🗽 THE PEOPLE’S SWEEP: A Morning Cup Special Edition on New York’s Historic Primary Night
The left didn’t just win last night. It sent a message.
☕ FIRST CUP
Folks…Last night, New York held its congressional and state legislative primaries — and when the polls closed, the Democratic Party establishment was left staring at a map that no longer belonged to them. I almost could not believe my eyes.
Three congressional seats. Six-plus state legislative seats. Two sitting incumbents ousted. And one movement, rooted in the Democratic Socialists of America and animated by the political energy of Mayor Zohran Mamdani, that showed it is not a moment — it is a machine.
All three candidates Mamdani endorsed for Congress were victorious, marking a massive win for the left and a major blow for establishment Democrats. These were not low-stakes open races. Two of the three seats required defeating sitting members of Congress — members backed by the governor, the House Minority Leader, and AIPAC. And all three fell. NPR
This is your Morning Cup. Drink it slow. This one matters.
📋 TODAY’S ORDER
🔴 NY-10: Brad Lander Ends Dan Goldman’s Career — And It Wasn’t Close
As of 10:40 p.m., Lander had earned 65.8% of the vote to Goldman’s 34.01% with nearly 98% of scanners reporting. The race was called by NY1 less than ten minutes after polls closed. Brooklyn Paper
Brad Lander defeated two-term incumbent Rep. Dan Goldman on Tuesday for the Democratic nomination in New York’s 10th Congressional District, which covers Lower Manhattan and parts of Brooklyn. In what is a solidly blue district, Lander will be the favorite in the November general election. CBS News
Goldman was not some obscure backbencher. He had been seen as a rising star in the Democratic Party because of his high-profile role as lead counsel during President Donald Trump’s first impeachment trial. He had Gov. Kathy Hochul. He had Hakeem Jeffries. He had major labor unions. He had his personal wealth, which he pledged to spend freely. He had almost everything — except the voters. NBC News
Mamdani bucked party lines by endorsing Lander over Goldman, who was backed by establishment Democrats. Lander also had Bernie Sanders. But more importantly, he had a message that cut through: Goldman had been on the wrong side of Gaza, the wrong side of the billionaires question, and out of step with a district that’s one of the most progressive in the country. City & State NY
At his victory party in Gowanus, Lander said: “I will be one of the Jewish members of Congress most willing to stand up for Palestinian human rights, and I will stand firmly against bigotry aimed at Jews. Those are not two different jobs. They are the same job.” CBS News
Goldman conceded gracefully: “Tonight, the voters of 10th District have spoken. While this is not the outcome I worked so hard for, I respect their decision.” CBS News
Goldman is the fifth House incumbent to lose a primary so far in 2026, as a swath of voters express frustration with their party’s leaders. NBC News
🔴 NY-13: The Biggest Upset of the Night — A 32-Year-Old Community Organizer Defeats a Five-Term Congressman
If NY-10 was a statement, NY-13 was a thunderclap.
The biggest upset of the night came in New York’s 13th district, where Mamdani-backed candidate Darializa Avila Chevalier, a 32-year-old community organizer and democratic socialist, narrowly defeated five-term incumbent Democrat Adriano Espaillat, 71, to represent Upper Manhattan and part of the Bronx. NPR
With 86% of the votes counted, Avila Chevalier led Espaillat by about 3.3 percentage points, with Avila Chevalier receiving 49.3% and Espaillat drawing 46%. Jewish Telegraphic Agency
This was the hardest fight of the night. Espaillat was the first former undocumented immigrant, and the first Dominican American, elected to the House. He was backed by House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Gov. Kathy Hochul, state Attorney General Letitia James, City Council Speaker Julie Menin, the Congressional Black Caucus, and the state AFL-CIO. NBC NewsNBC News
And BOLD America — which received cash from both the Congressional Hispanic Caucus’ super PAC and AIPAC’s United Democracy Project — was the biggest spender in the race, putting $2.9 million into defending Espaillat. Axios
It didn’t work.
Avila Chevalier garnered 49% of the vote over Espaillat’s 45% and becomes the first woman to represent NY-13. Norwood News
The campaign she ran was rooted in kitchen-table economics and anti-war politics. In her launch video, she asked plainly: “Where is our congressman when ICE is kidnapping his constituents? Why should we let Adriano Espaillat vote to spend billions on bombs overseas when we’re struggling to afford rent and groceries right here in New York City?” NBC News
The race turned vicious at the end. Avila Chevalier — an Afro-Latina, Muslim woman — accused Espaillat’s operation of racist attacks and “lies about my identity, my faith and my family.” She walked out of a Spanish-language radio interview on election day after hosts began yelling at her and citing what she called misinformation. City & State NY
She won anyway. Referencing the millions in outside spending against her campaign, Avila Chevalier described “the Democratic machine” and AIPAC as “scared.” “We’ve seen the lengths they will go to protect their power,” she said, adding that supporters triumphed despite the steep opposition. City & State NY
The result makes Espaillat the sixth House incumbent to lose re-nomination this cycle. Norwood News
🟢 NY-7: Claire Valdez Takes the Open Seat — And It Wasn’t Even Close
Queens Assembly Member Claire Valdez has won the Democratic primary in New York’s 7th Congressional District, defeating a crowded field and moving closer to replacing retiring Rep. Nydia Velázquez. With about 87% of precincts reporting Tuesday night, Valdez led the four-candidate race with roughly 58% of the vote. Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso followed with about 33%. Brooklyn Paper
This race was billed as close. It was not.
Valdez’s coalition, which included the lefty United Auto Workers in addition to the mayor and NYC-DSA, steamrolled the combined might of New York City’s institutional progressive left — including the Working Families Party, most unions, and even Rep. Nydia Velázquez, who endorsed Reynoso as her preferred successor. City & State NY
The crowd at Assembly Member Claire Valdez’s watch party at 99 Scott in East Williamsburg broke into uproarious chants of “DSA! DSA!” And in perhaps the most clarifying moment of the night, when House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries appeared on a screen at the party, the crowd responded with chants of “you’re next.” City & State NY
During her victory speech, Valdez celebrated with her supporters, saying, “this movement is durable.” Spectrum News NY1
Mamdani also spoke at the election night party, casting DSA’s wins Tuesday night as a continuation of his successful 2025 mayoral campaign. “What you all have shown this evening — whether for state Assembly, state Senate or Congress — is that a year ago, it was not the end of a political movement,” he said. “It was the beginning.” City & State NY
🏛️ Down-Ballot: The DSA Wave Goes Even Deeper
The congressional sweep was the headline. But the wave ran all the way down the ballot.
According to the Associated Press, DSA-backed candidates won up and down the state: Samantha Kattan won in state Assembly District 37 (Queens); David Orkin defeated incumbent Jennifer Rajkumar in state Assembly District 38 (Queens); Christian Tate defeated incumbent Erik Dilan in state Assembly District 54 (Brooklyn); Eon Huntley defeated incumbent Stefani Zinerman in state Assembly District 56 (Brooklyn); Illapa Sairitupac won state Assembly District 65; and Aber Kawas defeated Steven Raga in state Senate District 12 (Queens). Spectrum News NY1
David Orkin defeated Rajkumar by an eye-popping 18 percentage points. Fellow socialist Christian Celeste Tate performed even better against Erik Dilan, ending a Brooklyn political dynasty by winning 62% of the vote. And DSA-backed Eon Huntley bested Stefani Zinerman in his second attempt to unseat her in Brooklyn, garnering over 58% of the vote. City & State NY
In Buffalo, Assembly candidate Adam Bojak appears likely to become DSA’s first legislator from Western New York. New York Focus
The anti-DSA outside spending, which totaled $2.9 million, largely failed to win races. The only DSA-backed candidate to concede on Tuesday was Assembly candidate Conrad Blackburn in Harlem, where outside groups spent over $900,000 against him — more than any other DSA candidate on the ticket. New York Focus
NYC-DSA Co-Chair Gustavo Gordillo put it simply: “This year we’ve continued to show that in New York, it is the democratic socialist movement that is leading a transformative agenda with popular support. Even when we are outspent, our agenda and operation bring out voters in a way the Democratic Party establishment no longer aspires to.” The Intercept
📊 What It All Means: The Mamdani Movement Is Real
Let’s zoom out.
Special interests including the pro-Israel lobby and dark-money groups spent a collective $8.4 million in the three congressional races against Mamdani’s endorsed candidates. In response, progressive groups made their biggest investments in recent history, with American Priorities, a new pro-Palestine super PAC, investing $2 million to back Mamdani’s picks and Justice Democrats spending a combined $1.8 million backing Valdez and Chevalier. The InterceptThe Intercept
The establishment outspent the left significantly. The left won anyway.
This is what the shift looks like from the inside. Mamdani won the mayoralty a year ago and the commentariat called it an aberration. A one-off. The product of a particularly weak field or a particularly unusual cycle. Last night should put that narrative to rest permanently. Assembly Member Diana Moreno, celebrating alongside her fellow winners, said the sweeping DSA victories across the city represent a more important moment than even Mamdani’s mayoral win. “Zohran said at his victory speech that his campaign cannot be the best thing that we’ve ever done. It has to be what comes after,” Moreno said. “This is what comes after.” Brooklyn Paper
The Democratic Party is in the middle of a generational realignment. Lander, 60, is the elder statesman of the group. Chevalier is 32. Valdez is a first-term assembly member who beat the borough president. These are not career politicians who waited in line. These are candidates who ran on a clear socialist platform — tax the rich, housing for all, out of Gaza, defend immigrants — and won, in many cases against well-funded incumbents with every endorsement the machine could provide.
The question heading into November isn’t whether these candidates can win general elections. They’re in safe blue districts — they almost certainly will. The question is what kind of Democratic caucus shows up in January. And last night moved the needle significantly to the left.
⚡ Other Notable Results From the Night
Democrat Cait Conley, a former national cybersecurity expert, won the Democratic primary in New York’s 17th Congressional District and will challenge Republican Rep. Mike Lawler in November. Conley worked on the National Security Council in the Biden administration and was deployed overseas six times during Army service. CBS News
In the Queens state Senate race, Jessica Ramos — who endorsed Andrew Cuomo over Mamdani in last year’s mayoral primary — appeared to lose her bid for reelection, with progressive challenger Jessica González-Rojas leading by 10 points. That result is a sharp reminder that crossing the Mamdani movement has consequences. City & State NY
☕ LAST SIP
Last night wasn’t just a good night for the left. It was a proof of concept.
The Mamdani movement proved it can transfer its energy. The DSA proved it can beat incumbents with money, institutional backing, and decades in office. And progressive voters in New York proved they are hungry — not just for opposition to Trump, but for something to actually vote for.
The establishment will spend the next several weeks trying to explain away what happened. They’ll say it’s New York, it’s idiosyncratic, it’s AOC’s district, it’s Gaza, it’s anything but the signal it actually is.
Don’t let them.
Three incumbent-ousting congressional primaries. Six-plus state legislative seats flipped to the DSA. Millions in outside spending, defeated. That’s not noise. That’s a movement.
Sean
This is The Morning Cup — your daily progressive briefing from Cup of Culture. If this kind of coverage matters to you, the best thing you can do is become a paid subscriber and help keep it going.
👉 SeanBartley.substack.com/subscribe
— Sean Bartley | Cup of Culture & The Progressive