The 2026 NYC congressional primaries to watch

12th District

Midtown Manhattan, the Upper West and East Sides and Central Park

TLDR: Schlossberg and Conway may have political star power, but most expect this to be another East versus  West battle between Assembly Members Alex Bores and Micah Lasher. 

Incumbent: None. Rep. Jerry Nadler is retiring.

Candidates: Alex Bores, George Conway, Laura Dunn, Micah Lasher, Jack Schlossberg, Nina Schwalbe, Chris Diep, Patrick Timmins and Micah Bergdale

2025 Democratic mayoral primary results (first round): Cuomo 37%; Mamdani 33%; Lander 21%; Other 10%

The Z factor: Mamdani hasn’t weighed in yet – and most expect it will stay that way, since no leading candidate is running to the left – though Mamdani political adviser Morris Katz has reportedly rallied support for Lasher.

The X factor: There is no shortage of candidates able to raise millions on their own in this race, but outside spending – by Michael Bloomberg and dueling AI PACs – will dominate. 

What you need to know: There is no registered Democrat in the vicinity of Manhattan’s 12th Congressional District who has not heard about the hottest primary race in the borough this year. 

You might have heard about it from the onslaught of mailers and ads warning you against the ex-Palantir employee now hypocritically (the ads tell you) calling for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to be abolished.

You might have caught wind of it through endless mailers paid for by former Mayor Michael Bloomberg in the past month, propping up another candidate as the only one with the track record and experience to take the district’s fight to Washington, D.C.

Anyone on TikTok or Instagram has probably heard of the John F. Kennedy grandson running as both political legacy and newcomer, promising to succeed where Democrats have long failed: messaging to voters.

And any of the district’s many Trump-hating, cable news-watching liberals will recognize the former Republican Never Trumper running as a newly registered Democrat. Read more here. 

Further reading:  
This race ain’t big enough for two Micahs
Poll: Schlossberg leads NY-12 race
In NY-12, candidates are contending with Jack Schlossberg’s ‘Love Story’ factor
Only 12% of Alex Bores’ donations come from NY-12
Schlossberg says inherited oil investments don’t compromise him on the environment
Alex Bores vs. AI in NY-12
Alex Bores’ work at Palantir complicates his anti-ICE stance

7th District

Parts of Brooklyn including Bushwick , Williamsburg and Downtown Brooklyn, and parts of Queens, including Long Island City, Astoria and Sunnyside

TLDR: It’s a battle of the progressives in New York City’s Commie Corridor.

Incumbent: Nydia Velázquez (retiring)

Candidates: Claire Valdez, Antonio Reynoso, Julie Won, Vichal Kumar, Paperboy Love Prince 

2025 Democratic mayoral primary result (first round): Zohran Mamdani 65%; Andrew Cuomo 20%; Brad Lander 10%; Other 5%

The Z factor: Mamdani is swinging big for Valdez.

The X factor: The X factor here is the Z factor: Can the mayor get a largely unknown socialist elected to Congress?

What you need to know: The race for New York’s most left-wing congressional district got off to a spicy start from the moment the trailblazing Rep. Nydia Velázquez announced she would retire, and hasn’t cooled off since. Immediately, political observers began speculating who might run to replace her, with private conversations taking place as well that have since spilled into the public sphere. 

Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso announced first, after several other potential contenders expressed they would not run. Assembly Member Claire Valdez, a democratic socialist and early Mamdani backer, announced next. Within a day, the mayor endorsed her, drawing public rebuke from Velázquez, who felt slighted after trying to find a candidate that different progressive and community factions could back. She endorsed Reynoso soon after. City Council Member Julie Won was a late entrant, shaking up what might have otherwise been a straight proxy war.

Reynoso has picked up significant progressive and union support so far, even as Valdez has pitched herself as the labor candidate. The New York Working Families Party, 32BJ SEIU, DC 37, the Hotel and Gaming Trades Council, New Kings Democrats and Citizen Action New York have all offered their support to Reynoso, along with several notable progressive elected officials. He has also gotten institutional support from the Queens Democratic Party, Queens Borough President Donovan Richards and state Attorney General Letitia James.

Valdez, meanwhile, has the full support of the New York City chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America and has garnered the backing of influential democratic socialists, including U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders and many of her fellow socialists in office in the state Legislature. Read more here.

Further reading:
Reynoso quietly secures Queens Dems endorsement for NY-7
Respectfully, Antonio Reynoso is from Brooklyn
Claire Valdez launches a bid for Congress staffed by Mamdani’s consigliere

10th District

Parts of Manhattan including the West Village, Greenwich Village, East Village, Lower East Side, Tribeca and the Financial District, and parts of Brooklyn including Brooklyn Heights, Red Hook, Park Slope and Sunset Park.

TLDR: Former mayoral candidate Brad Lander is back in his old neighborhood, giving Rep. Dan Goldman a run for his (ample) money. 

Incumbent: Rep. Dan Goldman

Challengers: Brad Lander

2025 Democratic mayoral primary results (first round): Zohran Mamdani 46%; Andrew Cuomo 23%; Brad Lander 23%; Other 8%

The Z factor: Mamdani has wholeheartedly endorsed Lander, even edging a DSA ally out of the race to clear his lane. Goldman never endorsed Mamdani for mayor, and that has apparently not been forgotten.

The X factor: Goldman’s pouring $1 million of his own money into the race, and he’s vowing to match others’ donations to himself.

What you need to know: Through a certain lens, there isn’t much contrast between the two middle-aged, white Jewish guys who want to represent the 10th Congressional District. Rep. Dan Goldman and his challenger Brad Lander have both shown up to protests against ICE at 26 Federal Plaza, both condemned Israel’s actions in Gaza, both said they want to tax the wealthy. The pro-Israel progressive group J Street endorsed Goldman, but they also “approved” Lander.

But through a slightly more magnified lens, the differences are stark, both candidates claim. Lander says unlike Goldman, he’s part of the progressive vanguard in New York City led by Mayor Zohran Mamdani. He swore to donate campaign funds to charity if any super PACs get involved in the race to support him. (They haven’t.) And he says he would vote against military aid for Israel while the country continues to violate international law.

“I support and will cosponsor the Block the Bombs Act and the Ceasefire Compliance Act, which are the two specific pieces of legislation in Congress right now that would stop sending the 2000-pound bombs that Israel used, that we gave them, that they used to destroy the hospitals and schools and homes in Gaza,” Lander told City & State. “And at this moment, I would not support any additional U.S. military aid to Israel, offensive or or defensive.”

Until his failed run for New York City mayor, Lander represented the area in some capacity since he was elected to the City Council in 2010. Goldman was first elected 12 years later after he spent much of his ample personal wealth to prevail in a crowded race. With the announcement that he’s spending more than $1 million of his fortune this year, it looks like he wants to use that strategy again.

Goldman says that, unlike Lander, he’s been gaining seniority in Congress over nearly four years, he has cosponsored federal legislation to tax the rich and he’s used the courts and official visits to improve conditions for immigrants detained at 26 Federal Plaza. Read more here.

Further reading: 
Mamdani hits the fundraising circuit
Dan Goldman vows to keep his fellow 1 percenters in check
Sources: Brad Lander is making plans to challenge Goldman

13th District

Upper Manhattan neighborhoods including Inwood, Washington Heights, East Harlem, Harlem and Morningside Heights; and Bronx neighborhoods including Fordham, Bedford Park and Kingsbridge.

TLDR: A Dominican-American uptown powerbroker gets a DSA-backed challenge.

Incumbent: Adriano Espaillat

Challengers: Darializa Avila Chevalier, Oscar Romero

2025 Democratic mayoral primary results (first round): Zohran Mamdani 47%; Andrew Cuomo 34%; Brad Lander 9%; Other 10%

Pie chart

The Z factor: The mayor has so far steered clear of the race despite his ideological similarities with Espaillat’s challenger. 

The X factor: Does DSA have the clout to defeat the well-funded, well-known incumbent without Mamdani? 

What you need to know: A clash between the Democratic establishment and the wave of youthful left-leaning enthusiasm that powered New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s historic rise is playing out in a congressional district in Upper Manhattan and the Bronx – a test of the city’s changing political climate. 

Rep. Adriano Espaillat, one of the state’s most influential Latino leaders who has represented the 13th District since 2017, faces an insurgent challenge from Darializa Avila Chevalier, an Afro-Latina Harlem-based organizer who has generated an increasing amount of attention as a first-time candidate. Oscar Romero, another candidate in the race who has raised around $11,000, has not picked up much traction. 

Like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Jamaal Bowman, fellow young upstarts who dethroned incumbents from the left, Avila Chevalier, who is 32, has endorsements from the New York City chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America and Justice Democrats. She’s an anti-Zionist who played a prominent role in pro-Palestine encampments at Columbia University, her alma mater. Currently, she’s a PhD candidate at the City University of New York, a public defense investigator at the Neighborhood Defenders Services of Harlem and a member of United Auto Workers, which recently endorsed her. Justice Democrats specifically recruited her to run against Espaillat after a surprisingly high number of voters in the diverse district backed Mamdani in the primary and general elections. Read more here.

Further reading:
DSA votes to endorse Espaillat challenger Darializa Avila Chevalier
How Adriano Espaillat built the Squadriano

6th District

Queens neighborhoods of Flushing, Fresh Meadows, Forest Hills and parts of Corona, Jackson Heights and Bayside

TLDR: Despite a progressive challenger making some early noise, the chance of this being a close race has likely faded. 

Incumbent: Rep. Grace Meng

Challenger: Chuck Park

2025 Democratic mayoral primary results (first round): Zohran Mamdani 43%; Andrew Cuomo 42%; Brad Lander 7%; Other 8%

The Z factor: Mamdani has not weighed in on this race, and more than likely will stay out of it.

What you need to know: Rep. Grace Meng is facing a challenge to her left from former U.S. Department of State employee and former City Council staffer Chuck Park. An establishment Democrat who was first elected to the House in 2012 and a close ally of House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Meng has not faced a serious challenge in her Queens seat for some time, even as her district – particularly in its eastern neighborhoods – has become increasingly purple and even red. At the same time, the western part of the district has moved more toward the left, especially since redistricting. From Day 1, Park has attempted to paint Meng as being out of touch with her district, particularly on immigration. While he has aimed to capitalize on Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s momentum in neighborhoods like his own Jackson Heights and even parts of Forest Hills, he failed to get the Working Families Party’s endorsement (albeit, after a twist). Meng, meanwhile, has been aggressive in fending off Park, building a coalition of both centrist and progressive supporters, earning the backing of outgoing Rep. Nydia Velázquez and Council Member Shekar Krishnan, Park’s former boss. Meng also has significantly deeper coffers than Park, finishing the first quarter with more than $1.28 million in cash on hand, while Park closed with just over $128,000.

Further reading: 
WFP isn’t endorsing Meng challenger Chuck Park after all
Chuck Park is focused on protecting immigrant families in his run for Congress

15th District

South Bronx up to the northern edge of the borough, including the neighborhoods of Mott Haven, Morrisania and Riverdale

TLDR: Ritchie Torres’ massive war chest and support of Israel make defeating him an uphill battle, even for a former mayoral candidate.

Incumbent: Ritchie Torres

Challengers: Michael Blake and Jose Vega

2025 Democratic mayoral primary results (first round): Andrew Cuomo 52%; Zohran Mamdani 33%; Adrienne Adams 5%; Other 10%

The Z factor: As mayoral candidates, Mamdani and Blake cross-endorsed before the June primary, but Mamdani has not backed a candidate in this race and didn’t do particularly well in the district.

The X factor: Two X-factor challengers, Assembly Member Amanda Séptimo and socialist Dalourney Nemorin, dropped out early.

What you need to know: Ritchie Torres faces familiar foes this year. Michael Blake, a former Assembly member in the Bronx, lost to Torres in a crowded 2020 Democratic House primary, finishing in second with 18% of the vote. Jose Vega, a 27-year old political organizer and activist, ran against Torres in the 2024 general election on the LaRouche Party line and only received 2.4% of the vote.

Vega identifies as a “LaRouchite”, a follower of Lyndon LaRouche, who ran for president eight times between 1978 and 2004. LaRouche was connected to conspiracy theories, called for a new global world economic system and was accused of antisemitism.

Both challengers are running against the incumbent’s pro-Israel stance and ties to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, arguing that he prioritizes foreign interests over Bronx families.

Blake and Vega had a virtual debate earlier this month, moderated by Dalourny Nemorin, who was initially running but has since suspended her campaign. Torres didn’t show up, and likely doesn’t feel that he needs to. He has nearly $15 million in cash on hand, while Blake has $65,000 and Vega has about $3,000.

Further reading: 
Public defender and DSA organizer challenges Ritchie Torres
DC 37 endorses Bores, Reynoso for open House seats
Deep-pocketed crypto super PAC eyes New York House races in 2026