WASHINGTON — Democratic congressional leaders downplayed wins for New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s handpicked challengers in primary races Tuesday, as moderates clamored for results to be a wake-up call for the party establishment.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) claimed the elections showed “a great united party,” and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) touted his “great working relationship” with Mamdani, while stressing there was still some “work to do” in easing tensions with congressional Democrats.
“We’re seeing tremendous energy from all different areas of our party. You’re seeing centrist energy in Virginia, Iowa, and NJ. Progressive energy in NYC,” Schumer told The Post. “We’re going to harness it all to win in November. Because all Democrats are united in the mission to take back the Senate and defeat Trump.”
But moderate Democratic lawmakers and sources sounded the alarm Wednesday that the Big Apple’s takeover by Mamdani’s socialist allies in deep-blue district races spelled trouble for their party — especially in its antagonism toward Israel — as well as Schumer and Jeffries’ leadership positions.
“They will continue to intensify their anti-Israel rhetoric and votes,” said Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.), the most pro-Israel Democrat in the upper chamber. “The Democratic Party essentially has become the anti-Israel party.”
“AOC is now a moderate compared to these wackjobs. The lunatics have taken over the asylum,” one staffer erupted. “Us normie Democrats need to stop being such f–king pussies. This is the Reichstag moment.”
It was another wake-up call for Schumer after his recruit for Maine Senate, moderate Gov. Janet Mills, fizzled out against Bernie Sanders-endorsed Graham Platner in a Senate Democratic primary earlier this month.
“Anyone who smells like the old guard, who told us Joe Biden was fine, is vulnerable, Schumer included,” said another Democratic campaign operative of the Senate minority leader’s chances at re-election in 2028.
A second New York Democratic campaign insider disputed this, saying that Schumer and Jeffries were both “survivors” and “on their worst days … still formidable.”
“They know how to work hard and they know how to fight for New York,” this insider said. “That’s hard to beat when the alternative is someone who might hate cops or property ownership.”
Valdez supporters still chanted “you’re next” when the House Democratic leader appeared on TV screens during a watch party Tuesday night.
Mamdani backed former city comptroller Brad Lander and Democratic Socialists of America-endorsed candidate Darializa Avila Chevalier before their defeat of Reps. Dan Goldman (D-NY) and Adriano Espaillat (D-NY), respectively.
Another Mamdani- and DSA-supported candidate, state Assemblywoman Claire Valdez, also won in a race to replace retiring Rep. Nydia Velazquez (D-NY) after having supported the city’s seizure of properties from “absentee landlords.”
The Dem staffer said that the DSA wins didn’t matter entirely for a statewide race like Schumer’s, but that the minority leader faced “a real tough road to run again and not many allies in that process.”
“I think there’s little chance he ends up running,” the staffer said. “The Democratic establishment in blue cities, which has historically been an ally to the Jewish community, is dead.”
“The DSA is the new establishment and hostility to the (((Zionists))) is perhaps their most important unifying principle.”
In a floor speech Wednesday, Schumer, the highest-ranking Jewish lawmaker in Congress, declined to comment on the results, attacking Republicans instead while highlighting the four-year anniversary of Roe v. Wade being overturned by President Trump’s Supreme Court nominees.
The Senate minority leader hadn’t endorsed in any of the races, while Jeffries backed Goldman and Espaillat.
Later, Schumer claimed the trouncing of incumbents demonstrated party unity and “enthusiasm in Democrats to beat Trump.” Jeffries claimed he and Mamdani agreed to “strongly disagree” on candidates and “every race is going to be judged on its own merits.”
“This isn’t a case of Jeffries-backed candidates losing. Jeffries is loyal to his members. [Rep. Grace] Meng won, [Rep. Ritchie] Torres won, Goldman lost. Espaillat lost,” a Jeffries insider said. “Not great but not dramatic and will not change the outcome in November when Democrats take the House.”
A self-described prison abolitionist, Chevalier declined to say whether she supported the incarceration of murderers in a widely discussed interview before the election.
“I have always focused my attention on how do we create systems where that’s not even the possibility,” she told the New York Editorial Board.
Both she and Valdez campaigned on an anti-Israel platform, demanding a full divestment from Israeli companies and the end of US arms sales to its democratic Middle Eastern ally.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) has played coy about whether she is eyeing a primary fight against Schumer — or a possible 2028 presidential run — saying as recently as May this year that “my ambition is way bigger than that. My ambition is to change this country.”
Schumer will complete his fifth term in the Senate in January 2029, having been the leader of his party in the upper chamber since 2017.
While AOC endorsed Mamdani, Schumer declined to back the Democratic socialist in the New York City mayor’s race last November, while pivoting to support his party’s left-wing opposition to the Trump administration’s immigration agenda by tanking funding bills for the Department of Homeland Security.
“Democrats need to build a broad coalition,” a Dem strategist assessed, “and Jewish voters were the most loyal group of voters in 2024.”
“For every person we’re attracting, we can’t lose others,” the strategist said, “and there should be concern about the one-for-one tradeoffs.”
