How Ritchie Torres, diehard Israel supporter, easily survived a brutal primary cycle

While three congressional candidates who are highly critical of the United States’ relationship with Israel won Democratic primaries last week, Rep. Ritchie Torres’ resounding primary win bucked the trend. Torres is a staunch Israel supporter, an incumbent who has received $1.6 million in individual donations directed to his campaign from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee over the course of his congressional career, one of the top recipients in the House. And despite a primary challenge from the left, he’s sailing to reelection for the third time with a resounding 72% of the vote.

Torres has been a staunch supporter of Israel for many years, becoming a leading advocate in Congress among Democrats. As Americans’ positive perceptions of Israel have waned, now more than two years into Israel’s war in the Gaza Strip, Torres has backed off slightly. He’s been less outspoken of late, but his positions have not shifted. As recently as 2025, he called the Free Palestine movement a "social contagion."

If New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s election over former Gov. Andrew Cuomo was the canary in the coalmine for pro-Israel politicians like Goldman and Espaillat, what does their defeat say for a politician like Torres? 

On paper, Torres is exactly the kind of candidate that the Democratic Socialists of America would want to take down. “I know you stopped talking about Israel, Ritchie Torres,” leftist streamer Hasan Piker, who is closely affiliated with many DSA candidates, said at Claire Valdez’ victory party. “I’ll see you in two years motherfucker. Every time there’s a decision that you can make where you are pro-Israel I hope you remember you got two more years Ritchie.” 

But House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, another AIPAC darling, cited Torres’ victory as proof that the Israel issue isn’t the only deciding factor. “In the South Bronx, Ritchie Torres was running against somebody who was heavily critical of Ritchie Torres’ position on Israel, and he won by 50 points.”

So what gives? How did Torres survive when other Democrats of his ilk were targeted and lost? According to his allies, the 38-year-old Congress member is still seen as a rising star who maintains close relationships and diverse alliances and who is not out of step with his Bronx district. According to critics, he’s just really good at adapting. Torres has recently made overtures to Mamdani, for example, appearing with the mayor at an internet access event in May. 

“He's shifted over the years when he's needed to, in a very shrewd way,” said state Sen. Gustavo Rivera, who has generally been a Torres critic.. “He certainly knows how to keep himself politically alive. But you know, his time might be running out.”

Torres was elected to the New York City Council in 2013, and he represented the Central Bronx for six years before prevailing in a crowded primary to replace retiring Rep. José Serrano in 2020. This year was the first time since that the incumbent faced a challenger: Former Assembly Member and former mayoral candidate Michael Blake. Blake’s campaign heavily emphasized Torres’ support for Israel. 

But compared to the campaigns of fellow insurgents Darializa Avila Chevalier and Brad Lander, Blake’s effort fell flat. Torres effectively cast him as an unserious perennial candidate and exploited his inconsistency on issues including support for Israel. Blake failed to land endorsements from popular figures like Mayor Zohran Mamdani or from organizations like the Working Families Party. He even ended up winning  Blake’s former Assembly district with 71% of the vote. Torres’ $15 million dollar warchest, compared to Blake’s paltry half million, will lead him sailing into victory in November when he faces Andre Easton, a teacher running with the Party for Socialism and Liberation. 

His longstanding history with the district has led Torres to a smooth victory in every election. But in the wake of the defeat of fellow AIPAC-funded candidates like Rep. Dan Goldman and Rep. Adriano Espaillat, could Torres be the next target of the DSA, an organization he has called “despicable, detestable, disgraceful, and disgraced.”  

"There's clearly a lot of hunger to challenge him,” said NYC-DSA Co-Chair Gustavo Gordillo. He noted that likely redistricting makes it difficult to predict what the organization’s strategy will be in 2028, but had thoughts on what Torres could do to avoid a DSA-backed primary challenge: “Ritchie Torres needs to break ties with AIPAC. He needs to stand with Palestine. He needs to prioritize his constituents who live in one of the poorest congressional districts in the country rather than focusing on wars abroad.”

Torres’ campaign defended the Congress member. 

“Ritchie is a fighter from the Bronx and for the Bronx—a next-generation Democrat with deep roots in the community and a proven record of delivering results for the Bronx,” said Torres campaign spokesperson Benny Stanislawski. “He has a rare ability to bring together a multi-racial, multi-ethnic, and multi-religious coalition that reflects the diversity and unity of One Bronx. A young, dynamic leader, Ritchie fights for the people of the Bronx because he is one of them.”

Since Torres’ election in 2020, over $3 billion in federal funds for NYCHA repairs have arrived to his district, City & State reported in a 2024 profile. He’s known for his ability to deliver poignant remarks off the cuff, and, one of the first Black, gay men elected to Congress, he’s been involved in the opening of the first LGBTQ senior center in the Bronx.

Torres is backed by many established politicians in the Bronx who endorsed him this election season, from Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie to Bronx Borough President Vanessa Gibson to Assembly Member Jeffrey Dinowitz.

“We had broad support in the community,”  said Dinowitz, who represents Riverdale in the state Legislature while Torres represents the neighborhood in Congress. “Maybe in other districts pro-Israel candidates lost, but not in our district.” He said that Torres is able to attract voters by keeping to the “bread and butter issues that they really care about.”  

At a press conference in May at an affordable housing complex in the South Bronx, Torres joined Mamdani to announce an expansion of the Neighborhood Internet Program. While the two leaders vehemently disagree on Israel, Torres was eager to stand alongside the mayor who his district backed in the general election in 2025 – thanking him for “bringing his bold vision of affordability to where it is needed most.”