In today’s edition … How much is too much to spend to join a flawed legislative body? … We want your thoughts on the Reflecting Pool … but first …
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Zohran Mamdani wants to remake the Democratic Party. And the New York mayor’s approach to today’s U.S. House primaries in New York is the clearest example.
Mamdani, fresh off taking control of the nation’s largest city earlier this year, has broadened his remit, putting himself squarely in the middle of a partisan fight over the future of the Democratic Party. Yes, he has focused his administration on delivering on the promises that catapulted him to Gracie Mansion, but by endorsing three candidates in New York-based House races, including two challenging Democratic incumbents, Mamdani is wading into Democratic Party infighting in a way that feels like a statement of future intent.
“A city we can all afford is on the ballot on Tuesday. And so is a Democratic Party that can win in 2028 and beyond,” Mamdani told us in a statement.
Mamdani has endorsed Brad Lander, the former city comptroller, over Rep. Dan Goldman in a district that stretches across Lower Manhattan and Brooklyn; Darializa Avila Chevalier, a doctoral student who participated in the pro-Palestine encampment at Columbia University, over Rep. Adriano Espaillat, chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, in a district that includes Upper Manhattan and parts of the Bronx; and state assemblywoman Claire Valdez over Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso in the race to replace Rep. Nydia M. Velázquez in a district that includes Brooklyn and Queens.
The races now pose a test of Mamdani’s political power, putting him at odds with several national and local progressive power centers. But when we asked the mayor about this, he made clear he relished this fight and saw its results extending far beyond the Hudson River.
“Success in the midterms and in 2028 depends on the Democratic Party advancing a vision that not only embodies the change working people are calling for, but is also credible in its critique of the architects of the affordability crisis,” he said. “Voters are ready for us to close the door on a politics of big money and small ideas.”
He added: “We can take a big step in that direction as a party on Tuesday by electing a slate that reflects just that.”
It’s predictable that a politician like Mamdani — one who has clearly been on a hot streak since taking office in January — would look to put that political capital on the line. Mamdani, like scores of leaders before him, wants to show that his endorsements carry real power.
But Mamdani is also making an ideological point.
The mayor, who won office with the help of the Democratic Socialists of America, is hoping to push Democrats toward a more left-leaning, populist stance by invoking what is expected to be the next existential fight within the Democratic Party: the 2028 presidential nominating contest.
Mamdani, during a rally last week with the three House candidates he is backing and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders (I), argued that Democrats for too long have been “managing decline instead of delivering material change for working people,” a positioning that will “lose in South Carolina and New Hampshire” and will “fall short of 270 electoral votes.”
“When does the race for 2028 begin? It starts now. It starts on Tuesday,” he said during the speech.
When asked to expand on this, Mamdani told us that Democratic wins in 2026 and 2028 will depend on the party “advancing a vision that not only embodies the change working people are calling for, but is also credible in its critique of the architects of the affordability crisis.”
“We can take a big step in that direction as a party on Tuesday by electing a slate that reflects just that,” he said.
Republicans, for their part, are eager for Mamdani to expand his national influence, viewing his left-leaning politics as too extreme for much of the nation.
“Zohran Mamdani and Bernie Sanders can wrap their radical playbook in a bow and try to sell it across the Senate map — but voters know a bad deal when they see one,” said Bernadette Breslin, press secretary for the Senate Republicans’ campaign arm.
So what does this mean for Mamdani’s future?
The mayor, born in Uganda, cannot be elected president. But that doesn’t mean he and his team don’t want him to influence who is elected.
“We feel like the future of the Democratic Party is on the ballot on Tuesday,” said Morris Katz, the political strategist who was central to elevating Mamdani from New York’s assembly to mayor. “He is using every tool at his disposal to deliver on his agenda and views this as part of it.”
Katz concluded that they view these House races as a chance to highlight Mamdani’s power as a surrogate “going into 2028.”
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Want more on how Mamdani’s is trying to shape the Democratic Party? Read our colleague Teo Armus on the mayor’s effort to bring his pro-Palestinian views to Congress.
There are members of Congress who are desperate to leave — so much so that they are either outright retiring, stepping down to work in the private sector, or (mostly) failing in their bids to run for higher office.
And then there is David Trone.
Trone, the former congressman from the chichi-est of Maryland’s Washington, D.C., suburbs, is hoping to be the next congressman for a district that stretches from those well-to-do communities to Maryland’s westernmost stretches. And he isn’t just hoping — he is putting his money where his mouth is by spending well over $25 million to try to oust Rep. April McClain Delaney from the seat.
It’s a remarkable side-by-side — lawmakers all but fleeing the House while Trone spends enough money to fund the yearly budget of multiple communities in his former district.
Trone, who made his money as the co-founder of Total Wine & More, is not the only big spender in the race. McClain Delaney, the wife of former congressman John Delaney, has spent at least $7 million on the campaign, making this nondescript Democratic primary one of the most expensive primaries in American history.
And the race has been messy. John Delaney has called Trone one of the “self-serving hypocritical idiots [that] make people hate politicians.” Trone has lambasted the congresswoman for voting on a Republican-backed immigration plan, and McClain Delaney has linked Trone to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R).
Even without the exorbitant expense, this race is an odd one. This trio of Democrats was once close — take a look at the photo below of Trone, then running in a Senate contest where he spent over $60 million only to lose in the primary, hugging McClain Delaney.
What truly stands out in this race is a simple question: Why?
Maryland Matters: Maryland Senate President Bill Ferguson opposed redistricting the state ahead of the 2026 midterms. He now faces a strident primary challenger in Bobby LaPin, who is casting it as an outsider-vs.-insider campaign. “I’m a Bernie Sanders. He’s a Chuck Schumer,” LaPin told a voter.
MPR News: A federal judge on Monday tossed out grand jury subpoenas for Minnesota Democratic leaders, including Gov. Tim Walz and Attorney General Keith Ellison. “Nothing in this order or in the materials submitted to the court could possibly compromise a criminal investigation,” wrote Judge Patrick Schiltz, a President George W. Bush nominee.
Los Angeles Times: Clive Davis, the legendary producer and label executive, died on Monday at 94. Davis is credited with remaking the music industry and nurturing iconic stars like Janis Joplin, Bruce Springsteen and Whitney Houston.
Yesterday, we wrote about how Republicans are meddling in Democratic House primaries from New York to Pennsylvania to Texas.
Bob Bunge, a reader in Bowie, Maryland, and Kevin Igoe, smartly asked us to highlight how Democrats have at times used the same strategy.
Kevin wrote: “In my memory, this tactic was pioneered by Missouri Democratic Senator Claire McCaskill in her 2012 reelection campaign. Her campaign directed funding to ads portraying right wing bomb thrower Todd Akin as the only true conservative running in the Republican primary. It worked, and Akin became the easy mark for McCaskill to defeat in November.” He is right, and you can read about this dynamic here.
And Bob even offered a recent example from his home state, citing mailers in Maryland’s Republican gubernatorial primary that label Dan Cox, a longtime candidate, as “the MAGA candidate for Maryland governor” and show Cox smiling next to Trump, both giving thumbs-up. Those mailers were paid for by the Maryland Democratic Party, according to a small disclosure printed on them, and a QR code on the mailer directs people to the party’s website.
So what is going on here? Maryland Gov. Wes Moore (D) is up for reelection this year and Maryland Democrats would seemingly prefer to face Cox, a candidate with clear ties to Trump, over someone like Ed Hale, a retired banker who previously challenged Moore as a Democrat.
Another mailer Bob provided showed Cox, described as “ultra MAGA,” next to Hale, whose party switch is noted. “Can’t be trusted,” the mailer reads. This mailer was also paid for by Maryland Democrats.
We will keep it simple today: What do you think about all of the focus on Washington’s Reflecting Pool? Trump has blamed vandals for the issue plaguing the body of water he pushed to be refurbished and painted. Do you think this story matters? If so, why? Let us and your fellow Early Brief readers know at [email protected].
Thanks for reading. You can follow Dan and Matthew on X: @merica and @matthewichoi.
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