It has become increasingly clear that unconditional support for Israel is no longer a winning issue in the Democratic Party.
Congressional candidate Claire Valdez, Congressional candidate Brad Lander, Mayor Zohran Mamdani, and Congressional candidate Darializa Avila Chevalier raise their hands during a Get Out the Vote rally at King’s Theater on June 18, 2026 in New York City.
(Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
Blaise Malley
Jun 24, 2026
Responsible Statecraft
Three Democratic candidates for House seats in New York prevailed on Tuesday night in a massive rebuke to the party establishment. Though each race was representative of a broader dissatisfaction with incumbents and specific district-level dynamics, the US relationship with Israel and funding from big-money lobbies, including AIPAC, became central components in each of these races.
Following in the footsteps Zohran Mamdani’s victory in the New York City mayoral election in 2025, Brad Lander (NY-10), Claire Valdez (NY-7), and Darializa Avila Chevalier (NY-13) all scored wins in Tuesday’s primaries, putting them on a glidepath to Congress in November. Both Lander and Avila Chevalier defeated sitting House members.
Particularly in the 10th District, where Lander won nearly two-thirds of the vote, those questions were seen as central. As Politico put it, the challenger knocked out the “two-term lawmaker after a bruising campaign that focused heavily on their differences over Israel.”
“There is very little daylight between Brad Lander and Dan Goldman ideologically, except when it comes to Israel,” Adam Carlson, a Democratic pollster, told Responsible Statecraft (RS). “Yes, Lander has a long tenure representing much of the district, but he won by a nearly 2:1 margin because Goldman is deeply out of touch with the base of the party on Israel—and his association with AIPAC.”
“Some have criticized my supporting progressive insurgents. Tonight shows we have a new party.”
In a sign of how much the discourse of the Israel’s war in Gaza and US support for it has shifted since October 2023, Valdez, who ran for an open seat, criticized her leading opponent, Antonio Reynoso, for not calling the war a “genocide” until he announced his run for Congress. Nydia Velasquez, the popular incumbent who held the seat for more than three decades, endorsed Reynoso before Tuesday’s election.
In the 13th District, meanwhile, Avila Chevalier, who centered her opposition to US policy toward Israel, shocked Adriano Espaillat, the current chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. Avila Chevalier has said she would support the “Block the Bombs” Act that would halt arms shipments to Israel and made headlines for attending a protest one day after the October 7 attacks, which she said was in recognition of “a pattern in which whenever there is an incident, the state of Israel engages in a response that is often disproportionate and creates a greater loss of life.”
Her victory was seen as notable not only because it pitted an outsider with no prior elected experience against an established incumbent, but also because she won in a less affluent, less white district. As Alex Kane wrote in Jewish Currents before the race, progressive activists saw her race as “a sign that anti-AIPAC politics can win outside of wealthier, more highly-educated progressive districts where it’s had success so far.”
In New York’s 12th District, an area of the city which is older and more Jewish than some other neighborhoods with competitive races, there were further signs of the degree to which the politics of the US-Israel relationship has changed. Carlson told RS before the vote that they would be watching for whether Nina Schwalbe, the only candidate to call the war in Gaza a “genocide,” could run close to George Conway, a former Republican and strong supporter of the traditional relationship between Washington and Tel Aviv.
At the time of writing, Schwalbe had garnered 7% of the vote compared to 6% for Conway. The two top vote-getters in the race, who were running to replace outgoing Rep. Jerry Nadler, both described themselves as pro-Israel but anti-Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and said they would not vote to end military aid to Israel.
AIPAC itself kept some distance from the races in New York, though reporting indicated that apparent front organizations for the lobbying group have continued to fund candidates. Espaillat was the only candidate explicitly backed by AIPAC. Other pro-Israel groups, such as the Democratic Majority for Israel, have reportedly given money to Super PACs supporting Goldman and Espaillat.
More pro-Israel candidates have also had successes in other races, including in a Maryland Democratic primary race on Tuesday and in an earlier effort to oust incumbent Republican Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky earlier this year.
Some sitting members of Congress framed the news as indicative of a larger wave sweeping over the party. “The progressive movement is crushing the establishment in NYC,” Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) wrote on X. “Some have criticized my supporting progressive insurgents. Tonight shows we have a new party.”
This week’s races in New York, all in deep blue districts, were certainly tied into other political dynamics, including the power of Mamdani (who endorsed all three progressive winners) and other district-specific issues. But as Democrats gear up for more primary races, ahead of November’s midterms and 2028’s presidential elections, it has become increasingly clear that unconditional support for Israel is no longer a winning issue in the Democratic Party.
© 2023 Responsible Statecraft
Blaise Malley
Blaise Malley is a reporter for Responsible Statecraft. He is a former associate editor at The National Interest and reporter-researcher at The New Republic. His writing has appeared in The New Republic, The American Prospect, The American Conservative, and elsewhere.
Full Bio >
Three Democratic candidates for House seats in New York prevailed on Tuesday night in a massive rebuke to the party establishment. Though each race was representative of a broader dissatisfaction with incumbents and specific district-level dynamics, the US relationship with Israel and funding from big-money lobbies, including AIPAC, became central components in each of these races.
Following in the footsteps Zohran Mamdani’s victory in the New York City mayoral election in 2025, Brad Lander (NY-10), Claire Valdez (NY-7), and Darializa Avila Chevalier (NY-13) all scored wins in Tuesday’s primaries, putting them on a glidepath to Congress in November. Both Lander and Avila Chevalier defeated sitting House members.
Particularly in the 10th District, where Lander won nearly two-thirds of the vote, those questions were seen as central. As Politico put it, the challenger knocked out the “two-term lawmaker after a bruising campaign that focused heavily on their differences over Israel.”
“There is very little daylight between Brad Lander and Dan Goldman ideologically, except when it comes to Israel,” Adam Carlson, a Democratic pollster, told Responsible Statecraft (RS). “Yes, Lander has a long tenure representing much of the district, but he won by a nearly 2:1 margin because Goldman is deeply out of touch with the base of the party on Israel—and his association with AIPAC.”
“Some have criticized my supporting progressive insurgents. Tonight shows we have a new party.”
In a sign of how much the discourse of the Israel’s war in Gaza and US support for it has shifted since October 2023, Valdez, who ran for an open seat, criticized her leading opponent, Antonio Reynoso, for not calling the war a “genocide” until he announced his run for Congress. Nydia Velasquez, the popular incumbent who held the seat for more than three decades, endorsed Reynoso before Tuesday’s election.
In the 13th District, meanwhile, Avila Chevalier, who centered her opposition to US policy toward Israel, shocked Adriano Espaillat, the current chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. Avila Chevalier has said she would support the “Block the Bombs” Act that would halt arms shipments to Israel and made headlines for attending a protest one day after the October 7 attacks, which she said was in recognition of “a pattern in which whenever there is an incident, the state of Israel engages in a response that is often disproportionate and creates a greater loss of life.”
Her victory was seen as notable not only because it pitted an outsider with no prior elected experience against an established incumbent, but also because she won in a less affluent, less white district. As Alex Kane wrote in Jewish Currents before the race, progressive activists saw her race as “a sign that anti-AIPAC politics can win outside of wealthier, more highly-educated progressive districts where it’s had success so far.”
In New York’s 12th District, an area of the city which is older and more Jewish than some other neighborhoods with competitive races, there were further signs of the degree to which the politics of the US-Israel relationship has changed. Carlson told RS before the vote that they would be watching for whether Nina Schwalbe, the only candidate to call the war in Gaza a “genocide,” could run close to George Conway, a former Republican and strong supporter of the traditional relationship between Washington and Tel Aviv.
At the time of writing, Schwalbe had garnered 7% of the vote compared to 6% for Conway. The two top vote-getters in the race, who were running to replace outgoing Rep. Jerry Nadler, both described themselves as pro-Israel but anti-Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and said they would not vote to end military aid to Israel.
AIPAC itself kept some distance from the races in New York, though reporting indicated that apparent front organizations for the lobbying group have continued to fund candidates. Espaillat was the only candidate explicitly backed by AIPAC. Other pro-Israel groups, such as the Democratic Majority for Israel, have reportedly given money to Super PACs supporting Goldman and Espaillat.
More pro-Israel candidates have also had successes in other races, including in a Maryland Democratic primary race on Tuesday and in an earlier effort to oust incumbent Republican Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky earlier this year.
Some sitting members of Congress framed the news as indicative of a larger wave sweeping over the party. “The progressive movement is crushing the establishment in NYC,” Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) wrote on X. “Some have criticized my supporting progressive insurgents. Tonight shows we have a new party.”
This week’s races in New York, all in deep blue districts, were certainly tied into other political dynamics, including the power of Mamdani (who endorsed all three progressive winners) and other district-specific issues. But as Democrats gear up for more primary races, ahead of November’s midterms and 2028’s presidential elections, it has become increasingly clear that unconditional support for Israel is no longer a winning issue in the Democratic Party.
© 2023 Responsible Statecraft
Blaise Malley
Blaise Malley is a reporter for Responsible Statecraft. He is a former associate editor at The National Interest and reporter-researcher at The New Republic. His writing has appeared in The New Republic, The American Prospect, The American Conservative, and elsewhere.
Full Bio >
‘Seismic Victory’ in New York as Mamdani-Backed Progressives Trounce Establishment Dems, AIPAC Cash
“Today we make it clear: The politics of the past end today,” said Darializa Avila Chevalier, who defeated five-term incumbent Rep. Adriano Espaillat.
US congressional candidate Claire Valdez speaks during her primary night watch party in Brooklyn on June 23, 2026.
(Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
Jake Johnson
Jun 24, 2026
COMMON DREAMS
Three progressive candidates emerged victorious from US congressional primaries in New York on Tuesday, overcoming millions of dollars in spending by corporate interests and AIPAC with grassroots campaigns that centered the working class.
Brad Lander, the former New York City comptroller, defeated Democratic Rep. Dan Goldman in New York’s 10th Congressional District, nearly doubling the incumbent’s vote count with over 90% of ballots tallied. In New York’s 13th, Darializa Avila Chevalier—who was recruited by Justice Democrats—defeated five-term incumbent Rep. Adriano Espaillat. Claire Valdez, a New York state assemblymember and democratic socialist recruited by New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, defeated Brooklyn borough president Antonio Reynoso in the race for the 7th District seat left open by retiring Rep. Nydia Velázquez.
The wins marked a clean sweep for Mamdani-backed candidates, each of whom campaigned on Medicare for All, affordable housing, stronger union protections, and an end to US military support for Israel’s genocidal assault on Palestinians. The primary wins for Lander, Valdez, and Avila Chevalier essentially guarantee them seats in the US House in the heavily Democratic districts.
“Today we make it clear: The politics of the past end today,” Avila Chevalier, a 32-year-old community organizer, said after winning the primary in New York’s 13th District, which Espaillat has represented for nearly a decade. The incumbent lost despite millions of dollars in spending by at least seven super PACs—including AIPAC’s United Democracy Project.
“What we have delivered here today is a clear mandate that the era of taking a check and cashing a check and calling it representation is over,” said Avila Chevalier in her victory speech.
Justice Democrats called Avila Chevalier’s win a “seismic victory” and “the biggest primary upset against a Democratic incumbent this cycle.”
“Darializa Avila Chevalier is exactly what Democratic voters nationwide are demanding—progressive champions who fight for their communities, not just when it’s politically convenient but when it’s morally necessary,” said Alexandra Rojas, the group’s executive director. “While a party machine led by Espaillat has spent decades failing to meet the needs of its voters, Darializa has taken on corporate interests and right-wing extremists to protect working families her whole career.”
Mamdani, speaking at Valdez’s victory party in Brooklyn, said New York City’s mayoral race last year “was not the end of a political movement, it was the beginning.”
“Let’s hear it for a politics that will never forget working people,” the mayor said to cheers. “For a politics that is ready to write a new chapter in our party’s history. And for a politics that realizes the old politics that got us to this crisis is not gonna get us out of this crisis. It’s time for working people to be back at the heart of our politics.”
National progressives celebrated the wins in New York, with the advocacy group RootsAction declaring that “voters overwhelmingly rejected corporatist Democrats in favor of candidates who had the moral fiber to use the word ‘genocide’ and the backbone to stand up to the donor class.”
“Now, Claire Valdez, Darializa Avila Chevalier, and Brad Lander will join the next Congress as three of the most progressive members in that body,” the group added. “With these three in Congress, we’re on track to have one of the most progressive Democratic caucuses ever in the House. That means more pressure on the corporatist Democrats, and leaders who are willing to truly stand up to the fascistic Republican Party.”
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who endorsed Lander and Valdez, applauded their “landslide victories” in a social media post late Tuesday.
“Together,” the senator wrote, “we are creating a grassroots progressive movement that will defeat the oligarchs.”
“Today we make it clear: The politics of the past end today,” said Darializa Avila Chevalier, who defeated five-term incumbent Rep. Adriano Espaillat.
US congressional candidate Claire Valdez speaks during her primary night watch party in Brooklyn on June 23, 2026.
(Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
Jake Johnson
Jun 24, 2026
COMMON DREAMS
Three progressive candidates emerged victorious from US congressional primaries in New York on Tuesday, overcoming millions of dollars in spending by corporate interests and AIPAC with grassroots campaigns that centered the working class.
Brad Lander, the former New York City comptroller, defeated Democratic Rep. Dan Goldman in New York’s 10th Congressional District, nearly doubling the incumbent’s vote count with over 90% of ballots tallied. In New York’s 13th, Darializa Avila Chevalier—who was recruited by Justice Democrats—defeated five-term incumbent Rep. Adriano Espaillat. Claire Valdez, a New York state assemblymember and democratic socialist recruited by New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, defeated Brooklyn borough president Antonio Reynoso in the race for the 7th District seat left open by retiring Rep. Nydia Velázquez.
The wins marked a clean sweep for Mamdani-backed candidates, each of whom campaigned on Medicare for All, affordable housing, stronger union protections, and an end to US military support for Israel’s genocidal assault on Palestinians. The primary wins for Lander, Valdez, and Avila Chevalier essentially guarantee them seats in the US House in the heavily Democratic districts.
“Today we make it clear: The politics of the past end today,” Avila Chevalier, a 32-year-old community organizer, said after winning the primary in New York’s 13th District, which Espaillat has represented for nearly a decade. The incumbent lost despite millions of dollars in spending by at least seven super PACs—including AIPAC’s United Democracy Project.
“What we have delivered here today is a clear mandate that the era of taking a check and cashing a check and calling it representation is over,” said Avila Chevalier in her victory speech.
Justice Democrats called Avila Chevalier’s win a “seismic victory” and “the biggest primary upset against a Democratic incumbent this cycle.”
“Darializa Avila Chevalier is exactly what Democratic voters nationwide are demanding—progressive champions who fight for their communities, not just when it’s politically convenient but when it’s morally necessary,” said Alexandra Rojas, the group’s executive director. “While a party machine led by Espaillat has spent decades failing to meet the needs of its voters, Darializa has taken on corporate interests and right-wing extremists to protect working families her whole career.”
Mamdani, speaking at Valdez’s victory party in Brooklyn, said New York City’s mayoral race last year “was not the end of a political movement, it was the beginning.”
“Let’s hear it for a politics that will never forget working people,” the mayor said to cheers. “For a politics that is ready to write a new chapter in our party’s history. And for a politics that realizes the old politics that got us to this crisis is not gonna get us out of this crisis. It’s time for working people to be back at the heart of our politics.”
National progressives celebrated the wins in New York, with the advocacy group RootsAction declaring that “voters overwhelmingly rejected corporatist Democrats in favor of candidates who had the moral fiber to use the word ‘genocide’ and the backbone to stand up to the donor class.”
“Now, Claire Valdez, Darializa Avila Chevalier, and Brad Lander will join the next Congress as three of the most progressive members in that body,” the group added. “With these three in Congress, we’re on track to have one of the most progressive Democratic caucuses ever in the House. That means more pressure on the corporatist Democrats, and leaders who are willing to truly stand up to the fascistic Republican Party.”
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who endorsed Lander and Valdez, applauded their “landslide victories” in a social media post late Tuesday.
“Together,” the senator wrote, “we are creating a grassroots progressive movement that will defeat the oligarchs.”
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