Brad Lander clinches early victory in NY-10

Former New York City Comptroller Brad Lander secured a decisive victory over Rep. Dan Goldman early on Tuesday night, ousting the Trump impeachment lawyer from Congress and becoming the first of Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s congressional endorsees to prevail in their primary challenges. As of 9:20 p.m, Lander led with 64% of the vote over Goldman’s 36%, enough to clinch victory in the 10th Congressional District primary. The race was called for Lander by NY1 less than 10 minutes after the polls closed.

Lander’s victory against the well-funded incumbent marked a major reversal from his fortunes just one year ago. Last June, he finished a distant third in the Democratic mayoral primary for New York City mayor, trailing behind former Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Mamdani, whom he’d cross-endorsed in an effort to consolidate the progressive vote. This time around, he had an easy time securing a congressional seat Goldman accused him of seeing as a last resort.

In some ways, Goldman seemed like a good fit for the district that spans lower Manhattan and several wealthy neighborhoods of Brooklyn. Once upon a time, he garnered widespread acclaim for taking on President Donald Trump, first as a federal prosecutor and lead counsel on the impeachment effort against Trump in 2019 and later, in Congress. Not to mention his two-term tenure was scandal-free. But buoyed by the mayor’s wholehearted support, Lander’s efforts to leverage the same anti-establishment frustrations that helped power Mamdani’s campaign last year resonated with many voters in the district. Others, especially in the brownstone Brooklyn area of the district, were already familiar with Lander from his 12 years representing them in the City Council and four years as city comptroller.

Goldman, an heir to the Levi Strauss fortune, appeared to recognize the seriousness of Lander’s challenge. In April, he announced that he would pull from his own vast coffers to match every donation made to his campaign.

Israel’s war in Gaza has also loomed large in an area that’s one of the most predominantly Jewish and progressive congressional districts in the country. While both candidates are Jewish men who’ve described themselves as liberal Zionists, their diverging stances on Israel – Goldman, more in line with Democrats’ historically pro-Israel stance, and Lander, who has been highly critical of the country’s treatment of Palestinians – have hit on political and generational lines.