How far left will New York go?
That’s the main question surrounding primary elections on Tuesday in the city and beyond.
Voter turnout has fallen off in an election year featuring several competitive House races, despite more than $50 million in spending. Two congressmen are in tight re-election fights, a Kennedy scion is hoping to revive the family’s political legacy and several races are testing Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s political brand and the appeal of democratic socialism.
Here’s how The New York Times has covered the candidates in the most important races.
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New York’s 12th District
Running the width of Manhattan, and stretching from around 14th Street to the top of Central Park, the 12th District is home to the Empire State Building, Broadway and the Upper West and East Sides. No district nationally is more educated or home to more Jewish voters; few districts are wealthier. Safely Democratic, the district tends to be more liberal than leftist.
There are four serious contenders to replace Representative Jerrold Nadler, a Democrat who is retiring after more than three decades in Congress.
Micah Lasher is one of two State Assembly members leading the pack. Mr. Lasher, who represents a West Side district, is a self-branded political nerd who is hoping that his years of experience advising Democratic politicians will sway voters to choose him, despite strong anti-establishment sentiment. Mr. Nadler has endorsed and campaigned with him. Mr. Lasher has also benefited from $10 million in support from former Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg.
Alex Bores, an East Side assemblyman, began his career at the data analytics firm Palantir and has centered his campaign on regulating A.I. His focus has fueled millions of dollars in super PAC spending from industry players working both in support of and against him.
Then there is Jack Schlossberg, the grandson of John F. Kennedy. He has attracted attention by leveraging his family’s fame, his good looks and a provocative social media presence. But he has struggled to overcome his perceived shortcomings after revelations of his erratic behavior and staff turnover on his campaign, despite the help of political heavyweights like Nancy Pelosi, the former House speaker, and Caroline Kennedy, his mother.
George T. Conway III, the ex-husband of President Trump’s 2016 campaign manager and a cable news fixture, switched parties for a chance to run. He has an unapologetically narrow focus — stopping Mr. Trump — but he would have to overcome his history as a Republican to get elected in this district. The campaign is a test of whether the animus that has built against the president is as potent more than a year into his second term.
Other candidates like Nina Schwalbe, a public health leader and global vaccine expert, have struggled to draw the same level of attention to their campaigns.
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New York’s 10th District
Encompassing Lower Manhattan and a swath of Brooklyn, the 10th District includes wealthy New Yorkers who live in TriBeCa penthouses and Brooklyn brownstones, the poorer residents of large public housing developments, immigrant enclaves in Manhattan’s Chinatown and Sunset Park in Brooklyn and a large ultra-Orthodox Jewish population. The area has a history of progressive politics.
Daniel Goldman, a two-term Democrat and former federal prosecutor, is running for re-election amid a tectonic shift in his party’s support for Israel. He has a liberal voting record and helped lead Mr. Trump’s first impeachment inquiry, a résumé that would under other circumstances have helped propel him to re-election. But as his party and the district have turned against Israel amid its war in Gaza, Mr. Goldman’s long-term commitment to that nation and ties to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, a pro-Israel lobby, have left him vulnerable.
His loss may be Brad Lander’s gain. Mr. Lander, a former city comptroller and mayoral candidate, is running to Mr. Goldman’s left on Israel. Polls suggest Mr. Lander has opened a wide lead despite Mr. Goldman’s having spent more than $1 million of his personal fortune on his campaign. Mr. Lander is also benefiting from his deep ties to the district and support from Mr. Mamdani, who is widely popular there.
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New York’s Seventh District
Known by some as the “Commie Corridor,” the Seventh District is a swath of Brooklyn and Queens that is home to some of the youngest and most progressive voters in the country. Neighborhoods like Williamsburg, Long Island City and Bushwick have undergone rapid gentrification, but sizable populations of Puerto Ricans and other Latinos remain.
Antonio Reynoso, the Brooklyn borough president, would normally be the favorite to replace Nydia M. Velázquez, a Puerto Rican trailblazer and Democrat who is retiring after three decades. Mr. Reynoso grew up in the district, has a long progressive legislative record and has the backing of Ms. Velázquez. But at a moment when Mr. Mamdani and the socialist movement are flexing their organizational muscle, his top opponent has the advantage.
That person is Claire Valdez, a member of the Democratic Socialists of America and a first-term state lawmaker. Ms. Valdez, a former labor organizer, has argued that Mr. Reynoso has not been bold enough in office. More important, Mr. Mamdani, who is overwhelmingly popular in the district, has endorsed her, helped her raise money, offered strategic advice and appeared on the campaign trail on her behalf. Still, Mr. Reynoso remains a formidable opponent.
Julie Won, a city councilwoman from Queens, is running on a “lifetime of care” platform that calls for universal government-funded child care and death benefits. But so far, she is trailing in polls.
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New York’s 13th District
Covering Upper Manhattan and parts of the Bronx, the 13th District is home to a large working-class Latino population, a sizable Black community rooted in Harlem and a growing number of white voters, some of them clustered around Columbia University.
Adriano Espaillat, a five-term Democrat and chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, spent years building a political network, known as “the Squadriano,” that ultimately helped to make him the first Dominican American and first formerly undocumented immigrant to serve in Congress. But his old-school machine-style politics, his long support of Israel and his willingness to accept AIPAC money have opened him to attacks. Mr. Mamdani and his allies are attempting to unseat Mr. Espaillat, whom they view as too friendly to corporate donors and Israel.
Mr. Espaillat’s primary challenger, Darializa Avila Chevalier, has the backing of the D.S.A., the Justice Democrats and Mr. Mamdani, and has made the incumbent’s foreign policy stances into a campaign issue. She helped lead protests against the war in Gaza at Columbia University and has faced scrutiny for old social media posts — since deleted — in which she used crude language to criticize Kamala Harris, expressed support for abolishing prisons and defunding the police and questioned Israel’s right to exist.
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New York’s 17th District
North of New York City, the 17th District includes wealthy liberal suburbs in Westchester County, Hudson Valley river towns and a growing Orthodox Jewish population in Rockland County. Kamala Harris narrowly won it in the 2024 presidential race.
Mike Lawler, a two-term Republican and former political operative, holds a Hudson Valley-area seat that Democrats are desperate to flip. Mr. Lawler has eluded Democrats for two election cycles, building a reputation as a common-sense Republican willing to buck his party. But with voters bridling at Mr. Trump, Mr. Lawler is facing a far more difficult environment, and Democratic leaders are hopeful that Mr. Trump’s unpopularity will help them reclaim the seat.
Of the three candidates vying for the Democratic nomination to unseat Mr. Lawler in November, only two are presumed front-runners: Cait Conley, an Army veteran and cybersecurity expert, and Beth Davidson, a local county legislator. Also on the ballot is Effie Phillips-Staley, a nonprofit executive and local official, who has staked out a more progressive platform.
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New York’s 21st Congressional District
The 21st District, one of the largest in the United States, runs from Albany to the Canadian border. Once swing territory, the district elected Mr. Trump by 24 points in 2024.
Robert Smullen, a career Marine and state assemblyman, is taking on Anthony Constantino, a local businessman and provocateur, for a vacant House seat that was previously held by Elise Stefanik, a Republican.
While state Republican leaders are overwhelmingly backing Mr. Smullen, Mr. Constantino has President Trump’s endorsement, making him the favorite in the Republican primary. Mr. Constantino first got the president’s attention when he erected a 100-foot wide “VOTE FOR TRUMP” sign atop his company’s headquarters.
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State Comptroller
If polling is a reliable indicator, most voters can’t tell you who Thomas P. DiNapoli is or what he’s been doing for nearly two decades as state comptroller, the state’s fiscal watchdog and public pension manager. With endorsements from Gov. Kathy Hochul and Letitia James, the state attorney general, he has campaigned for yet another term on his scandal-free record, a rarity in New York politics.
He has never had a primary challenger. Now, he has two.
Raj Goyle and Drew Warshaw are seeking to emulate Mr. Mamdani’s energetic campaign and ride a wave of frustration with incumbents. They have criticized Mr. DiNapoli’s stewardship of the state pension fund and its investments in Palantir, while also arguing that he could be making better use of his powers to audit other local and state agencies.
Mr. Goyle, a lawyer, was once a state lawmaker in Kansas. Mr. Warshaw was an aide to Eliot Spitzer when he was governor, and previously worked at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and as an executive at a large affordable housing nonprofit. The two men are neighbors in Manhattan and former friends whose competing campaigns have puzzled friends and political observers, raising concerns about dividing the progressive vote.
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