New York’s 10th Congressional District is shaping up to be a political cage match between establishment Democrats and the progressive fringe.
The battle lines are drawn as House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries throws his weight behind two-term Rep. Dan Goldman against a challenge from former city comptroller Brad Lander, who’s riding the wave of far-left support from Mayor Zohran Mamdani.
Goldman kicked off his re-election bid in Chinatown, planting his flag in a district that spans Lower Manhattan and parts of Brooklyn.
With Jeffries’ endorsement, Goldman gets a heavyweight in his corner, joined by Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul, both of whom share his staunch support for Israel.
This isn’t just a pat on the back—Jeffries, along with House Democratic leaders Katherine Clark and Pete Aguilar, lauded Goldman’s work as counsel during Trump’s first impeachment, signaling he’s a fighter they trust against GOP overreach.
But let’s not ignore the elephant in the room: Goldman’s pro-Israel stance has made him a target in a party increasingly swayed by progressive criticism over the Gaza conflict.
Enter Brad Lander, the progressive darling backed by Mayor Mamdani, who’s pushing a narrative of representing the “working class” against Goldman’s wealth and supposed coziness with Trump’s circle.
Mamdani gushed, “I am proud to support our former controller, Brad Lander in his run for Congress. I’m proud to support him because of his honesty, his sincerity and the vision that he has shared with New Yorkers.”
Honesty and vision are nice buzzwords, but when Lander’s camp, through spokesperson Lauren Hitt, slams Goldman for “chumming it up” with Donald Trump Jr. on vacation, it smells more like a cheap shot than a policy critique—especially when Goldman’s record shows him battling Trump head-on.
Goldman isn’t backing down, firing back with a reminder of his track record: “I have stood up to Donald Trump and I’ve won.”
That’s a bold claim in a district where anti-Trump sentiment runs deep, and it might just resonate more than Lander’s class-warfare playbook.
Lander, for his part, touts a resume of organizing against evictions, advocating for housing, securing paid sick leave, and shielding immigrants—noble causes, but ones that may not outweigh Goldman’s experience in Washington’s trenches.
The real fault line here is Israel, with Goldman’s unapologetic support clashing against a progressive tide that’s grown skeptical amid Middle East tensions.
While Jeffries and Hochul see Goldman as a bulwark against what they view as Republican extremism, Lander’s supporters frame him as the true voice of a district fed up with establishment politics.
This primary isn’t just about two candidates—it’s a referendum on the soul of the Democratic Party, and whether common-sense pragmatism can fend off the progressive agenda that often seems more about ideology than results.
