Darializa Avila Chevalier overtook another incumbent, Congressional Hispanic Caucus Chairman Adriano Espaillat (D-NY), in a closer race, despite the Democratic establishment investing heavily in saving Espaillat’s seat.

In Brooklyn, Claire Valdez overtook Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso by roughly 20 points to win the Democratic nomination for an open House seat following Rep. Nydia Velazquez’s (D-NY) retirement.

New York state Rep. Micah Lasher won the race to replace retiring Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY), the only race in which a progressive Democrat did not claim victory. Mamdani did not issue an endorsement in that race.

Mamdani celebrated Tuesday night with all three victorious candidates, telling supporters at Lander’s election party that his former rival in last year’s mayoral race “brings a vision of politics that is more than what we’ve seen for so long.”

Valdez offered perhaps the night’s most memorable line: “Solidarity forever, abolish ICE, free Palestine, organize your union, and join DSA.”

2. Jeffries and Democratic establishment face significant setback

Mamdani’s victories pushed the Democratic establishment onto its back foot and exposed the vulnerability of two of the party’s most powerful leaders, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY).

In New York, Jeffries endorsed Goldman and Espaillat, both of whom lost despite pledging loyalty to House leadership if Democrats reclaim the majority.

Lander has signaled that while he is inclined to support Jeffries, he intends to pressure party leadership from the left.

“Progressive and moderate Democrats, across the whole spectrum, are going to have to have consensus behind a leader,” Lander said in February. “And you’re not going to agree with that leader on every issue. … There are moments when you have to stand unified, and there are moments when you have to be willing to speak up courageously when you don’t think people are fighting hard enough.”

Meanwhile, Avila Chevalier declined to commit to supporting Jeffries during a debate earlier this month.

Elsewhere, Maryland Senate President Bill Ferguson survived his primary after angering national Democrats by telling lawmakers he would block efforts to conduct a midcycle congressional redistricting plan that Democrats believe could have netted them an additional House seat.

In another Maryland race, Rep. April McClain Delaney (D-MD) held off former Rep. David Trone’s attempt to reclaim the seat in Maryland’s 6th Congressional District. Trone nearly entirely self-funded his comeback attempt, zeroing in on President Donald Trump’s immigration policies. The race drew nearly $23 million in TV ad spending.

3. Trump somewhat wins in South Carolina gubernatorial race

Trump-backed South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson won Tuesday’s Republican gubernatorial runoff, defeating Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette, who was also backed by Trump.

The president seemingly adopted a new strategy after a string of endorsement setbacks this year: backing both candidates.

Trump issued the unusual dual endorsement ahead of Tuesday’s runoff, allowing him to claim victory regardless of the outcome, as gubernatorial races have increasingly become a weak spot for his endorsement record. However, he had originally endorsed Evette before the election went to a runoff.

After losses in states such as Georgia and Iowa, Trump appeared unwilling to risk another high-profile defeat. Wilson’s decisive victory suggests the endorsement was less about influencing the race than avoiding being on the wrong side of it.

Of course, by endorsing both candidates in a two-person runoff, Trump guaranteed that he would back both a winner and a loser.

Wilson will face Democratic nominee Jermaine Johnson in November. South Carolina has not elected a Democratic governor since 1998, making the Republican primary effectively the main event.

4. Israel a red line for many Democratic primary voters

The New York races underscored the rapid shift in Democratic voters’ views on the U.S.-Israel relationship, an issue Lander, who is Jewish, addressed directly on Tuesday night.

“Democrats are painfully divided by our differences over the U.S. relationship to Israel and Palestine, and we have to face up to it squarely,” Lander said, calling former President Joe Biden’s approach toward Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “a catastrophic failure.”

Avila Chevalier also prevailed despite scrutiny over her role in organizing pro-Palestinian rallies the day after Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attacks on Israel.

Goldman, meanwhile, recently called the divide a “sad state of affairs” after a Brooklyn coffee shop banned him in a viral social media post boasting that its coffee “doesn’t taste like genocide juice.”

“I have many issues with Prime Minister Netanyahu, but simply because I support the existence of Israel as a Jewish state, as the only Jewish state, does not by any means mean that I support everything that government does,” Goldman said. “And in fact I do not, and I’ve been very open about that.”

Lander frequently criticized Goldman’s support for Israel throughout the campaign trail.

“Dan Goldman marched alongside war criminal Bezalel Smotrich yesterday, who called it ‘just & moral’ to starve Gaza,” Lander said in one campaign ad. “I did not.”

Lander urged Democrats to “walk away from PACs funded by crypto, Wall Street, AI, and AIPAC” following his Tuesday win.

Tuesday’s primaries also featured the losses of two candidates who largely ran on their anti-Trump record, showing the declining relevance of anti-Trump “Resistance” politics from the first Trump administration for Democratic primary voters.

In Maryland, 42-year-old former Capitol Police officer Harry Dunn, who rose to prominence after he defended the Capitol during the Jan. 6, 2021, attack, lost to Adrian Boafo, 32. Boafo promised to usher in a new generation of leadership following his win.

‘THERE’S A TIME LIMIT’ FOR DEMOCRATIC SOCIALISM: TIANA LOWE DOESCHER

“Tonight, the Democratic voters of the 5th Congressional District decided that it’s time to pass the torch to a new generation of leaders,” Boafo said. “And it’s with great humility that I accept that responsibility.”

In New York, Lincoln Project co-founder and longtime Trump critic George Conway lost his race to Lasher, receiving less than 10% of the vote.