Wednesday’s Campaign Round-Up, 6.24.26: Mamdani plays kingmaker in N.Y. primaries

Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.

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* In New York City, Mayor Zohran Mamdani took a chance when he publicly backed a group of congressional candidates aligned with the Democratic Socialists of America, even issuing endorsements against Democratic incumbents running for re-election, but as the dust settles on this week’s primaries, the gamble paid off in impressive fashion.

In New York’s 10th District, former New York City Comptroller Brad Lander defeated incumbent Rep. Dan Goldman in a Democratic primary; in New York’s 13th District, pro-Palestinian activist Darializa Avila Chevalier narrowly defeated Congressional Hispanic Caucus Chairman Adriano Espaillat in a Democratic primary; and in New York’s 7th District, Claire Valdez, a democratic socialist state assemblywoman from Queens, won the primary to succeed retiring Rep. Nydia Velázquez.

There were some questions going into this week as to whether the mayor could play the role of “kingmaker” in New York City. Those questions appear to have been answered in an unambiguous way.

* Last year, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth fired Nancy Lacore, a three-star admiral and former chief of the Navy Reserve. This year, Lacore is running for Congress as a Democrat in South Carolina, and this week, she won a primary runoff in the race to succeed failed gubernatorial candidate Nancy Mace.