Sources: Brad Lander is making plans to challenge Goldman

New York City Comptroller Brad Lander has told allies that he is planning to challenge Rep. Dan Goldman in New York’s 10th Congressional District, multiple people told City & State.

“He’s going to run and knows he’s got the best shot at defeating Goldman,” one person in touch with Lander told City & State, on condition of anonymity.

The 10th Congressional District currently stretches from lower Manhattan into the Brooklyn waterfront, including the neighborhoods of Red Hook, Park Slope and Sunset Park. Lander lives in Park Slope, which he represented in the New York City Council before being elected comptroller. Goldman lives in the Manhattan portion of the district.

A lawsuit challenging New York’s congressional lines – particularly a Republican seat that spans Staten Island and parts of Brooklyn – dropped on Monday. If that suit is successful, New York’s congressional map could change significantly, scrambling the dynamics of the race.

At a rally for Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani on Sunday night, Lander spoke about the importance of electing progressives to Congress – a possible hint to his own plans.

“We'll take that fight to the halls of Congress, where it's more important than ever that we have leaders who understand this moment and will be partners to Zohran,” he said.

Reached by phone on Monday, Lander would not confirm or deny that he planned to run for Congress. “I'm very focused on helping Zohran win next Tuesday, and I'll focus on after that, after that,” he said repeatedly when asked about the prospect.

A September poll by Demand Progress found that Lander would beat Goldman by 19 points, 52% to 33%, in a hypothetical one-on-one matchup.

Goldman did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but his aide Simone Kanter spoke to Semafor in September about the Demand Progress poll. “Dan has a lot of respect for Brad and enjoys working with him on a number of issues, including Trump’s attack on immigrants,” Kanter said. “If he or anyone else would like to throw their hat in the ring, they are more than welcome to.”

Lander is not the only serious candidate interested in challenging Goldman. As City & State previously reported, New York City Council Member Alexa Avilés also plans to run for the seat. Avilés, who represents Sunset Park, is currently seeking the endorsement of the New York City chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America.

The DSA is very likely to endorse Avilés. The socialist organization previously endorsed her City Council campaigns in 2021, 2023 and this year.

After she appeared at a candidate forum earlier this month, the DSA’s Electoral Working Group voted to recommend her for endorsement. Members of the DSA’s Lower Manhattan, Central Brooklyn and South Brooklyn branches overwhelmingly voted in favor of endorsement. In Lower Manhattan, 133 members voted for endorsement, while 17 voted against and nine abstained; in Central Brooklyn, 239 voted in favor, eight voted against and 21 abstained; and in South Brooklyn, 213 voted in favor and 12 voted against. Now, the DSA’s Citywide Leadership Committee must vote on whether to endorse her forthcoming congressional run.

If the congressional district lines don’t change and both Lander and Avilés run against Goldman, it could drive a wedge between progressive liberals and the socialist left, threatening the coalition that formed after Lander and Mamdani cross-endorsed each other late in the Democratic mayoral primary. After that cross-endorsement, there was some speculation that Lander might have a place in a Mamdani administration.

“They’re both strong candidates and have a ready-to-go, supportive base that will mobilize on their behalf,” the person familiar with Lander’s plans said of him and Avilés. “However, I feel strongly that only one runs so as not to pull a 2022.”

Avoiding a repeat of the 2022 congressional primary is the left’s top priority. That year, a crowded field competed for the newly created 10th Congressional District, including multiple strong progressive candidates. Goldman beat Assembly Member Yuh-Line Niou by less than 3 points – 25.9% to 23.6% – in part because she split the progressive vote with then-Rep. Mondaire Jones, who garnered 18.1% of the vote and then-City Council Member Carlina Rivera, who received 16.5% of the vote.

– With reporting from Holly Pretsky