning at a youth organisation in Nablus in the occupied West Bank in 2014, she returned to the US and became an advocate for Palestinian communities. Her 'Babies Not Bombs' platform calls for redirecting military spending, including aid to Israel, towards domestic priorities such as childcare and healthcare. She said budgets should be seen as moral documents and resources should go towards things that make lives dignified and communities thrive, not towards war or ICE.

Valdez came to progressive politics through the labour movement. A former union organiser turned state assemblymember, she supports stronger labour protections, including federal legislation such as the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act, national rent control and a government-run healthcare system. She said public programmes and entitlements have been under attack by the right and that advancing a vision for them will be top priorities.

Progressive political strategist Nomiki Konst said the past few months have been a test of how to turn bold campaign promises into policy the candidates can actually deliver, and that they need immediate wins comparable to Mamdani's move to fill 200,000 potholes when he took office as mayor. For Lander, one such measure is banning members of Congress from trading individual stocks, which he said might restore a little trust. He also sees an opportunity to restore enhanced government subsidies that expired at the end of 2025, raising premiums for many people who buy insurance individually. For Avila Chevalier, an early priority would be her 'Babies Not Bombs' agenda; Valdez wants to pass the PRO Act.

The three would not be the first progressive New Yorkers to enter Congress promising major change. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez won her seat in 2018 by defeating longtime incumbent Joe Crowley. In 2025, Ocasio-Cortez introduced legislation with Republican Representative Anna Paulina Luna of Florida to cap credit card interest rates at 10 percent, echoing a proposal from Senator Bernie Sanders and Republican Senator Josh Hawley.

Avila Chevalier is under the microscope after calling for New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch to resign over a man being shot in his car by ICE while his child was in the backseat. She said she was later shoved to the ground by New York City police officers during protests following the shooting. Mamdani reportedly appointed Tisch on the recommendation of Governor Kathy Hochul, whose support was important to Mamdani's mayoral campaign. Konst said being thoughtful about when to hold fire, when to be bold and when to hold back will matter. Avila Chevalier said she is willing to work with anyone to advance her priorities, and that organising is about meeting people where they are.