It’s a rough time to be a battleground Democrat in New York.
State Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani, an avowed Democratic socialist, is the likely Democratic nominee in the New York City mayoral race. Republicans have vowed to tie vulnerable Democrats to some of his most controversial policy positions.
Among them: Mamdani has called for defunding the police and the abolition of prisons. He’s also been harshly critical of Israel and called the New York State Assembly a “bastion of Zionist thought.”
“In talking to some of my colleagues, they’re very concerned about it. I’m not going to lie,” said Rep. Greg Meeks (D-N.Y.), who is also chair of the Queens Democratic Party. “That concerns me also, because we need to be in the majority right now here. Our nation is at stake.”
The stakes. For the past three cycles, New York has been the key to the House majority. That will remain true for 2026. The House GOP campaign arm is targeting Democratic Reps. Tom Suozzi, Laura Gillen, Pat Ryan, Josh Riley and John Mannion. And it needs to defend GOP Rep. Mike Lawler.
These races could easily determine whether Democrats can reclaim the House majority and break up Republicans’ unified control of Washington.
“It’s clear from last night that Democrats are still pissed about 2024, and pocketbook issues top all others,” Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.) said. “But, far left policies, antisemitic rhetoric, and higher taxes will not help us win our frontline seats in 2026.”
Jeffries speaks. In an interview, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said that he hadn’t talked to DCCC Chair Rep. Suzan DelBene (Wash.) or Frontline members about Mamdani’s election.
Two of those members, Gillen and Suozzi, distanced themselves from Mamdani. Gillen wrote that Mamdani had “a deeply disturbing pattern of unacceptable antisemitic comments.”
“I have my own brand of being the kind of Democrat that represents my district well,” Gillen said.
But many of their fellow New York swing-seat colleagues refused to weigh in. “I’m only talking about mayors in my district,” Ryan said before we even asked him a question.
A number of other Democrats refused to comment or literally ran away from reporters’ questions.
If Mamdani becomes mayor of New York City, he’ll take a starring role in House Republicans’ TV ads. Mamdani will have a bully pulpit in the biggest media market in the country. That becomes hard to ignore.
“They need to make very clear whether or not they embrace and support him,” Lawler said. “This isn’t a situation where they can be ambiguous about it.”
Behind the scenes. Democratic leaders have tried to emphasize what they see as the positives from Mamdani’s campaign. In a closed-door House Democratic whips meeting Wednesday, Jeffries highlighted Mamdani’s economic message and compared it to House Democrats’ focus on rising costs, according to attendees.
Jeffries also noted that Mamdani’s successful campaign focused much more on policy than on President Donald Trump — as did the campaign of Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-N.J.), who just won the Democratic nomination in New Jersey’s gubernatorial race.
“Assemblyman Mamdani focused relentlessly on an economic message that had to do with the high cost of living. Donald Trump is crashing the economy in real time,” Jeffries told us. “[Trump] is not making life more affordable for the American people. Democrats will.”
Here’s an important detail to remember: New York doesn’t always follow national political trends. In 2022 when Democrats outperformed across the country after the fall of Roe v. Wade, they lost seats in New York amid concerns about crime.
