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Gaza as campaign faultline
New York’s Democratic congressional primaries on Tuesday became a high-profile referendum on Israel and Gaza, with Zohran Mamdani-backed candidates winning races that ABC News and the BBC described as exposing divisions over the Israel-Gaza war.
“Mamdani won big, but it's a mistake to think all Democrats swung left: ANALYSIS All three Mamdani-backed candidates in New York City won their races”
The BBC said the contest in New York’s 10th congressional district “laid bare the party's divisions over the Israel-Gaza war,” after Brad Lander defeated incumbent Dan Goldman, and it added that Lander has accused Israel of genocide in Gaza.
In the BBC’s account of the 13th district, Darializa Avila Chevalier defeated Adriano Espaillat, and the BBC described Chevalier as a doctoral student who had joined pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia University.
ABC News framed the broader political context by saying immigration enforcement, Israel and Gaza, and “ongoing frustration with the political establishment all played a role” in the primaries.
ABC News also quoted Mamdani’s interpretation of the results, saying he framed the victories as evidence that “voters are hungry for politics that put working people at the center of the conversation.”
Pro- and anti-Israel reactions
Al Jazeera portrayed the wins as a blow to the pro-Israel camp in US politics, quoting Beth Miller of Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) Action saying, “Last night was a political earthquake in New York City, and the Democratic establishment has been put on notice.”
In the same Al Jazeera report, Heba Gowayed, a sociology professor at the City University of New York (CUNY), told Al Jazeera that the results represented a defeat to “cynical establishment politics that perceives criticism of Israel as a nonstarter.”
CNN described a different reaction inside the Democratic Party, quoting Rep. Josh Gottheimer of New Jersey asking, “are we going to let them take over the party? Or are we going to stand up and fight back?”
CNN also reported that House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries downplayed the immediate political impact, saying, “No, Donald Trump has a working relationship with the mayor of the city of New York,” and adding that he and Mamdani “agreed to strongly disagree.”
In the BBC’s account, Mamdani celebrated Chevalier’s win by describing her as “of clarity, of conscience and of conviction,” while Goldman said, “Tonight, the voters of 10th District have spoken.”
What comes next in Congress
The Al Jazeera report said the Mamdani-backed candidates were expected to win in the general elections in November, and it argued that their entry into Congress “will widen the emerging crack in the bipartisan consensus over unconditional support for Israel on Capitol Hill.”
“Over the past year, it may have appeared that the pro-Palestine protest movement in the United States has lost momentum in the face of smears, crackdowns, indifference and fatigue”
Al Jazeera also tied the stakes to the next Congress by saying the winning nominees would join the next Congress early in 2027, while it described AIPAC and other pro-Israel groups as spending “tens of millions of dollars” to defeat progressive candidates.
NBC News framed the internal Democratic stakes as a question of party cohesion, saying a House Democrat was “concerned” that progressive candidates could divide the Democratic party despite the Mamdani-backed wins.
In the BBC’s coverage, the political consequences were immediate and personal, with Trump appearing to reference Mamdani’s endorsement successes and with Goldman and Lander both reacting to the outcome in the 10th district.
ABC News closed its analysis by emphasizing that the New York results were not a uniform leftward shift, noting that in Utah’s newly drawn 1st District, former Rep. Ben McAdams “prevailed over further-left progressives,” even as Israel and Gaza remained a central intraparty flashpoint.
