Zohran Mamdani’s picks take key House primaries amid a broad battle over Democrats’ direction

But they were no match for Mamdani and other allies, who elevated Valdez, 36, a first-termer in the state Assembly who moved to the city in 2015. She ran a hard-charging campaign calling for “Medicare for All†and a “public option for housing.†And she argued she was a stronger advocate than Reynoso in their approaches to criticizing Israel’s conduct in its war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

Then, Darializa Avila Chevalier — another young democratic socialist and community activist whose campaign flew under the radar before Mamdani endorsed her — defeated 10-year Rep. Adriano Espaillat, chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.

The race turned ugly in the final weeks, with Avila Chevalier charging Espaillat with neglecting his working-class constituents and being out of step with Democratic voters on Israel. Espaillat and his allies, meanwhile, zeroed in on a number of controversial past social media posts by his rival, including one in which she profanely criticized Democratic leaders.

Other dynamics in play in Tuesday’s primaries across four states included tens of millions of dollars from super PACs funded by the artificial intelligence industry, pro-Israel groups and a pair of wealthy Democrats engaged in a knock-down, drag-out primary in Maryland.

But the success of the Mamdani-led power play across New York City was the biggest news of the night.

The districts, spread out across three of its boroughs, share some similarities. All three are among the city’s most rapidly gentrifying neighborhoods, with Valdez herself a somewhat recent transplant to her district. All three are also among the districts where Mamdani performed the strongest in his mayoral election last fall against Democratic former Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

“It was an honor one year ago to work together to elect him the mayor of New York City,†Lander said of Mamdani in his victory speech, adding, “What a glorious time to be a New Yorker.â€