The potential presidential contender distanced himself from congressional candidate Darializa Avila Chevalier and said they don’t share similar values
Peter W. Stevenson/The Washington Post via Getty Images
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro sits for an interview at the Pennsylvania State Capitol on June 11, 2025.
Add JewishInsider on GooglePennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, a potential 2028 Democratic presidential contender, predicted Democrats will soon face a “battle” over the rising influence of socialists in the party and distanced himself from such far-left candidates.
In an interview with CNN’s Dana Bash that aired Sunday, Shapiro cited “profound differences” with Darializa Avila Chevalier, a socialist New York City congressional candidate who won her primary last month against incumbent Rep. Adriano Espaillat (D-NY) and was endorsed by New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani. Avila Chevalier has a history of incendiary online rhetoric, including railing against Democratic leaders and praising communism, and defended attending an anti-Israel rally the day after the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks.
“She’s not someone who seemingly I would agree with on many things or that we share similar values. She ran on the Democratic ticket, I guess, as a socialist,” said Shapiro.
Asked what Avila Chevalier’s victory says about the Democratic Party, Shapiro predicted his party will soon have a “battle” before it emerges stronger and unified.
“I think what our party has to go through that will be very healthy and something we have not really done since the 1992 election cycle is to have a battle over what we believe in, to have a battle over the ideas that we are going to hold on to and campaign on and then deliver on as a way to make people’s lives better,” he told Bash during the interview, which was held at the Pennsylvania Statehouse and Liberty Bell during the weekend of America’s 250th birthday celebrations.
“And I expect our party over the course of this next year or so to go through a battle about what we believe in, and then come out unified in a way that we can take the fight to the other side and really deliver for the American people.”
Asked by Bash whether he thinks being Jewish “will hurt either you or another person who might run … given the climate right now,” Shapiro did not address rising antisemitism but said the public “wants you to be who you are, be authentic.”
“Let them know what motivates you to serve and why you do this work. My faith teaches me that no one’s required to complete the task, but neither are we free to refrain from it, very similar to what Ben Franklin preached about citizen participation in our commonwealth, in our country, in perfecting our union,” Shapiro said.
“I think that that is uniquely American, this idea that we all have a responsibility to get off the sidelines, get in the game, and do our part. That’s what my faith teaches me. That’s how my family raised me. That is who I am, and I’m not going to apologize for it,” he said.
Plus, how Ritchie Torres outplayed the far left
Evan Vucci
President Donald Trump shakes hands with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan after a news conference in the East Room of the White House, Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2019, in Washington.
Good Thursday morning.
In today’s Daily Kickoff, we talk to moderate and establishment Democrats who are raising alarms over the surge of socialists in Tuesday’s New York City congressional primaries and report on how Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY) dodged the DSA wave in the city. We cover last night’s Senate vote to block a Democratic-led war powers resolution seeking to end military operations against Iran and report on the shouting match between President Donald Trump and Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) that preceded it. We also report on the Trump administration’s consideration of Turkey’s eligibility to receive F-35 fighter jets. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: Rep. Dan Goldman, Sen. Adam Schiff and Rep. Judy Chu.
Today’s Daily Kickoff was curated by JI Israel Editor Tamara Zieve and U.S. Editor Danielle Cohen-Kanik, with an assist from Marc Rod. Have a tip? Email us here.
What We’re Watching
- Jewish and Israeli aid and rescue organizations are preparing to send teams to Venezuela after the poverty-stricken South American country was hit by massive back-to-back earthquakes on Wednesday night, representatives of the groups told eJewishPhilanthropy’s Judah Ari Gross. At least 164 people have been pronounced dead so far, and the number is expected to rise considerably as search efforts get underway, with some projections putting the death toll into the tens of thousands. Read more here.
- Under Secretary of State for Economic Affairs Jacob Helberg is hosting the State Department’s two-day Pax Silica Summit at the U.S. Institute of Peace. Attendees include representatives from the signatory countries to the strategic initiative — which include Israel, Qatar, the UAE, India, Germany and the U.K., among others — and senior business executives.
- On the Hill, acting Pentagon Comptroller Jules W. Hurst III will appear before the Senate Armed Services Committee for his confirmation hearing to be permanently appointed to the role — Hurst is likely to face questions about the Trump administration’s $88 billion supplemental funding request, largely to cover the cost of the Iran war, sent to Congress on Wednesday.
- The House Committee on Education and Workforce will mark up the No Antisemitism in Education Act, and Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin is slated to testify at an oversight hearing in the House Appropriations Committee.
- The Alliance for Responsible Citizenship‘s third annual conference wraps up in London today. Speakers at the summit, which focused on the future of Western civilization at the 250th anniversary of the United States, included House Speaker Mike Johnson; Energy Secretary Chris Wright; former Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin; Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy Sarah Rogers; and Axel Springer CEO Mathias Döpfner.
- The Texas Democratic State Convention begins today: The three-day event will feature remarks from Sens. Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Texas U.S. Senate candidate James Talarico, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin. Activists are set to consider close to 20 resolutions critical of Israel.
- The annual Aspen Ideas Festival, which brings together leading figures from politics, business, media and academia, kicks off in Colorado with an opening session featuring Aspen Institute leaders and journalists Fareed Zakaria and David Brooks.
What You Should Know
A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S JOSH KRAUSHAAR
There’s little doubt that socialism is on the march within the Democratic Party after the latest primaries, with extreme candidates who would have been dismissed as nonviable prevailing in numerous congressional primaries and mayoral contests from coast to coast.
Factor in the political resilience of far-left Maine Senate nominee Graham Platner despite numerous scandals and the momentum of anti-Israel Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed in a contested Michigan primary despite facing well-funded opposition, and there’s the potential of radicals toppling mainstream candidates well outside the deep-blue confines of major urban centers.
Ultimately, that’s a major question looming for the Democratic Party’s future — and the health of our democracy. Is the rise of socialism primarily a product of urban angst and college-age naivete, or does it have staying power beyond the most-progressive precincts in the country? Can left-wing candidates prevail in swing districts, far away from the urban progressive centers that make up its base? Or will they end up being more of a noisy but powerless faction in Congress?
Either way, socialist candidates have gone from a curiosity that rarely won any congressional seats to riding a Democratic Socialists of America-organized grassroots wave that now has to be reckoned with. You could count the number of Squad members on one hand when Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez (D-NY) and her like-minded allies were first elected in 2018 and 2020. Now their representation is poised to double from its previous peak — and AOC now counts as downright pragmatic, compared to several of her soon-to-be-colleagues.
SOCIALIST SWEEP
Some moderate Dems raise alarms over NYC results, while others dismiss them as localized phenomenon
Some moderate and establishment Democrats are raising alarms over the surge of democratic socialists in New York City congressional primaries on Tuesday — which took down two Democratic incumbents. But others are dismissing the phenomenon as one localized to New York City and not applicable to the party at large, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod, Matthew Shea and Christina Sher report.
Wider view: Rep. Greg Meeks (D-NY), a longtime Democratic leader from Queens, lamented Tuesday’s results, particularly Rep. Adriano Espaillat’s (D-NY) loss. Meeks told reporters that the party as a whole is not a socialist party, and that socialist ideas are very much out of step with the country overall. “That’s not where America is, that only happens in certain parts — like New York City now, apparently — deep, deep, deep blue,” Meeks said. If the entire party follows the same path, “that means that all the other seats that are not [deep blue], we can never win, which means we will never be in the majority, and we [will] never get anything done.”
Read the full story here with additional comments from Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Reps. Tom Suozzi (D-NY), Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ), Wesley Bell (D-MO), Jared Moskowitz (D-FL), Pete Aguilar (D-CA), Jamie Raskin (D-MD) and Ro Khanna (D-CA) and Sens. John Fetterman (D-PA), Ruben Gallego (D-AZ), Gary Peters (D-MI), Raphael Warnock (D-GA), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Tim Kaine (D-VA) and Bernie Sanders (I-VT).
Eye on Washington: Having conquered New York City with a stunning primary night sweep on Tuesday, Mayor Zohran Mamdani is wasting no time in moving on Capitol Hill. In an uncharacteristically long question-and-answer session at an unrelated announcement on Wednesday, the mayor announced he would sit down later in the day with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), JI’s Will Bredderman reports.
TORRES TACTICS
How Ritchie Torres dodged the DSA wave in New York City
Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY) has long been a target of the far left in New York City, largely because of his outspoken support for Israel and his Jewish constituents. But Torres emerged with a commanding victory over a far-left challenger in Tuesday’s Democratic primaries, even as pro-Israel Reps. Dan Goldman (D-NY) and Adriano Espaillat (D-NY) were defeated by democratic socialist-aligned challengers, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
Standout factors: Observers attribute Torres’ landslide win against former New York Assemblymember Michael Blake to a variety of factors, including the different demographics of his district — which includes the heavily Jewish neighborhood of Riverdale, as well as some of the poorest neighborhoods in the city — his strength as a member of Congress and as a campaigner and Blake’s own weaknesses as a candidate. Torres is popular in the district, has prioritized constituent services, has been a longtime presence in the district — as a city councilman from 2014 to 2020 before his time in the House — and maintains a strong reputation locally, Torres campaign spokesperson Benny Stanislawski said.
Concession speech: Goldman, a pro-Israel Jewish Democrat who was unseated in a bitter primary on Tuesday, warned in his concession speech that antisemitism “will ultimately be the undoing of our democracy if we all don’t lean in and speak out,” JI’s Matthew Kassel reports.
ON THE HILL
Senate blocks effort to advance war powers resolution in reversal after heated GOP meeting with Trump
The Senate voted on Wednesday night to block a Democratic-led war powers resolution seeking to end military operations against Iran, after a heated meeting between President Donald Trump and Senate Republicans where he berated a handful of lawmakers over their votes in favor of a successful war powers resolution the previous day, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod and Emily Jacobs report.
How it happened: Sens. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) and Rand Paul (R-KY), supporters of previous war powers efforts, changed their votes on the resolution on Wednesday, which had previously passed a procedural hurdle — Cassidy now voting no and Paul voting present. Sens. Susan Collins (R-ME) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) again voted yes, while Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) voted no. The final vote was 50-47. Cassidy, who engaged in a shouting match with Trump in the meeting over his recent war powers votes, told reporters after the meeting that he would not change his vote until he had been briefed on the war. Hours later, Cassidy received a private briefing on the war from Vice President JD Vance and White House Special Envoy Steve Witkoff.
Supplemental request: The Trump administration on Wednesday formally sent an $87.6 billion supplemental funding request to replenish stockpiles and otherwise cover the costs of the war with Iran to Congress, JI’s Emily Jacobs and Marc Rod report.
SHOWN THE DOOR
Acting DNI Pulte forces out top Gabbard deputy Will Ruger
Acting Director of National Intelligence Bill Pulte forced out Will Ruger, the deputy director for mission integration, from the agency as part of a series of cuts said to be targeting the “deep state,” according to CBS News. Ruger previously held senior positions at groups tied to the libertarian Koch network, and had been affiliated with the isolationist Defense Priorities think tank, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
Background: Ruger had been a vocal opponent, prior to his government service, of both the maximum pressure sanctions campaign against Iran and potential U.S. military operations against the regime. He was also a defender of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal. Ruger’s role included overseeing the president’s daily intelligence briefing.
ANKARA OPPORTUNITY
Vance: Admin is reviewing Turkey’s eligibility to receive F-35 fighter jets
Vice President JD Vance said on Wednesday that the administration is “confirming” Turkey has fulfilled its obligations under U.S. law in order to receive advanced F-35 fighter jets, which Ankara has long sought but has been barred from purchasing since 2020 after it acquired the S-400 air-defense system from Russia, Jewish Insider’s Danielle Cohen-Kanik and Christina Sher report.
Legal requirement: U.S. law requires the secretaries of state and defense to certify to Congress in writing, prior to any F-35 transfer, that Turkey no longer possesses the S-400 system and has provided credible assurances it will not acquire similar Russian air-defense systems. Latest reports indicate the S-400 system is inactive but still intact in Turkey, which would not fulfill the obligations required under law to lift the sanctions.
Strait security: Lawmakers and Middle East analysts are expressing support for Washington’s reported agreement to help Oman strengthen its maritime intelligence and monitoring of transit through the Strait of Hormuz, saying the move could help secure free access to the critical waterway and deter Iranian influence, JI’s Matthew Shea reports.
SCHOOL CONTROVERSY
Massachusetts principal under fire for apologizing to Arab students for Holocaust lesson
A Massachusetts middle school principal is receiving criticism from Jewish groups for apologizing to Arab students who he claimed “felt unseen” during a Holocaust education lesson, Jewish Insider’s Haley Cohen reports.
Back and forth: In a message sent to seventh graders via a school portal, a screenshot of which was obtained by JI, Diamond Middle School Principal Johnny Cole said the lesson at the Lexington, Mass., school was aimed at teaching the students to recognize hate and to speak out against it, something he called “an important goal.” Cole then apologized after he said some students’ families had expressed that the lesson left them feeling “unseen.” Cole wrote, “Some of you felt like your own history, your identity, or your community was left out or erased. Some of you left that session feeling less safe, not more. We have heard this from families, and we believe you.”
Worthy Reads
Radical Shift: Reason’s senior editor Robby Soave examines Democratic congressional candidate Darializa Avila Chevalier’s record as she is set to become what he calls Congress’ “first campus radical.” “In 2019, when I published my first book, Panic Attack: Young Radicals in the Age of Trump, I predicted that the era’s campus protesters would not shed their radicalism when they graduated college and moved out into the so-called real world — rather, they would force the world to conform to their quixotic expectations. This would be particularly felt in the areas of American life most susceptible to their influence: education, media, entertainment, and eventually, politics. Now that day has finally arrived. Welcome, congresswoman.” [Reason]
The Socratic AI Method: The Economist examines the rise in philosophers being hired by AI firms. “Some of the lessons that philosophy can offer AI researchers are ancient. The Socratic method — as described by Plato, an ancient Greek philosopher — uses feigned ignorance and sequential questioning to clarify meanings, spot contradictions and reveal ramifications. Many current AI systems tend towards sycophancy. Models trained in the Socratic method, says Jörg Noller, an expert on philosophy and AI at Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, are less keen on people-pleasing and more willing to pursue the truth.” [Economist]
House Majority Math: Joel Wanger, DMFI PAC’s chief political officer, breaks down the results from Tuesday night’s primary elections. “Here’s the thing about House Majority math, and it’s something I’ve said before: it isn’t won in New York City or San Francisco. It’s won in places like San Diego and South Texas — and that’s exactly where pro-Israel Democrats had some of their best nights this cycle, nominating strong general-election candidates in competitive seats. … The pattern I’ve tracked all cycle keeps repeating: pro-Israel Democrats win decisively when they take primary challenges seriously and early, build broad coalitions rather than narrow ones, and talk about the kitchen-table issues — affordability, economic anxiety — that are actually driving voters right now. Where that didn’t happen, races were close. Where it did, they weren’t.” [Substack]
No Socialist Takeover: The Atlantic’s Adam Serwer argues that the Democratic Party is not being taken over by democratic socialists as a unified national force, but rather is becoming more ideologically diverse and locally shaped. “The modern Democratic Party, by virtue of its class and ethnic diversity, has always been ideologically heterodox. An approach that works for a Zohran Mamdani or a Janeese Lewis George will not necessarily work for a James Talarico in Texas or a Mary Peltola in Alaska. Many people outside of the democratic socialists’ cities and districts will focus on whether the candidates’ stances on Israel and Palestinian rights reflect a shift within the party (and they do) and the fact that they differ from more centrist Democrats (also correct). But whether they succeed as leaders and politicians will depend on much more local concerns — matters such as jobs, public safety, and affordability.” [Atlantic]
Word on the Street
Israeli and Lebanese officials have reportedly denied a claim by a State Department official, cited by Reuters, who said that Israel had withdrawn from some of the southern Lebanese territory it has held during its war against Hezbollah…
Saudi Arabia is planning to host reconciliation talks between Gulf countries and Iran, a diplomat with knowledge of the arrangements told Agence France Presse. The summit, aimed at mending ties between Gulf nations, Iran and possibly other regional neighbors in the aftermath of the war, will be independent of ongoing U.S.-Iran talks, the diplomat said…
Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday; pictured sitting next to the secretary of state in a working lunch with MBZ was Michael Boulos, Trump’s son-in-law, whose father serves as a senior advisor to the president on the Middle East…
Bahraini National Security Advisor Sheikh Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa met separately with Sens. Jacky Rosen (D-NV), Lindsey Graham(R-SC) and Brian Schatz (D-HI) and Rep. Brian Mast(R-FL) during a visit to Washington…
FBI Director Kash Patel hosted Qatari Interior Minister Sheikh Khalifa bin Hamad Al Thani in Washington…
CENTCOM announced that the U.S. killed senior ISIS leader Ali Husayn al-‘Ulaywi in an airstrike in northwest Syria last Friday…
Sen. Adam Schiff (D-CA) and Rep. Judy Chu (D-CA) introduced a resolution to award a Congressional Gold Medal to Americans and relief organizations involved in saving Jewish Holocaust refugees…
An intelligence report obtained by journalists from the Israeli public broadcaster Kan details how Qatar became a central channel of economic and military strength for Iran, helping it to circumvent sanctions after the 2018 cancellation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action and also after the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks on Israel…
A Kuwaiti air-defense officer shared a firsthand account of the opening moments of Iran’s missile and drone attacks on the Gulf country, describing at a conference in London the frantic five minutes as ballistic missiles filled the sky and the air-defense network scrambled to respond…
Vice President JD Vance and his allies are embracing his role as the public face of President Donald Trump’s Iran deal, Semafor reports, arguing that backing an end to the conflict distinguishes him from the GOP’s neoconservative wing and strengthens his standing with the MAGA base ahead of a potential 2028 presidential run…
The New York Times traces a generational and ideological shift on the American right toward viewing Iran as a pragmatic country the U.S. can learn to live with — a pivot led by Trump but driven by other factors that include younger Republicans’ war fatigue and waning support for Israel…
New Lines Magazine spotlights the unrest surrounding a resort project in Albania’s Vjosa-Narta protected area by Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump that has sparked unprecedented mass protests in the country; the demonstrations have evolved from an environmental campaign to a broad expression of frustration with long-serving Prime Minister Edi Rama…
Ari Emanuel, TKO CEO and Mari Group founder, is in advanced talks to buy theater group ATG for $6 billion…
Morris Dancyger, a child survivor of Auschwitz who built a successful pharmacy and real estate career and co-founded the first modern art gallery in Calgary, Canada, died at 86…
Pic of the Day
Haredi demonstrators blocked major highways in Israel on Wednesday, causing massive traffic disruptions, in a nationwide protest against the imprisonment of yeshiva students who fail to comply with military draft orders.
Birthdays
Free agent center fielder, formerly in the San Francisco Giants organization, he was the 10th overall pick in the 2019 MLB draft, Hunter David Bishop turns 28…
Music publicist in the 1970s and 1980s for Prince, Billy Joel and Styx, later an author on human behavior, Howard Bloom turns 83… Founder and CEO of Bel Air Partners, a financial advisory firm for automotive retailers, Sheldon J. Sandler turns 82… Real estate developer in Brooklyn, Manhattan, Las Vegas and Miami and founder of The Continuum Company, Ian Bruce Eichner turns 81… Florida resident, Joseph C. Goldberg… Southern California-based mentor, coach and consultant for business executives through Vistage International, Gary Brennglass… Associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, Justice Sonia Sotomayor turns 72… Former member of the Knesset for the Meretz party, Michal Rozin turns 57… Founder and CEO of The Agency, a high-end real estate brokerage, Mauricio Umansky turns 56… Managing director of A-Street, an investment fund focused on seeding and scaling innovative K-12 student learning, Mora Segal… Senior media and PR specialist at Hadassah, Helen Chernikoff… Israeli philosopher, writer and publicist, he teaches at Yeshivat Har Etzion and Midreshet Lindenbaum, Rabbi Chaim Navon turns 53… Founder and director of The Biblical Museum of Natural History in Beit Shemesh, Israel, popularly known as the “Zoo Rabbi,” Natan Slifkin turns 51… Former fashion model and television presenter, Michele Merkin turns 51… Deputy director of government relations at Bread for the World, Zachary Silberman… President of Gratz College in Melrose Park, Pa., Zev Eleff turns 41… One-half of the husband-and-wife duo known for their YouTube channel h3h3Productions with more than 1.3 billion views, Ethan Edward Klein turns 41… Organizational change management specialist at CACI International, Isaac Snyder… VP of strategy at Saint Paul Commodities and co-founder of Veriflux, Daniel “Dani” Charles turns 39… Family Medicine Residency Faculty at Jefferson Einstein Hospital in Philadelphia, Pa., Avital Mintz-Morgenthau, MD… Senior reporter and writer covering the White House for CNN, Betsy Klein…
Plus, Dermer departs
Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images
Council Member Alexa Aviles speaks during a press conference outside of City Hall on April 10, 2025 in New York City.
Good Wednesday morning!
In today’s Daily Kickoff, we report on the far-left challengers gearing up to compete against Democratic incumbents in New York City and cover Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed’s evasive answer to whether he supports Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state. We report on the reaction of Jewish groups to former state Assemblyman Michael Blake, who is running in the Democratic primary against Rep. Ritchie Torres, for featuring a clip of an antisemitic influencer in his campaign launch video. We also cover the announcement by former Rep. Elaine Luria (D-VA) that she will run to reclaim the congressional seat she lost in 2022, and report on Israeli Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer’s resignation. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: Shulem Lemmer, Gal Gadot, and Bill and Hillary Clinton.
Today’s Daily Kickoff was curated by Jewish Insider Israel Editor Tamara Zieve and U.S. Editor Danielle Cohen-Kanik, with an assist from Marc Rod. Have a tip? Email us here.
What We’re Watching
- The International Conference of Chabad-Lubavitch Emissaries begins today in New York City, bringing together 6,200 rabbis from 111 countries.
- Former First Lady Michelle Obama will appear at Washington’s Sixth & I Synagogue this evening to discuss her forthcoming book, The Look.
- Finance industry executives — including Blackstone CEO Stephen Schwarzman, JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, Apollo Global Management CEO Marc Rowan and Nasdaq CEO Adena Friedman — were invited to dinner at the White House with President Donald Trump this evening.
What You Should Know
A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S Josh Kraushaar
Beware the law of unintended consequences: President Donald Trump’s zeal to aggressively redraw maps in GOP-friendly states is looking like it will bring less of a political advantage to Republicans than originally expected.
Indeed, if the overall political environment remains in the Democrats’ favor — which would be consistent with the historical precedent of the opposition party gaining seats in the first midterm election of a new president — the House is likely to flip back to the Democrats’ control in 2027.
Here’s the lowdown: California’s referendum on redistricting, which passed overwhelmingly on Election Day, will allow Democrats to gain as many as five seats with a new, more-partisan map — with three Republican-held seats (of GOP Reps. Doug LaMalfa, Kevin Kiley and Ken Calvert) all but guaranteed to flip.
That should offset the expected GOP gains in Texas, which started the whole redistricting gamesmanship off with a partisan redraw that guarantees Republicans to pick up at least three Democratic-held seats, with the hope that Republicans can win two additional seats that became more favorable to them.
But there’s a catch with the Texas map. Two of the redrawn districts — the seats of Democratic Reps. Vicente Gonzalez and Henry Cuellar — are in predominantly Hispanic areas along the U.S.-Mexico border that swung dramatically to Trump in 2024, but had a long tradition of voting Democratic before then. If Democrats rebound with Hispanic voters — as happened in New Jersey and Virginia on Election Day — and the national environment remains rough for Republicans, it’s not hard to see the two Democratic incumbents hanging on.
Adding another wrinkle to the GOP’s redistricting plans: A Utah judge rejected the preferred map drawn by Republican state lawmakers, and selected a new map that would guarantee a Democratic district in Salt Lake City. That would automatically flip one seat to the Democrats, given that the state’s current delegation is made up of four Republicans, all in solidly Republican districts.
NEXT STEPS
After Mamdani win, socialists look to challenge Democratic incumbents in NYC
The organized left scored a major victory last week when Zohran Mamdani was elected mayor of New York City, elevating to executive office a politician who became one of the nation’s most prominent democratic socialists during the campaign. Now, as the movement seeks to ride momentum from Mamdani’s win and grow its influence at the federal level, some emerging challengers are setting their sights on a handful of pro-Israel New York Democrats in the House — posing what is likely to be the first key test of its political credibility in the upcoming midterm elections, Jewish Insider’s Matthew Kassel reports.
Challenges ahead: While next year’s primaries are still more than six months away, some early signs indicate that the far left is already facing obstacles in its efforts to target established incumbents like Reps. Dan Goldman and Ritchie Torres, raising questions about its organizational discipline and messaging ability, not to mention alignment with Mamdani — who is now walking a delicate path in seeking buy-in from state leadership to deliver on his ambitious affordability agenda. Jake Dilemani, a Democratic consultant in New York, said “there is and should be euphoria among the left” after Mamdani’s victory, “but that does not necessarily translate into toppling relatively popular incumbents. One swallow does not make a summer,” he told JI on Tuesday.
EVASIVE MANEUVER
Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed sidesteps question on Israel’s right to exist
Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed sidestepped a question about Israel’s right to exist during an interview with the anti-Israel media outlet Zeteo last week. Zeteo founder Mehdi Hasan asked El-Sayed how he would respond if and when he faces questions on the campaign trail about whether he supports Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
What he said — and what he didn’t: El-Sayed initially responded by calling the question hypocritical and again dodged when pressed. He said that most U.S. presidents have expressed support for a two-state solution, and “Israel exists. Palestine doesn’t. And so I always wonder why nobody asks me why Palestine doesn’t have a right to exist.” El-Sayed accused the U.S. of supporting “the very people in Israel who want to foreclose on the possibility of Palestine existing. And so to me, frankly, it is about our principles and how we apply them evenly. If you believe in a two-state solution, then what are you doing to make it possible?” he continued.
EXCLUSIVE
Jewish groups blast Torres challenger for featuring antisemitic activist in campaign launch
Major New York Jewish groups criticized former Assemblyman Michael Blake, who is running in the Democratic primary against Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY), for featuring a clip of an influencer who supported the shooting of two Israeli Embassy employees at the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington in his campaign launch video, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
Pushback: “Hurling a bus load of antisemitic tropes and platforming bigots who cheer antisemitic violence in a launch video is not the pro-humanity flex one thinks it is,” the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York said in a statement. The Anti-Defamation League of New York and New Jersey said that “we can all agree that Michael Blake’s platforming of anti-Zionist influencer Guy Christensen should be roundly condemned.”
comeback campaign
Pro-Israel Democrat Elaine Luria announces bid to reclaim House seat
Former Rep. Elaine Luria (D-VA), who was an outspoken voice in support of Israel and against antisemitism during her time in the House, announced a bid on Wednesday to reclaim the congressional seat she lost in 2022, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
Looking back: Luria, who is Jewish, was a leading moderate voice in the House in support of Israel and against antisemitism, at times criticizing members of her own party and breaking with the Biden administration on its Israel policy. She was one of the few House Democrats who consistently opposed efforts by the Biden administration to rejoin the Iran nuclear deal and Luria organized and led a group of pro-Israel House Democrats to speak on the House floor in 2021 in support of Israel and its military operations, responding to a competing effort by far-left Democrats in opposition. She also repeatedly called out antisemitism from Democratic colleagues.
STEPPING DOWN
Ron Dermer, Netanyahu’s right-hand man, resigns from Israeli government
Israel’s influential minister of strategic affairs, Ron Dermer, resigned from his post on Tuesday, three years after assuming the role, Jewish Insider’s Tamara Zieve reports. “This government will be defined both by the attack on October 7th and by the prosecution of the two-year, seven-front, war that followed,” Dermer, widely regarded as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s closest advisor, wrote in his resignation letter.
Staying around: Dermer has led Israel’s ceasefire and hostage-release negotiations since February. He is expected to stay on as Netanyahu’s envoy to continue handling the future of the Gaza portfolio, political sources recently told JI. U.S.-born and a former Israeli ambassador to Washington, Dermer has long played a central role in managing Israel’s relationship with the U.S. “What the future holds for me, I do not know. But I do know this: No matter what I do, I will continue to do my part to help secure the future of the Jewish people,” Dermer said.
history lessons
Clintons tie Trump’s Gaza peace plan to Oslo Accords in Rabin memorial discussion
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Monday that President Donald Trump’s peace plan for Gaza could be a “new moment of hope and possibility.” But it will only be successful if there is “a level of organization” applied to the implementation, a lesson that can be drawn from the Oslo process, she said, during a panel hosted by Columbia University’s Institute of Global Politics, Jewish Insider’s Haley Cohen reports.
What she said: “One thing that can be learned from the Oslo process and applied to the situation now with the peace plan is that there was a process,” Clinton said. The event commemorated the 30th anniversary of the assassination of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, who was murdered by a right-wing extremist, soon after signing the Oslo II Accords peace agreements with then-Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat in 1995 — two years after the signing of the Oslo I Accords. “You have to have a level of organization, it can’t just have few people at the top — whether it be a president or special envoy, as necessary as they are, you have to have teams of people who can be working with their counterparts,” continued Clinton, who is a professor of international and public affairs at Columbia.
What he said: In 40-minute remarks, former President Bill Clinton, who mediated the Oslo Accords signing — which he hosted at the White House — spoke about his close personal and professional relationship with Rabin, calling the assassination one of the worst days of his life. “We have to begin again, where the trust level is low,” Clinton said of achieving Israeli-Palestinian peace. “People in power might not be in favor of giving up on anything now.”
Worthy Reads
Hate on the Right, Then and Now: The New York Times’ Bret Stephens draws comparisons between today’s rising trend of antisemitism within the GOP to past iterations of antisemitic ideology on the right. “The MAGA movement is not antisemitic. But many of its core convictions are antisemitic-adjacent — that is, they have a habit of leading in an anti-Jewish direction. Opposition to free trade, or to a welcoming immigration policy, or to international law that crimps national sovereignty, are legitimate, if often wrongheaded, political positions. But they have a way of melding with hoary stereotypes about ‘the International Jew; working across borders against the interests of so-called real Americans.” [NYTimes]
After Mamdani, Healing Divisions: Rabbi Elliot Cosgrove, senior rabbi at Park Avenue Synagogue on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, reflects in the Forward about how the New York City Jewish community must unite in the aftermath of Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani’s victory. “For me, personally, the fact that about a third of New York City’s Jewish voters checked the box for Mamdani is totally bewildering. I am not unaware of the bigger political trends, the shortcomings of the other candidates, or the systemic challenges our city faces; I understand why Mamdani won. But for me, his anti-Zionist rhetoric and his intent to shut down research and economic partnerships between Israel and New York — to name but a few of his promises that would negatively impact our community — not only disqualified him from receiving my vote, but were a meaningful enough concern that I chose to publicly urge Jews and their allies to vote against him as well. And yet, it would seem that what was self-evident to me was not so self-evident to a sizeable percentage of my kinfolk. … We need to learn to walk together again. If, as I have repeatedly claimed, ahavat yisrael — love of the Jewish people — is my North Star, then it is a principle I must uphold even and especially when it is uncomfortable to do so. It is a love that must extend to Jews whose views I neither share nor understand.” [Forward]
Takeover on the Quad: John Ellis, professor emeritus of German literature at the University of California, Santa Cruz, argues in The Wall Street Journal for placing universities in a “receivership” to address the dominance of left-wing ideology in higher education. “The discrepancy between what we fund the campuses for and what they are doing is enormous. Promotion of knowledge and understanding has given way to inculcation of a poisonous fringe ideology. Students are encouraged to despise their society and kept ignorant of anything that might make them think otherwise. … The only viable solution is to place schools in ‘receivership,’ a well-established procedure to reform ailing college departments. A new chairman is imposed on a department with a free hand to make whatever appointments he thinks necessary to restore the department to health. By action of lawmakers or trustees, a new president can be imposed on a campus with a mandate to return the school to its proper mission by appointing subordinate administrators, especially deans, committed to reform.” [WSJ]
Investing in the Jewish Future: In Sapir, Jordan Chandler Hirsch argues that the Jewish people should establish a sovereign wealth fund to secure long-term communal and national resilience. “A wealth fund would allow the Jewish community to invite allies and skeptics alike into mutually beneficial investments. It could help key players solve their problems and achieve their goals, thereby securing support for ours. Skeptics who distrust our institutionalism might respect our show of independence. Anti-establishment forces might welcome Jewish capital that strengthens their projects. Most important, a wealth fund could transform both our psychology and our posture — from supplicants seeking protection into partners offering opportunity. Despite its corporate veneer, a wealth fund would not merely reproduce institutionalism. If shtadlanut sought seats at the institutional table, a wealth fund would build its own table and invite others in.” [SAPIR]
Word on the Street
President Donald Trump sent a letter to Israeli President Isaac Herzog calling on him to “fully pardon” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, describing the corruption case against him as “a political, unjustified prosecution.” Herzog’s office put out a statement saying that while he “holds President Trump in the highest regard … anyone seeking a Presidential pardon must submit a formal request in accordance with the established procedures”…
Following a joint meeting in Paris, French President Emmanuel Macron and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas announced the creation of a joint committee “for the consolidation of the state of Palestine,” which will work towards drafting a “constitution” for such a state…
Iran has smuggled advanced armaments to terror groups in the West Bank over several months, the Washington Free Beacon reports, including rockets, explosive drones, anti-tank missiles and rocket-propelled grenades, hoping to use it as another launch pad in addition to Gaza to attack Israel…
Sens. Jim Risch (R-ID), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Jacky Rosen (D-NV) and Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) met with Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa at the Capitol on Tuesday. A person familiar with the situation told Jewish Insider that Van Hollen had “reiterated his support for the lifting of the Caesar sanctions while also stressing his long-held position that the U.S. must ensure that the Government of Syria complies with the six conditions included in the amendment he and Senator Graham added to the NDAA”…
Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-NY) urged the State Department to take action to ensure the release of Kamran Hekmati, an Iranian-American dual citizen and Suozzi constituent imprisoned in Iran. “This is about more than one man. It’s about defending the basic rights of American citizens abroad and standing up to regimes that traffic in hostage diplomacy,” Suozzi said…
Rep. Gabe Amo (D-RI) led 125 House Democrats in a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio seeking “clarity on your plan to ensure desperately needed humanitarian aid reaches Palestinian civilians in Gaza” and urging that aid be distributed through “reputable international institutions”…
Saudi Arabia is set to host a U.S.-Saudi investment summit at the Kennedy Center in Washington next Wednesday, a day after Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman‘s visit to the White House…
Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) met with Malcolm Jallow, an anti-Israel left-wing member of the Swedish parliament who has espoused antisemitic views and has associations with pro-Hamas individuals…
The New York Times speaks to Iranians deported back to Iran by the Trump administration in the first U.S.-chartered deportation flight to the country in September…
The New York Times profiles Jack Schlossberg, grandson of President John F. Kennedy, who is preparing to run for Congress in New York’s 12th Congressional District…
After receiving backlash for canceling planned shows in Israel as a result of pressure by the BDS movement, British comedian John Cleese said he was only postponing the shows “following advice about safety.” The “Monty Python” actor, who has a history of anti-Israel commentary on social media, claimed he is “hugely fond of Israeli audiences”…
Argentine President Javier Milei met with Rabbi David Yosef, the Sephardic chief rabbi of Israel; Isaac Sacca, the Sephardic chief rabbi of Argentina; and Eyal Sela, the Israeli ambassador to Argentina…
Israeli authorities arrested four suspects after dozens of settlers launched an arson attack in the Palestinian villages of Bei Lid and Deir Sharaf in the West Bank….
Israeli actress Gal Gadot won Israel’s Genesis Prize, sometimes called the “Jewish Nobel,” for her outspoken support of Israel in Hollywood since the Oct. 7, 2023, terror attacks. Gadot said she will donate the $1 million award to organizations “that will help Israel heal”…
Israeli pop star Noa Kirel and soccer player Daniel Peretz tied the knot on Tuesday in an A-lister affair in Jaffa: spotted at the nuptials were Israeli celebrities Eden Daniel Gabay, Idan Raichel, Eran Zahavi, Reef Neeman, Ron Bitton, Ron Aluf and Mor Hamami…
Comcast CEO Brian Roberts recently toured a site in Saudi Arabia for a possible Universal theme park location, raising speculation that he might bring in Saudi funds for a potential Comcast bid to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery…
Wonderful, an Israeli AI startup, has secured $100 million in a Series A funding round led by Index Ventures, with backing from Insight Partners, IVP, Bessemer and Vine Ventures…
Song of the Day
Shulem Lemmer shared on social media “The March Medley” he performed together in June with the Israel Symphony Orchestra Rishon LeZion, featuring Gur’s “Shir Hamaalos” and Modzitz’s “Ein Kitzvah,” at the 2025 MDA Chassidut B’Class concert in the Caesarea amphitheater.
Birthdays
Rabbi of the Dohány Street Synagogue in Budapest, Hungary, Róbert Frölich turns 60…
Co-founder and dean of the Talmudical Yeshiva of Philadelphia, Rabbi Shmuel Kamenetsky turns 101… Professor emerita of history at Columbia University and expert on Japan, Carol Gluck turns 84… Author and senior fellow at USC’s Annenberg School, Morley Winograd turns 83… Accountant and former PwC partner in Phoenix, Steven M. Scheiner, CPA… Former New York state senator, he is a descendant of Rabbi Shmuel Salant, the former Ashkenazic chief rabbi of Jerusalem, Stephen M. Saland turns 82… Sportscaster for “Thursday Night Football” on Prime Video, after more than 50 years at NBC and ABC, Al Michaels turns 81… U.S. senator (D-RI), Jack Reed turns 76… Attorney in Brooklyn, Bernard C. Wachsman… Member of the New York state Assembly since 2006, her district includes Manhattan’s Upper West Side, Linda B. Rosenthal turns 68… Author of young-adult fiction and winner of the 2015 National Book Award for Challenger Deep, Neal Shusterman turns 63… Author, journalist and former political advisor to Al Gore and Bill Clinton, Naomi Rebekah Wolf turns 63… University of Chicago professor, he won the 2019 Nobel Prize in Economics, Michael Kremer turns 61… Mayor of Oakland, Calif., until 2023, Elizabeth Beckman “Libby” Schaaf turns 60… Partner in the Chicago office of Kirkland & Ellis, Sanford E. “Sandy” Perl turns 60… White House chief of staff for the last two years of the Biden administration, Jeffrey Zients turns 59… British journalist and political correspondent for BBC News, Joanne “Jo” Coburn turns 58… Hasidic lecturer with many thousands of followers, Rabbi Avraham Elimelech Biderman turns 58… SVP and general manager of MLB’s Minnesota Twins from 2016 until 2024, Thad Levine turns 54… Member of the Knesset until 2019 for the Yisrael Beiteinu party, Robert Ilatov turns 54… Restaurant critic and food writer for the Boston Globe, Devra First turns 53… Israeli fashion model and actress, Nina Brosh turns 50… Former member of the Knesset for the United Torah Judaism party, Eliyahu Hasid turns 49… Campus support director at Hillel International, Aviva Zucker Snyder… Actress best known for her roles on “The Young and the Restless” and “The Bold and the Beautiful,” Kelly Kruger turns 44… Co-founder of Purple Acorn, Dave Weinberg… Assistant professor of Jewish studies at Oberlin College, Matthew D. Berkman turns 41… Director of strategic talent initiatives at the Michigan Economic Development Corporation, Spencer F. Lucker… New Jersey-based primary care physician known as Doctor Mike, he is an internet celebrity on YouTube and Instagram, Mikhail Varshavski turns 36… Activist in the fight against antisemitism throughout the U.S., Adela Cojab turns 29… Catcher in the Washington Nationals organization, Cameron J. Stubbs turns 29…
Pro-Israel Democratic Reps. Hakeem Jeffries, Ritchie Torres and Dan Goldman are facing long-shot challengers from the far left
ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty Images
New York City Mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani celebrates during an election night event at the Brooklyn Paramount Theater in Brooklyn, New York on November 4, 2025.
The organized left scored a major victory last week when Zohran Mamdani was elected mayor of New York City, elevating to executive office a politician who became one of the nation’s most prominent democratic socialists during the campaign.
Now, as the movement seeks to ride momentum from Mamdani’s win and grow its influence at the federal level, some emerging challengers are setting their sights on a handful of pro-Israel Democrats in the House — posing what is likely to be the first key test of its political credibility in the upcoming midterm elections.
While next year’s primaries are still more than six months away, some early signs indicate that the far left is already facing obstacles in its efforts to target established incumbents, raising questions about its organizational discipline and messaging ability, not to mention alignment with Mamdani — who is now walking a delicate path in seeking buy-in from state leadership to deliver on his ambitious affordability agenda.
Jake Dilemani, a Democratic consultant in New York, said “there is and should be euphoria among the left” after Mamdani’s victory, “but that does not necessarily translate into toppling relatively popular incumbents.”
“One swallow does not make a summer,” he told Jewish Insider on Tuesday.
In a pair of looming congressional contests in Brooklyn and the Bronx, for instance, potentially divided primary fields are now threatening to split the vote to oppose Reps. Dan Goldman (D-NY) and Ritchie Torres (D-NY), both of whom are preparing to seek reelection amid left-wing backlash over their support for Israel.
Brad Lander, the outgoing comptroller and an ally of Mamdani, has told associates he is planning to challenge Goldman in a progressive district covering parts of Brooklyn and Lower Manhattan, people familiar with his thinking told JI recently.
Lander, who was reportedly boxed out of a top job in Mamdani’s administration over conflict with the mayor-elect, has acknowledged that he is “seriously considering” a House bid, but has yet to confirm his timeline for publicly making a decision. One person familiar with the matter said he is likely to launch a bid after Mamdani assumes office in early January. Lander has denied that there are any tensions with Mamdani or his team.
While polling has shown that Lander would be a formidable challenger to Goldman, thanks to his popularity in the district where he once served as a longtime city councilman, some observers have speculated that he could face skepticism from voters who may see his bid as a consolation after failing to secure a role in City Hall.
Lander and Goldman were seen mingling at some of the same receptions during the Somos conference in San Juan, Puerto Rico, last week, but did not appear to interact.
In addition to Lander, Alexa Avilés, a far-left city councilwoman closely aligned with the Democratic Socialists of America, is also weighing a challenge to Goldman, provoking fears among his critics who say he will benefit from a crowded field that helped him secure a narrow victory in his first House primary in 2022.
Yuh-Line Niou, a former state assemblywoman who placed second in that primary, has been considering another bid as well, sources told JI, after she lost by a margin of just two points in a race that centered in part on her controversial support for the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement.
Goldman, for his part, has sought to downplay the role that Israel could play in the race, arguing that the Trump administration presents a more serious threat to his constituents.
But Avilés, for one, is almost certain to raise Israel in a potential primary challenge, owing to her vocal opposition to the war in Gaza, which she has called a genocide, and outspoken criticism of AIPAC. “The tide is turning, but the forces remain pernicious and persistent,” Avilés said during a panel discussion at Somos last week, warning of “a Congress that is very much controlled by AIPAC.”
“Saying no to violence is not a radical idea,” Avilés added in comments hinting at a challenge. “And you know what, y’all? If people are not stepping up, then we need to remove them.”
In the Bronx, Torres, who is among the staunchest defenders of Israel in the House, has already drawn a primary opponent focusing overwhelmingly on his pro-Israel record and contributions from AIPAC, in an effort to channel the anti-establishment zeitgeist that helped boost Mamdani’s insurgent campaign.
Michael Blake, a former state assemblyman who came in eighth place in the New York City mayoral primary, launched his campaign to unseat Torres last week. But he is facing accusations of hypocrisy over his own previous well-documented ties to AIPAC and past statements voicing strong support for Israel — contributing to a somewhat turbulent rollout that has cast doubts on his viability.
On the sidelines of the Somos retreat last Friday, Blake, who has twice visited Israel and spoken at AIPAC events, insisted that “you can be critical of governmental policies” and it “does not make you antisemitic or anti-Israel.”
Blake, who also ran against Torres in a crowded primary in 2020, said he now supports an arms embargo on Israel, but clarified that, if elected, he would continue to vote for defensive aid for its Iron Dome missile-interception system — views that are unlikely to win converts among voters in Riverdale, a predominantly Jewish Bronx neighborhood where Torres has built a loyal following.
“I do think we have to be attentive of the moment that we’re in right now,” Blake said of his thinking last week, while confirming he would “absolutely” seek support from the DSA, which has so far only endorsed candidates running for state office next year.
Marshall Wittmann, an AIPAC spokesperson, said that the group’s “grassroots members understand the stakes in the upcoming midterms and that is why they are deeply motivated and engaged to help elect pro-Israel candidates and defeat detractors.”
Blake cross-endorsed with Mamdani in the primary and has enthusiastically supported the mayor-elect. But Torres, who once cautioned Mamdani was unfit to lead New York City because of his close ties to the DSA, has since spoken positively about the incoming mayor and praised one of his early appointments as “exceptional” on Monday, complicating the political fault lines in the primary.
A lesser-known primary challenger, Andre Easton, is also campaigning against Torres using similarly hostile rhetoric about Israel and AIPAC. Easton, an independent affiliated with the Party for Socialism and Liberation, has said he is running “to fight for the Bronx — not billionaires who fund genocide in Palestine,” and claims that Torres “pockets money from AIPAC” while children in the district “live in poverty.”
Marshall Wittmann, an AIPAC spokesperson, said that the group’s “grassroots members understand the stakes in the upcoming midterms and that is why they are deeply motivated and engaged to help elect pro-Israel candidates and defeat detractors.”
“The track record demonstrates that being pro-Israel is good policy and good politics as 96% of AIPAC endorsed Democrats won their elections last cycle,” he added in a statement to JI on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, another pro-Israel Democrat, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), is expected to draw a more established far-left primary challenger in the coming weeks, setting up a high-profile fight for the Brooklyn House seat he has held for over a decade.
Chi Ossé, a young city councilman and Mamdani ally who has developed a sizable following on social media, is reportedly planning to seek support from the DSA, as he prepares to launch an insurgent bid to topple Jeffries, long a target of the far left. Ossé recently became a member of the DSA after quitting the group in 2020, he said on social media in 2023, noting that when he first left he “wasn’t aligned with the organization” but that there was “no bad blood.”
Still, he may face resistance from Mamdani, who claimed an endorsement from Jeffries late in the election and is hoping to avoid intraparty conflict while balancing a tenuous coalition to advance his daunting campaign pledges. He has also distanced himself from the DSA’s most extreme positions and said their respective platforms are “not the same.”
“It’s not clear that wins from election night will translate into intra-party primary victories in a midterm election,” Basil Smikle, a professor at Columbia’s School of Professional Studies and a Democratic strategist, said on Tuesday. “There’s a lot of time between now and then but the organizing framework has certainly been established to make a strong run.”
Mamdani, who criticized Jeffries’ pro-Israel views before the mayoral election, had reportedly sought to preempt Ossé’s plans to oppose the congressman who could be the next speaker of the House. As the councilman now moves forward against Mamdani’s apparent wishes, the potential primary battle could place the mayor-elect in an uncomfortable position, possibly fueling tensions with an activist base eager to capitalize on his victory. The DSA did not return a request for comment.
Despite such issues, some experts said that the left remains formidable ahead of next year’s primaries, even as it confronts some potential disorganization.
“It’s not clear that wins from election night will translate into intra-party primary victories in a midterm election,” Basil Smikle, a professor at Columbia’s School of Professional Studies and a Democratic strategist, said on Tuesday. “There’s a lot of time between now and then but the organizing framework has certainly been established to make a strong run.”
Hank Sheinkopf, a veteran Democratic strategist, said that “every pro-Israel Democrat is a target for the newly empowered DSA BDS gang,” and warned that incumbents “should be prepared for a long and costly battle.”
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