Three candidates backed by the New York City mayor won after campaigning for Medicare for All, affordable housing, stronger union protections and opposing Israel’s genocidal assault on Palestinians, Jake Johnson reports.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani in January 2026. (Marc A. Hermann / MTA/Wikimedia Commons/ CC BY 4.0)
Three progressive candidates emerged victorious from U.S. 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 percent 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 assembly member and democratic socialist recruited by New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, defeated Brooklyn borough president Antonio Reynoso in the race for the Seventh 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 U.S. military support for Israel’s genocidal assault on Palestinians. The primary wins for Lander, Valdez and Avila Chevalier essentially guarantee them seats in the U.S. House of Representatives 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.
There aren’t words to describe this moment but there are policies to uphold. WE WON!! pic.twitter.com/qLwipb7Cqo
— Darializa for Congress (@DarializaforNY) June 24, 2026
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-wingextremists 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.”
Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s full speech at Claire Valdez’s victory party: pic.twitter.com/OdqFX7Daac
— Michael Lange (@MichaelLangeNYC) June 24, 2026
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.”
Jake Johnson is a senior editor and staff writer for Common Dreams.
This article is from Common Dreams.
Views expressed in this article and may or may not reflect those of Consortium News.
“M” for Mamdani!!! “O” for Opposing Israel’s genocidal assault on Palestinians, “Deals Blow to [$tatus Quo] Democrats,” w/Three (3) progressive [Democrat] candidates “emerging victoriously!” No doubt blowin’ away their shared intere$ts, The Mother$hip, The DNC, is in dry dock rock’n w/blowback, “millions of dollars $pent by corporate interests & AIPAC;” & “grassroots campaigns that centered the [NY Democrats] working class.”
…..How about Blowin’ “Everyone” Away! Fuhgeddabout “Medicare” for all; AND, if, you see Bernie, get him on board, itsa “grassroots progressive movement to defeat the old guard!!”
Everybody, “DDD” for Double Dawg Dare, Zohran Mamdani, Claire Valdez, Darializa Avila Chevalier, Brad Lander, to ‘Make It Rain, i.e., “A Universal, Single-Payer Healthcare System funded through national health insurance administered by four non-profit sick funds,” w/options: “Join one of the four government-mandated health funds (Clalit, Meuhedet, Maccabi, Leumit) that provide coverage. Premiums paid via employer or direct billing.”
* HERE IS a brief description of the foregoing healthcare system in: Israel. Continent: Asia.
· Israel has a universal, single-payer healthcare system funded through national health insurance administered by four non-profit sick funds.
· All citizens and qualifying long-term residents are required to join one of these funds that cover primary, specialty and hospital care.
· The system offers comprehensive coverage, including prescription drugs, mental health services and maternity care. There are almost no co-payments.
· Funds receive a blended public-private financing model including government subsidies based on income and risk factors.
· High-quality care is widely available through a mix of public and private hospitals and clinics. The nation has a high doctor-to-patient ratio.
· Around 7.1% of GDP is spent on healthcare, less than the U.S. but more than European nations.
· The system, while not without issues, consistently scores among the best for efficiency, outcomes and universal access to modern treatments.
* HERE ARE some key health considerations for expatriates living in the country:
· Join one of the four government-mandated health funds (Clalit, Meuhedet, Maccabi, Leumit) that provide coverage. Premiums paid via employer or direct billing.
Register with a primary care clinic or general practitioner (kupatcholim) as a “listed patient” for routine care.
· Understand co-payment responsibilities for elective services versus publicly covered care.
· English is widely spoken in major cities but learning basic Hebrew helps for rural/specialty care.
· Address any underlying health conditions before relocating due to coverage limitations in some areas.
“I” for Imagine a “Universal, Single-Payer Healthcare System funded through national health insurance administered by four (4) non-profit sick funds.” When pigs fly, eh?
* hxxps://www.thinkinsurcare.com/Expat-Health-Insurance-Israel
Aren’t you forgetting the annual multi-billions in involuntary contributions of American taxpayers towards funding the Zionist Israeli society “overall”; wherein more than half of the total populace, within the boundaries that the Israeli state claims as its own today, have no access to even a so-called Universal, Single-Payer Healthcare System?
Pigs will truly fly when American taxpayers come to the realization that American corporations do NOT pay anywhere near their fair share of the tax ‘burden’ despite being permitted to operate as they do, in this “free market” system!
Oh, Em! Everybody, knows, it’s gonna take an Act of Congress to dissolve gifting “annually, multi-billions in involuntary contributions of American taxpayers, funding the Zionist Israeli society “overall” Fuhgeddaboutit it!
…..*“Genocide Meets [U.S. Congress’] Devotion to Israel;” including funding, imo, Israel’s Non-Profit Sick Funds, “a blended public-private financing model including government subsidies based on income and risk factors. All citizens and qualifying long-term residents are required to join one of these funds that cover primary, specialty and hospital care.”
Obviously, the Occupier-In-Chief, Israel, deems “more than half of the total populace, within the boundaries that the Israeli state claims as its own today,” [Unqualified]. Hence, they “have no access to even a so-called Universal, Single-Payer Healthcare System”. Only “the chosen” benefit @ the expense of American Taxpayers.
Concluding, transforming the Divided $tates of Corporate America’s multiple-payer system to a single-payer or universal system, meaning the government would pay for healthcare for everyone. Yep, when pigs fly.
* hxxps://consortiumnews.com/2024/02/11/diana-johnstone-genocide-meets-french-devotion-to-israel/
A retrospective look in a mirror.
Who were those who regarded themselves as “the chosen” in the U.S., before Jewish religionists even reached the 2.4% of the American population that they account for today?
AI Overview
[Just prior to the Civil War, enslaved people made up approximately 12.6% of the total United States population. According to the 1860 U.S. Census, there were about 3.95 million enslaved people out of a total national population of nearly 31.4 million.
Are these “the chosen” you are referring to?
Prior to the Civil War, roughly 85% to 86% of the United States population was white. The final census before the war, held in 1860, recorded a total national population of about 31.4 million. Of these, approximately 26.9 million were classified as white, which equated to about 85.6% of the population.]
Putting biblical mythology aside, are these white European, settler colonists, more aptly, “the chosen” you refer to.
“Medicare for All” is a misnomer. It is not the same thing as completely free, no limitations, health care. I know, because I’m a senior on Medicare and I have to pay for supplemental health insurance to cover what Medicare does not cover. DSA are not socialists. They are slightly left-wing Democrats. We real socialists do not support them.
“We real socialists do not support them”; and that will help to bring about “completely free, no limitations, health care”?
What of the many millions who cannot afford the luxury of being able to pay the private out-of-pocket “supplemental health insurance to cover what Medicare does not cover”?
Without access to this private supplemental insurance, not even the minimal so-called “healthcare” services are accessible”.
But being a ‘real’ American socialist, you already know this!
Emma Goldman must still be turning in her grave in Canada; after her naturalization as a U.S. citizen was revoked by a legal stratagem in 1908.
She was deported from the United States to Soviet Russia in 1919, because of her anti-war activism and anarchist beliefs.
Years later, in 1939, she moved to Canada to escape political persecution in Europe and to organize anti-fascist campaigns.
“Extra! Extra! Read all about it!”
It’s baby steps in a better direction, but I agree. We need a radical new politics outside the compromised duopoly trap.
The baby steps should have been taken in the 1930s when most of the working class in the U.S. supported the Russian Revolution. Why else do you think FDR created the New Deal? He wanted to preserve capitalism. We are living the consequences of that failure.
No, Medicare for all is simply Medicare for all … no one claims that it’s the same thing as “completely free unlimited healthcare” … so why are you squatting the two?
While Medicare for all is extremely popular, being a known quantity, what you describe is not necessarily. So, again, what is gained by this equivocation?
“We real socialists…” Of course we, the working class, need a self-appointed vanguard to tell us what is real, what is true, and what we should do since we’re too stupid to figure it out for ourselves. Just like the Dem party and their professional and managerial class loyalists think. Eugene V. Debs, as one of us, knew better; some of us can actually read, write, and think.