Some 72% of Jewish voters hold unfavorable views of the democratic socialist mayor, compared with 67% of non-Jewish voters who approve of his performance

New polling data shows that a sizable majority of Jewish voters disapprove of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s job performance and fear he is pushing the Democratic Party too far to the left, in contrast with non-Jewish voters who hold a largely favorable view of the outspoken democratic socialist.

The gap between Jewish and non-Jewish survey respondents underscores the degree to which Jewish Democrats in New York and across the country increasingly feel out of place in their party amid a rise in antisemitism and anti-Israel sentiment on the far left, which has gained traction in recent state and congressional elections.

The poll, shared exclusively with Jewish Insider, showed that 72% of Jewish voters hold unfavorable views of Mamdani’s performance six months into his tenure, with 28% approving. Non-Jewish voters were more positive about the mayor — with 67% approving and 28% disapproving of Mamdani’s actions.

Meanwhile, nearly three in four Jewish voters said that they believed Mamdani’s views were outside the Democratic mainstream in New York City, compared with 52% of non-Jewish respondents who shared the same assessment.

And well over half of Jewish voters, 61%, said the Democratic Party under Mamdani was moving too far to the left, with 36% of non-Jewish voters feeling similarly. Non-Jewish respondents were, at 26%, also nearly twice as likely to say they felt the party had not moved enough to the left amid Mamdani’s mayorship — relative to 16% of Jewish voters, the poll revealed.

The poll was fielded days before Mamdani, a vocal critic of Israel, had helped elevate a trio of far-left candidates, including two Democratic Socialists of America-aligned candidates with extreme records on Israel and antisemitism, to the nomination in New York’s congressional primaries last month, unseating a pair of pro-Israel House incumbents. The wins established Mamdani as a veritable kingmaker in New York City politics, amid a broader rise of democratic socialism now shaping the midterms.

“Taken together, the data reveals a significant fault line within New York City’s Democratic coalition,” a polling memo by Honan Strategy Group shared with JI notes, “one that cuts along religious lines and will bear watching as Mamdani’s mayoralty takes shape.”

The poll, conducted by Honan Strategy Group, surveyed 614 likely general election voters in New York between June 12-17. Most of the respondents, 515, were not Jewish, while 99 were Jewish. Nearly three-quarters of respondents were Democrats, with 16% identifying as Republican. The rest identified as independent or as unaffiliated, according to Bradley Honan, who conducted the survey. The poll’s overall margin of error was around 4%.

The results echo a separate survey released in April and sponsored by The Jewish Majority, a pro-Israel research group based in Washington, D.C. The poll of 665 Jewish voters in New York City showed that most respondents, 40%, believed that Mamdani was doing a “poor” job as mayor.

The poll also found that 82% of Jewish voters — including most of those who voted for Mamdani — were “very” or “somewhat” concerned about the rise in antisemitism, which more than half, 58%, said was linked to the normalization of anti-Zionism espoused by the mayor and his allies on the far left.

Mamdani’s refusal to condemn calls to “globalize the intifada,” 61% of Jewish voters agreed in the survey, also helped to embolden pro-Hamas protestors who have targeted synagogues in New York in his tenure.

More recently, Mamdani has faced blowback for his comments at a political rally last month in which he attacked the pro-Israel group AIPAC as “monsters” who “move millions in dark money,” which Jewish leaders said had evoked classic antisemitic tropes.

The mayor has defended his rhetoric, saying he was borrowing from a phrase used by the Italian Marxist theorist Antonio Gramsci — though Mamdani quoted from a widely attributed mistranslation of his work.

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New Yorkers’ electric bills are shocking!

Only about half of New York City voters said they can run air conditioning without financial worry amid the heatwave, while nearly the other half must ration use or don’t have AC at all, a new survey claims.

The Honan Strategy Group 5 Borough Barometer poll found that just 47% of Big Apple voters say they have air conditioning and can afford to run it comfortably.

A nearly equal share — 44% — say they have AC but limit its use to keep their electric bills down.

The remaining 9% have no AC or gave no opinion.

“That is the quiet crisis hiding inside a seemingly routine question about summer plans,” said pollster Bradley Honan, president and CEO of the Honan Strategy Group.

“In a city where summer temperatures now routinely exceed 90 degrees, that means the majority of voters are making daily tradeoffs between their health and their utility bills.”

Mayor Zohran Mamdani got roasted online for telling New Yorkers to set their air conditioners to a balmy 78 degrees as the Big Apple gets baked by the heat wave outside, with temperatures soaring to 100 degrees for the first time since 2012.

Meanwhile, New York’s sky-high electric bills have become a burning election year issue.

Property taxes and other levies imposed by New York lawmakers make up a substantial chunk of electric and gas bills paid to Con Edison and National Grid.

“I can cut your electric bill in half, day one, when I become governor,” said Nassau County Executive and Republican gubernatorial candidate Bruce Blakeman, who complained New York’s utility bills are 70% above the national average.

Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat seeking re-election to a second, four-year term, set aside $1 billion in the state budget approved last month to provide one-time energy rebate checks of up to $200 to more than 8 million New Yorkers to lessen the load.

The Honan Strategy group interviewed 614 voters via text from June 12-17. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.96 percentage points.

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Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s socialist cronies who swept last week’s Democratic primaries boasted about an affordability message — but critics say it was anti-Israel furor that is fueling the party’s swing to the left.

State Democratic Party chairman Jay Jacobs admitted voters’ feelings on Israel helped propel Mamdani buddies to three House primary victories, including firebrand Darializa Avila Chevalier and former city Comptroller Brad Lander, who upset incumbent Reps. Adriano Espaillat and Dan Goldman, respectively.

Both Espaillat and Goldman backed the Jewish state — which may have motivated young activist liberals with pro-Palestinian views who have staunchly opposed Israeli military action in Gaza.

“Yes. I do think the Israel-Palestinian issue had an impact in the election,” Jacobs told The Post on Sunday. “It hurt establishment Democrats.

“There are people who may have voted against Espaillat and Goldman because of it,” he added. “It was important to the activists who came out and voted.”

The pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel campaign was a “more important issue for those who came out and voted” in low-turnout primary elections that saw only about 17% of party voters citywide participate, Jacobs said.

The national civil rights group the Anti-Defamation League blasted the insurgency for riding a wave of antisemitic sentiment to wins in the Big Apple, the city with the largest Jewish population outside Israel.

“On Tuesday night in New York City, a movement built on antisemitic rhetoric won three congressional primaries,” the ADL said in a statement on X.

The statement noted that as Mamdani moved through the jubilant crowd at a DSA victory party on the night of the primaries, attendees chanted, “From the river to the sea,” a phrase viewed as a call to wipe out Israel.

“We’re witnessing candidates succeed not in spite of their demonizing rhetoric against the Jewish community and the Jewish state, but because of it,” the ADL said.

“When leaders cheer slogans that dehumanize Jews, it does not stay at a victory party. It bleeds into schools, neighborhoods and daily life, putting Jewish families, children and communities at risk.”

The Mamdani-backed House candidates were part of a push to the left of the party that came alongside wins by legislature candidates handpicked by the Democratic Socialists of America.

The results were compared to Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s victory in the 2018 elections and insiders and experts already say they could shift power in the state Democratic Party and reshape policy priorities for years to come.

Chevalier came under intense scrutiny during the campaign but still defeated five-term incumbent Espaillat in a close contest in the 13th House District, which covers Harlem/Washington Heights and parts of the Bronx.

She had attended an anti-Israeli rally in Times Square one day after Hamas’ horrific terrorist attacks on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. At the rally, demonstrators torched the Israeli flag and flashed swastikas.

Chevalier centered her platform on halting US military aid to Israel and pushing for full divestment from the Jewish state.

DSA candidate Claire Valdez, who is now a state Assembly member, won an open seat in Brooklyn-Queens House District 7 by defeating Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso, the favored candidate of retiring Rep. Nydia Velazquez.

Meanwhile, Lander — who is Jewish and a former DSA member, claimed Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, He easily defeated two-term incumbent Goldman in a landslide.

Pollsters have noted a dramatic shift in the Democratic Party against Israel after the Gaza war.

“The voters who turned out were anti-Israel. The people who were fired up were anti-Israel and there was no counter to that,” said pollster Bradley Honan of the Honan Strategy Group.

A Gallup poll released in February found that more than half of Democrats in the US are anti-Israel — the first time a majority of members of a major political party had a negative opinion of the Jewish state. The question has been asked by the poll since 1989.

Only 33% of Dems surveyed by Gallup said they had a favorable view of Israel, while a whopping 60% viewed the Jewish State unfavorably and 4% had no opinion.

Jacobs acknowledged that support of Israel is a divisive issue within the party, but it has also become more so in the Republican Party.

He said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s conduct during the war in Gaza has galvanized the anti-Israel movement.

Jacobs, who is pro-Israel, believes the criticism is warranted nut he also said the pro-Palestinian, Israel haters are spreading falsehoods that need to be challenged.

“Saying Israel is committing genocide is wrong. It’s war,” Jacobs said.

He also said Israel is not an “apartheid” country as critics claim, saying minority Arab residents have rights like other citizens.

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The New York and Washington Democratic political class was in stunned disbelief last week, scrambling to interpret Tuesday’s primary results, and the unprecedented electoral successes of the Democratic Socialists at the ballot box.

The truth is, the signs of this so-called political “earthquake” were hiding in plain sight for anyone willing to delve into the data, rather than rely on conventional wisdom.

Last winter, before launching a series of public polls on the 2025 Democratic primary race for mayor of New York, our firm conducted an exhaustive analysis of the NYC Board of Elections voter file, examining primary turnout trends across multiple years under different political scenarios.

What we found was clear and unambiguous: a Republican president creates a surge in political engagement, and ultimately turnout, among Democratic primary voters. And when the White House is occupied by a Republican president named Donald Trump, who fuels unprecedented rage among Democrats, that upward turnout trend line is put on steroids.

This is not a new pattern. Barack Obama’s presidency helped give rise to the Tea Party on the political right, just as Trump’s presidency is today putting wind into the sails of the Democratic Socialists.

But critically, it’s not just the size of the Democratic primary electorate that changes during Republican presidencies — the composition changes too, in terms of demographics, or as we say, the “face” of the electorate.

The face of the anti-Trump “surge Democratic voter” who turned out last June and again this past Tuesday is more likely a younger, white, female, college- and graduate-school-educated, progressive voter, who is more affluent than the average city resident. Many appear to be transplants, who were not born in New York City.

A large number of these voters are likely burdened by student loan debt and are struggling to achieve an increasingly elusive American Dream and they are absolutely repulsed by everything Trump says and does. In short, they are tailor-made to receive the DSA’s pitch that the political and economic system isn’t working.

By polling a larger pool of these anti-Trump “surge voters” starting in early 2025, our firm identified Zohran Mamdani’s share of the vote in the mayoral race as being three times what other public polls had found, and led us to write an op-ed in Crain’s last February, saying Mamdani’s support was “surging” at a moment when most voters had never heard his name.

With Trump still in the White House, that same anti-Trump fever was again not surprisingly driving the composition and outlook of last week’s Democratic primary electorate, just as it did in June 2025.

Despite many bemoaning the supposedly light turnout this past Tuesday, NYC voter turnout actually surged 17% higher than four years ago — which is the most relevant recent point of comparison — a sign of the Trump turnout effect — even given the absence of a top-of-the-ticket race like governor on the ballot to drive turnout.

Make no mistake: this turnout trend will continue to shape Democratic primaries across the country until a Democrat retakes the White House. Whichever party holds the White House, the opposing party’s base gets energized — and in deep blue cities like New York, that energy shows up first and loudest in Democratic primaries, with those voters tilting well left of center.

Electoral volatility in the Age of Trump, like we saw last week, is only a surprise to people who weren’t paying attention.

None of this math works in favor of the DSA and against incumbents without a basic message from a candidate that lands, and here, too, the answer was hiding in plain sight. New Yorkers have been telling pollsters for nearly two years that affordability and cost of living are their top concerns. It was never a mystery.

What voters wanted alongside it was a bold, aggressive response — in Albany and in Washington — not another round of incremental tinkering.

Our most recent citywide 5 Borough Barometer survey found Democratic voters were deeply disenchanted with the Democratic Party: 78% said the party was doing only a fair or poor job advocating for working people, and 74% said it was falling short of standing up to the Trump presidency.

Half of Democratic voters (50%) said electing a new generation of younger, more progressive members who will challenge the party establishment should be the higher priority in this year’s congressional primaries, compared to 41% who prioritized protecting experienced incumbents who can block Trump’s agenda.

The DSA understood this sentiment and built a brand around clear, easy-to-articulate positions — “freeze the rent” being the obvious example. By contrast, mainstream Democrats struggled to communicate anything nearly as crisp.

One example of this messaging disconnect played out on the Upper West Side, in the Democratic primary for the 69th Assembly District. Mamdani backed Eli Northrup, who ran as a bold progressive, arguing that politics as usual was broken and that he’d fight in Albany for affordable housing.

His opponent, Stephanie Ruskay, struggled to articulate a clear rationale for her candidacy — one week running as a mom, the next as a rabbi. She largely avoided in-person campaigning, letting Northrup dominate the neighborhood with street-sign visibility and presence at community meetings.

Her closing argument gestured broadly toward supporting public education, tenants, and quality of life, without specifics that voters could hold onto. If elections are about voters making choices, Ruskay never made clear why she was different from Northrup.

Primary result: Northrup 60%, Ruskay 39%. Nobody should be surprised.

Message discipline is only half the equation — tone matters just as much, and the left and DSA got this right, too. In the Brooklyn/Manhattan 10th Congressional District, Brad Lander campaigned with the energy of someone building a bold progressive movement, while Congressman Dan Goldman spoke far too much like a prosecutor conducting a deposition. Democratic primary voters right now aren’t looking for a careful litigator — they’re looking for a fighter with fire in their belly.

Candidates who sound like they’re building a court case may be technically correct but still lose, because voters aren’t evaluating evidence — they’re looking for someone who shares their urgency and is ready to fight.

Primary result: Lander 66%, Goldman 34%.  Again, no surprises here.

Putting all these pieces together, none of what happened on Tuesday’s primary should have been a shock to the party establishment or incumbents running for reelection. The anti-Trump rage, the surge of younger, more educated progressive voters, the hunger for someone willing to fight on affordability with policy, message, and tone, in Albany and Washington — all of it was hiding in plain sight for anyone looking at the data rather than the tired, old playbook. This phenomenon isn’t going away, and it will keep influencing primary after primary until Democrats retake the White House.

Candidates and consultants who treat last week as an aberration, rather than a preview, will be caught flat-footed again. Back in December 2024, the voter file told us this trend was coming, and today it’s telling us now that it isn’t finished — and won’t be for a while.

Honan and Zeche are partners in the Democratic polling and data analytics firm of Honan Strategy Group. Honan is the co-president of the New York Metro Chapter of the American Association of Political Consultants.

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Gov. Kathy Hochul often says that New Yorkers care more about a good budget than an on-time one, but new polling from Honan Strategy Group shared exclusively with Heard Around Town suggests that’s not necessarily the case.

The survey of 614 NYC voters conducted between June 12 and 17 found that 33% of people polled were “very concerned” about the state’s inability to pass its over $270 billion budget on time, and another 28% said they were “somewhat concerned” about the budget’s tardiness.

Voters were also lukewarm on the final product, with 32% of respondents saying the budget got some things right, but fell short in others. Only 15% said it addressed the most important issues facing the state, while a combined 42% agreed the budget either missed too many important issues, or was overall a missed opportunity for the state.

One of the governor’s biggest priorities – delaying portions of the state’s climate law – didn’t land well with voters in the five boroughs, with 42% of respondents saying they “strongly disagreed” with the governor’s action and another 13% saying they “somewhat disagreed.”

At least the budget’s new immigrant protections were popular, with 52% of voters polled saying they “strongly agreed” with a measure limiting police cooperation with ICE.

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Younger Democrats across the country are increasingly embracing ideas that would have been considered politically radical just a few years ago.

A new poll of New York City Democrat voters should serve as a warning sign not just for Democrat leaders, but for anyone paying attention to the direction of American politics.

According to a new survey from Honan Strategy Group, only 25% of New York City Democrats believe the national Democrat Party is effectively standing up to President Donald Trump. An overwhelming 74% say the party is falling short. Even more striking, just 22% believe the Democrat Party is doing a good or excellent job advocating for working people, while 78% rate the party’s performance as only fair or poor.

The message is clear: even Democrat voters in one of the most left-wing cities in America are increasingly dissatisfied with their own party.

But what makes this poll especially significant is where voters appear to want the party to go next.

Half of New York City Democrat voters say electing a new generation of younger, more progressive Democrats should be a higher priority than protecting incumbent lawmakers. Among voters who expressed a clear preference, younger progressive challengers outpaced experienced leaders by more than two to one.

This comes at a time when younger Democrats across the country are increasingly embracing ideas that would have been considered politically radical just a few years ago. Socialist candidates continue to gain traction in major cities, particularly among younger voters who feel disconnected from traditional Democrat leadership.

We have already seen this trend emerge with politicians such as Zohran Mamdani, whose rise has been fueled largely by younger voters frustrated with the political establishment. Similar movements have appeared in cities across the country, where candidates running on more progressive platforms have successfully challenged longtime Democrat incumbents.

The problem for Democrat leaders is that dissatisfaction alone does not guarantee better outcomes.

Many voters are frustrated because they believe the party has lost touch with working-class Americans. Ironically, however, many of the younger candidates gaining support often advocate policies that move even further away from the economic concerns of ordinary voters and toward ideological issues that dominate college campuses and activist circles.

For years, universities have increasingly promoted the idea that America’s economic system is fundamentally unfair, that capitalism is the root cause of inequality, and that government intervention is the primary solution to social problems. Students are often taught to view issues through a framework of oppressors and the oppressed, while alternative viewpoints receive far less attention.

As a result, many young voters are entering politics with a deep distrust of existing institutions, including the Democrat Party itself.

That does not mean every criticism of the Democrat Party is wrong. In fact, many concerns expressed by voters in this poll are understandable. Working-class Americans have faced rising housing costs, economic uncertainty, and declining trust in institutions. Voters have every right to demand better representation from their elected officials.

The question is whether replacing establishment Democrats with candidates who are significantly further to the left will actually solve those problems.

The poll suggests many Democrat voters believe the answer is yes. Yet history offers reasons for caution. Political parties often respond to dissatisfaction by moving toward their most energized activists rather than toward the broader electorate. That strategy can generate enthusiasm within a primary but create challenges in a general election.

What this survey ultimately reveals is a Democrat Party experiencing an identity crisis.

Its own voters are unhappy with its leadership. They are unhappy with its messaging. They are unhappy with its ability to challenge Trump. And increasingly, they are looking for an entirely new generation to take control.

The danger for Democrats is that the political energy filling that vacuum is not necessarily moderate reform. It is a movement being driven largely by younger progressives who believe the party has not gone far enough.

If these trends continue, New York City may offer a preview of where the Democrat Party is headed nationally. The party’s voters clearly want change. The question now is whether that change will bring Democrats back toward working-class voters — or push them even further toward the progressive activism that helped create this dissatisfaction in the first place.

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New York may be closer to raising taxes on the wealthy and corporations than at any point since Mayor Zohran Mamdani took office.

Tuesday’s primaries gave the mayor more leverage in Albany, and a new poll shared exclusively with Crain’s shows the majority of New York City voters agree with his call to tax the rich.

The 5 Borough Barometer, conducted by Honan Strategy Group from June 12 to 17, found that 56% of likely New York City general election voters believe wealthy residents and corporations should pay more in taxes to help make the city more affordable for others.

The poll was taken before Mamdani’s candidates won big this week, but after he spent his first budget season as mayor pressing Gov. Kathy Hochul to raise taxes. He emerged with only part of what he wanted: a pied-à-terre tax on expensive second homes.

Mamdani’s broader proposals did not make the cut. Hochul blocked income and corporate tax hikes, as well as other levies backed by progressive lawmakers, including a proposed 1% tax on real estate deals involving more than $1 million in cash.

But Mamdani’s endorsed congressional candidates swept three closely watched primaries on Tuesday, giving him a show of force that his political might is not to be taken lightly, meaning he now has more negotiating power with the governor.

The mayor also endorsed five state legislative candidates in the primary, all of whom won, as did other DSA-backed candidates, adding voices in the legislature who will press Hochul to increase taxes next year.

Hochul may also be in a different position then. She is up for re-election this year and has political incentives to avoid raising taxes as that could alienate suburban and moderate voters. But by next years’ budget cycle, she will no longer be facing the same electoral pressure.

The Honan poll’s findings are consistent with earlier polling showing support for higher taxes.

Also working in Mamdani’s favor: A separate Siena poll released Thursday showed 54% of voters statewide identified the cost of living as the most important issue facing New York, while 77% named it as one of their top two issues.

The same Siena poll found Mamdani’s standing is improving with New Yorkers. His statewide favorability rose to 45% favorable and 34% unfavorable, up from 43%-40% in April. In New York City, his favorability rose to 58%-26%.

There are still warning signs for the mayor. The Honan poll found that 83% of voters said job growth is a serious problem in New York City, while 66% said it is important for the city to actively compete with other states and cities to attract businesses and jobs — something raising taxes does not typically do.

But the path to a tax hike is clearer than it was a year ago. The idea is popular with city voters, the cost of living remains New York’s dominant political issue, the bloc of lawmakers willing to push Hochul from the left just got bigger, and Mamdani’s political might has never been stronger.

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New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, in an effort to get more like-minded political allies in Washington, endorsed three left-of-center candidates in the congressional Democratic primaries covering the city, including two who were running against sitting congressmen.

CBS News projected all three — Brad Lander, Claire Valdez and Darializa Avila Chevalier — will win their primaries.

Warning sign for establishment politicians

It was a major victory for Mamdani, a democratic socialist. When campaigning Tuesday, Mamdani said it was not a question of electing more Democrats, it was a question of electing “better Democrats.”

CBS News New York political reporter Marcia Kramer says that in effect, he was tapping into a recent poll finding that New York voters were fed up with politics as usual and were ready to clean house.

Half of the respondents in a poll by the Honan Strategy Group said they favored electing a new generation of younger, more progressive candidates willing to challenge the party establishment.

Kramer says these victories are a blaring warning sign for establishment politicians like Gov. Kathy Hochul and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries. It means voters are tired of the dysfunction in Washington and the inability of Democrats to stand up to what some see as the excesses of the Trump administration.

It also means that some long-serving politicians — like Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, who has been in the Senate for 27 years — will have targets on their backs when they are up for reelection in 2028.

It could provide the impetus for Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who is projected to win her primary, to challenge Schumer if he decides to seek reelection.

What does this mean for November?

As Democrats hope to flip the House in November, Republicans will latch on to the party’s turn to the left, use it to shore up their base, and maybe pick up some votes from moderate Democrats.

Another question is whether the move to the left in New York City will affect Hochul’s bid for reelection. Her Republican opponent, Bruce Blakeman, will try to pin her to Mamdani in the hope of picking up moderate Democratic votes.

Hochul and establishment Democrats did have one victory, backing Assemblyman Micah Lasher, who is projected to be replacing retiring Rep. Jerry Nadler on the ballot.

7th Congressional District

CBS News projected a win for Valdez in the Democratic primary in the 7th Congressional District, which includes parts of Brooklyn and Queens.

Valdez topped Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso and two other candidates in the race to replace Rep. Nydia Velázquez, who is retiring.

Velázquez had endorsed Reynoso.

10th Congressional District

Lander, the former city comptroller, won the Democratic primary in the 10th Congressional District by a wide margin over incumbent Rep. Dan Goldman, CBS News projects.

This comes after Mamdani and Lander cross-endorsed each other during the mayoral Democratic primary last year, which used a ranked choice voting system.

The 10th Congressional District includes Lower Manhattan and parts of Brooklyn.

13th Congressional District

CBS News projects Chevalier has won the Democratic primary in New York’s 13th Congressional District, beating incumbent Rep. Adriano Espaillat, in perhaps the most shocking result of the evening.

Espaillat, the chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, had held the seat since 2017. He had been endorsed by Hochul, Jeffries and Velázquez as well as New York City Council Speaker Julie Menin.

Theo Chino-Tavarez and Oscar Romero were also in the race. The 13th Congressional District includes Washington Heights and Harlem.

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It was a bad night to be part of New York City’s political establishment.

Two incumbent members of the U.S. House of Representatives were ousted. The Democratic Socialists of America saw great success increasing its presence in the state Legislature, winning open seats and picking off lawmakers who worked their way up through party systems.

Here are some lessons from last night’s primary elections:

The DSA is beating the Democratic establishment in more places

Darializa Avila Chevalier bested Rep. Adriano Espaillat in Upper Manhattan and Assemblymember Claire Valdez beat Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso, who had the backing of retiring Rep. Nydia Velázquez. Both victories overcame candidates backed by more traditional political players.

“For the political class in this city, it’s going to be a huge awakening,” said Gustavo Gordillo, co-chair of the New York City DSA. “There’s actually a hunger for our agenda, for our ideology among ordinary people and the working class.”

The DSA last year helped propel its newest superstar, Mayor Zohran Mamdani, into City Hall. But Tuesday’s elections showed the party’s relative strength has spread from Western Queens and North Brooklyn into parts of Central Brooklyn where DSA candidates have previously fallen short, according to Evan Stavisky, a political consultant and founding partner of the Parkside Group.

“The critical mass of support hadn’t been there for them,” he said.

That’s now changed. DSA-backed candidates beat incumbent state Assemblymembers Erik Dilan and Stefani Zimmerman in Brooklyn as well as Jennifer Rajkumar in Queens. Aber Kawas, a DSA member, won the primary to succeed state Sen. Mike Gianaris in Northwestern Queens. Socialists also won races for open seats in the outer boroughs.

One of the clearest matchups against institutional party structures took place in the 7th Congressional District in Brooklyn and Queens, which was represented by Velázquez. Labor unions, the Working Families Party and Attorney General Letitia James backed Reynoso.

Fordham University political science professor Christina Greer said those advantages were flipped in an election where voters were looking for change.

“People want to move away from the status quo and move away from the past,” she said. “Velázquez fervently endorsing Reynoso essentially makes him the incumbent and part of the old guard.”

But the progressive power outside of urban areas is limited

Political consultant Bradley Honan said the results were more a Democratic reaction to Trump than an embrace of the DSA. Younger and well-educated voters are energized, he said, and the DSA has done the best job convincing them it is the best way to push back on the Trump agenda.

“ Status quo politics in Albany and Washington is not working for this affordability crisis, particularly if you think about a younger cohort of voters,” he said. “It is exacerbated in urban areas, and certainly in gentrifying-type areas. And that is more likely to be a large municipality than it is a rural part of the state or exurban area.”

The results were different when looking beyond urban areas. In the only statewide primary, Democratic Comptroller Tom DiNapoli won easily against two challengers running on his left.

In the lower Hudson Valley, around 80% of the vote went to moderate candidates Cait Conley and Beth Davidson, with Conley winning with 49% of the vote. (The DSA didn’t endorse candidates in either race.)

Conley will face Republican Rep. Mike Lawler in what is expected to be an incredibly competitive general election race. GOP officials on Tuesday immediately began to attack moderate Democrats by highlighting the socialist wins.

“The DSA isn’t just a faction within the Democratic Party anymore — it IS the Democratic Party in New York, and Kathy Hochul, Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries are too weak to stop them and too afraid to condemn them,” NYGOP Chair Ed Cox stated.

Jeffries, a Brooklynite who leads the House Democratic conference, downplayed the results on Wednesday. He backed Espaillat as well as U.S. Rep. Dan Goldman, who lost a primary to former city Comptroller Brad Lander.

“There are 215 members of the House Democratic Caucus,” Jeffries said. “A handful of primaries that go in one direction or the other in a given state or two aren’t going to reshape who we are as House Democrats.”

Trump’s endorsement reigns supreme

Greer says that there are no blue states, not even New York. Just red states with big blue cities. In those red areas, Trump’s blessing was political gold for Republicans.

In the upstate 21st District, GOP voters picked first-time candidate Anthony Constantino over Assemblymember Robert Smullen. Trump backed Constantino, while Smullen had the support of state and local leaders to represent the 15-county district that stretches from the Mohawk Valley to the Canadian border.

On Long Island, former Assemblymember Mike LiPetri won a primary against Greg Hach to take on Rep. Tom Suozzi. LiPetri also had Trump’s seal of approval.

Honan said it showed that Trump’s word is gold among Republicans – and warned that it was a sign of his potential influence in the general election, even in Democrat-dominated New York.

“He is, for better or worse, able to direct endorsements to electoral outcomes,” Honan said. “Does this create a foil for Donald Trump to say the Democrats have now filled their congressional party with these crazy DSA people? That’s going to make for a very, very interesting general election.”

If you’re ever at a casino with Mamdani, do what he does

Mayor Mamdani bet big in this primary cycle, endorsing Lander, Valdez and Avila Chevalier.

And he ran the table.

Analysts said the mayor’s personal popularity and charisma was a major boost for each of the victors.

“A lot of people can do paper endorsements,” said Usamah Andrabi, a spokesperson for Justice Dems, the organization that recruited Avila Chevalier. “Mayor Mamdani has shown what it looks like to be a true movement leader, and not just endorse a candidate, but canvass with them, organize with them.”

Many strategists wondered ahead of the primary whether the mayor was wasting political capital on longshot challengers. At 11:16 p.m. last night, with his chosen candidates all victorious, he tweeted his answer: an excerpt from Knicks guard Jalen Brunson’s speech at City Hall.

“There’s a lot of people who have a lot of negative stuff to say,” Brunson said last week. “But when you prove them wrong, you don’t have to say s— to them.”

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• The civic roots of citizens remain firm despite ongoing economic challenges.

• The civic pride in NYC reveals that a significant majority maintains a strong emotional bond with their urban environment.

• Financial pressures fail to destroy the deep affection that residents feel for the metropolis.

The priceless value of belonging to the Big Apple

The persistence of local civics

• Unwavering affection: The fondness for neighborhoods remains steadfast despite inflationary pressures and the growing cost of living.

• Cultural appreciation: Residents prioritize the richness of their diversity above the financial difficulties they face daily.

• Community belonging: The sense of togetherness overcomes any budgetary obstacle in the different counties of the metropolis.

• Space defense: Families continue to protect their public areas and support traditional local businesses with great enthusiasm.

• Mutual aid networks: Neighborhood leaders foster solidarity to protect the most vulnerable sectors facing the current crisis.

• Collective identity: Citizen participation strengthens social cohesion and demonstrates a remarkable capacity to adapt in the face of adversity.

Economic challenges and urban resilience

The future of the metropolis

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