Brad Lander won the primary election results in New York's 10th congressional district on Tuesday, defeating Dan Goldman 65.7% to 34.1% with most votes counted. Goldman, a two-term incumbent, lost a seat he first won in 2022.
The race carried extra weight because Lander and Goldman are both Jewish, yet the contest centered on sharp conflict over the Israel-Gaza war. It also fed a broader sweep for Zohran Mamdani-backed candidates in New York's Democratic primary.
New York's 10th congressional district
Lander said his victory showed that the people of his district want leadership ready to fight, not fold, against authoritarianism. He also benefited from an endorsement from Bernie Sanders, while Goldman had been backed by pro-Israel groups.
Goldman conceded after calling Lander to congratulate him. He said, "Tonight, the voters of 10th District have spoken. While this is not the outcome I worked so hard for, I respect their decision,"
Claire Valdez and Darializa Avila Chevalier
The same primary night delivered two more wins for Mamdani-backed candidates. Claire Valdez unseated Antonio Reynoso in New York's 7th district, and Darializa Avila Chevalier won in New York's 13th district after toppling Adriano Espaillat, who had held the district for five terms and chaired the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.
Zohran Mamdani celebrated Avila Chevalier's win and described her as a person "of clarity, of conscience and of conviction". Avila Chevalier had joined pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia University, which kept the foreign-policy split visible across all three races.
Poetica Coffee in Williamsburg
Goldman's defeat also followed a small but pointed episode on Sunday, when he visited Poetica Coffee in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, with his seven-year-old daughter. After that visit, Poetica Coffee posted that it doesn't "serve racists, fascists, homophobes, genocide enablers or anyone in between," then later deleted the post.
Donald Trump reacted to the race by calling Goldman "weak and pathetic" and saying he "just lost, BIG!" For Goldman, the result ends a short House career that began in 2022; for Mamdani's allies, it expands the argument that New York's left flank can beat better-known incumbents inside the party.
The open question now is how these wins reshape the Democratic Party's balance between its left wing and pro-Israel factions, especially after three districts voted in the same direction on the same Tuesday.
