The remaking of the Democratic Party is well underway, as last night’s New York City primaries make clear. In three key races, Zohran Mamdani backed candidates who unseated progressive Democrats who, only a few years ago, would have been viewed as the Left flank of the party. In New York’s 10th district, Brad Lander ousted incumbent Dan Goldman in a landslide; in the 13th, Darializa Avila Chevalier narrowly beat incumbent Adriano Espaillat; and in the 7th, Claire Valdez beat out Antonio Reynoso.

While these results may be read as proof of the Democratic Socialists of America’s popularity, it remains to be seen whether such far-Left candidates could appeal to more moderate voters outside the major cities. Yet what they undoubtedly show is a burgeoning gap between mainstream Democrats and DSA-affiliated candidates.

In the winners of last night’s race, these beliefs are clear. Lander, Chevalier and Valdez all appeared in an advertisement with Zohran Mamdani during the New York Knicks’ playoff run, where they vowed to abolish ICE, “block billionaires from buying our elections”, and “stand up to bad landlords and greedy corporations”.

Lander, the subpar former comptroller who finished third in the mayoral race last November, became a Mamdani accomplice during the crowded election, frequently fawning over the Mayor. Lander made a name for himself by attacking Aipac and has been quick to refer to Israel’s campaign in Gaza as a genocide. His opponent in last night’s race, Goldman, refused to follow the party into its spiral of anti-Zionism, and has no hesitancy about condemning Hamas. At the same time, though, Goldman also urged President Biden to broker a ceasefire in 2024 and called attention to “the situation for the civilian population in Gaza [which] is dire and desperate”. But for the Democratic Socialists, even moderate condemnation, which considers both sides in the conflict, is anathema.

Chevalier, who is currently a PhD student who studies “how the US immigration system criminalises Black immigrants from Latin America,” narrowly ousted Espaillat. The latter is the head of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, who originally entered the US as an illegal immigrant, in a heavily Hispanic district. While Mamdani backed Chevalier, Espaillat had the support of House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries — certainly no moderate — and the Congressional Black Caucus. At one point, this may have been enough to have earned Espaillat support from the far Left, but clearly his views were not as radical as Chevalier’s.

While Lander holds his cards close to his chest, Chevalier touts her ideology proudly. In an interview before the election, Chevalier refused to agree that murderers should be sent to prison. A day after October 7, Chevalier attended an anti-Israel rally where protesters burned an Israeli flag in Times Square. She defended her actions as advocacy for “human dignity”. Chevalier has also come under fire for social media posts where she described using the American flag as a rag towel and admonished black and Arab men for “fetishising ugly coloniser women”. On election day, Chevalier stormed off a popular Dominican radio show after being questioned for an old social media post where she described the Dominican flag as “violent”.

Finally, Valdez beat Antonio Reynoso, the former Brooklyn Borough President and the chosen successor to outgoing Congresswoman Nydia Velázquez. Despite Reynoso himself being a harsh critic of Israel, Valdez centred the race around support for the Middle Eastern country. After a pro-Reynoso ad aired by Real Fight NYC, Valdez said that the commercial was truly sponsored by Aipac because they “have created PACs with innocuous sounding names — and which never reveal their actual agenda — to funnel millions against anti-apartheid candidates”. In reality, Real Fight NYC was connected to the American Federation of Teachers, not Aipac. Valdez, for her part, was bankrolled by her own super PACs and had to embarrassingly rescind her claim of total independence. On policy, Valdez advocates for the seizure of private property for “public or community ownership” and also supports expanding public labour unions, among a swathe of other Leftist policies.

The New Democrat position was best summed up by Mamdani ally Brian Romero at a Brooklyn campaign rally: “Abolish ICE, Free Palestine and tax the motherfucking rich!” Last night’s results are telling of the future direction of New York politics. Democrats are increasingly standing far-Left candidates that are even more radical in their beliefs and policy proposals than progressives. Given the popularity of Zohran Mamdani nationwide, it is reasonable to believe that these candidates who performed so strongly last night may be a bellwether for where the Democrats are moving ideologically.