Mamdani-backed Democrats secure NYC House seats after Trump aid cut
Three candidates critical of Israel won their districts by wide margins, with one voting hours after the president announced the end of US military support.
By Marco Whitaker ·
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s political allies captured three US House seats in New York on Tuesday, winning by landslide margins in deeply blue districts. The Associated Press called the races for Darializa Chevalier, Brad Lander, and Claire Valdez shortly after polls closed at 9 p.m. With more than half of the ballots counted, each Democrat led their Republican challenger by at least 70 percentage points.
The candidates defeated more moderate rivals in June primaries with Mamdani’s support. Chevalier and Valdez belong to the Democratic Socialists of America, a far-left organization. Lander, a Jewish Democrat who identifies as a liberal Zionist, was detained by Israeli forces in the West Bank in October while picking olives with an activist group.
Chevalier cast her ballot on Tuesday just after President Donald Trump announced that the US would end military aid to Israel. In a statement, she argued that cutting aid is insufficient. “We need to end US taxpayer funding for Israel’s war crimes, a full arms embargo, and the Palestinian right of return,” she said. The right of return refers to allowing millions of Palestinians and their descendants to enter Israel, a move that would shift the country's demographic balance away from a Jewish majority.
Chevalier has maintained a hardline stance during her campaign. She attended a rally celebrating the events of October 7, 2023, and did not publicly condemn Hamas during her bid for office. Her victory follows the easy reelection of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in a nearby New York City district.
Statewide, Governor Kathy Hochul secured a second term in office. The moderate Democrat defeated Republican challenger Bruce Blakeman by a wide margin. Hochul is generally supportive of Israel and has close ties to Jewish communities, though she has faced criticism from some Jewish voters for her political alliance with Mamdani.
Blakeman campaigned on his connection to Jewish voters, linking Hochul to anti-Zionist protests and antisemitism. Hochul countered by associating Blakeman with President Trump, who has low approval ratings in New York. The governor’s win marks her second consecutive victory, following her 2022 defeat of Lee Zeldin.
In the suburbs, moderate Democrats also performed well. Cait Conley defeated Republican Rep. Mike Lawler in New York’s 17th District. Lawler conceded the race after calling his opponent. Conley led by five points with 57% of the vote counted. Both candidates are generally supportive of Israel, though they differ on specific policy issues such as settlements.
