All Three Mamdani-Backed Candidates Win House Seats — Lander, Valdez and Avila Chevalier Complete the Sweep

All three congressional candidates backed by New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani have won their midterm elections, converting a clean sweep in June's Democratic primaries into three seats in the House of Representatives. Brad Lander, Darializa Avila Chevalier and Claire Valdez won their respective New York contests, extending Mamdani's influence beyond City Hall and placing his political coalition inside the Congress that takes office in January — part of the larger nationwide Democratic victory that won control of both the House and the Senate in Tuesday's midterms.

Each of the three arrived the hard way. Lander, the former city comptroller, won the 10th District after defeating two-term incumbent Daniel Goldman in a June primary largely shaped by debate over Israel — Lander opposed further U.S. military assistance while Goldman was supported by pro-Israel groups including the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. Avila Chevalier won the 13th District having displaced Adriano Espaillat in the primary; she entered the race without previously holding public office, as a member of the Democratic Socialists of America who had helped organise pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia University. Valdez secured the open 7th District seat vacated by Nydia Velazquez, after first defeating Antonio Reynoso in the contest for the nomination.

The sweep drew national notice as a marker of where the party's energy sits. Senator Bernie Sanders described the results as “some of the greatest progressive victories in modern American history,” writing: “All across the country, in rural and urban areas, Americans said NO to oligarchy, and YES to an agenda that fights for the working class” — and his list of congratulations included Lander and Valdez among the House winners, alongside Senate and congressional candidates across the country. Mamdani's own response to the wins was brief: “It's morning again in America.”

For the city, the result is structural, not just symbolic. The mayor's endorsed slate challenged established figures or their preferred successors in all three districts and won twice over — in June and again in November — which gives City Hall three aligned votes in a House that will spend the final two years of President Donald Trump's term in Democratic hands. What that alignment produces — on housing, transit funding and the federal fights this city routinely takes to Washington — is the file this desk now follows into January.