Democrats dominate NYC races, Hochul re-elected New York governor

Brad Lander, Darializa Avila-Chevalier and Claire Valdez sweep their congressional races in key Democratic districts.

Kathy Hochul delivers her victory speech in front of supporters in Manhattan on Tuesday [Frank Franklin II/AP]

Progressive candidates endorsed by New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani have won decisive victories in their campaigns to join the United States Congress.

On Tuesday, New York City politicians Brad Lander, Darializa Avila-Chevalier and Claire Valdez secured their seats in the 120th Congress, representing the 10th, 13th and 7th districts, respectively.

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All three were considered shoo-ins following the state’s June 23 party primaries. Their districts lean heavily Democratic.

But their wins in the 2026 midterm election solidifies a political shift in the New York City area, ushered in by Mamdani’s own victory as a democratic socialist in the 2025 mayoral race.

“To me, the national story is about this new generation of progressive leaders and getting excited about those who will be inspired by them just as they were inspired by Mamdani,” Adin Lenchner, progressive political strategist for Carroll Street Campaigns, a consulting firm, told Al Jazeera.

“Brad, Darializa and Claire are on their way to help lift up that same vision of progressive leadership in DC.”

Democratic Congressional candidate Claire Valdez speaks to reporters on Tuesday outside a polling location [Andy Hirschfeld/Al Jazeera]

All three representatives-elect spoke to the public on Tuesday, addressing, among other things, President Donald Trump’s pledge earlier in the day to cease annual military aid to Israel by the end of the year.

Cutting off such aid was central to all three candidates’ policy platforms, as part of their opposition to Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza.

“I don’t know that we can trust this president to make moral and consistent decisions about our military budget, so we’ll have to see,” Valdez told Al Jazeera outside a polling location in her district late Tuesday afternoon.

Valdez will head to Congress from the state assembly. Her political career began in the labour movement, and she has pushed to make it easier for unions to organise, as part of her policy platform.

She defeated Republican community activist Melvin Rivera in a largely lopsided race.

US Representative Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez, a progressive who was first elected in 2018, also handily won her House race for the 14th congressional district.

Other notable wins for the House of Representatives include Micah Lasher, a New York Assembly member who will serve his first term in Congress after winning against Republican challenger Caroline Shinkle.

Incumbent Representative Grace Meng in Queens, New York, also won her re-election bid against Republican challenger Joseph Chou. Meng told Al Jazeera that the larger Democatic sweep in the midterms is “a mandate for us, not just a promotion”.

Grace Meng speaks at the New York Democrats’ election night watch party in Manhattan [Andy Hirschfeld/Al Jazeera]

She said that a goal for the new Congress would be to push back on Trump.

“He has not treated Congress like a third and independent branch of government and is just going around doing whatever he wants,” Meng told Al Jazeera.

New York’s Democrats are also pushing for Hakeem Jeffries — the longtime representative for the state’s 8th congressional district — to be selected by party members for the House speaker role.

Jeffries currently serves as House minority leader for the Democratic Party.

If chosen by his colleagues to lead the House of Representatives, he will be the first Black speaker in the history of Congress’s lower chamber.

“We are going to course-correct, and my good friend Congressman Hakeem Jeffries is set to wield the speaker’s gavel,” New York State Attorney General Letitia James said after her re-election on Tuesday.

The state of New York elected a total of 26 members to the House of Representatives in this year’s midterm race.

But important state and local positions were on the ballot as well.

In the gubernatorial race, for instance, incumbent Democrat Kathy Hochul secured another term in Albany. She won her race against Republican Bruce Blakeman, a lawyer and executive for Nassau County who ran on a platform of tax cuts and immigration reform.

Hochul supporters wave banners at her victory speech [Andy Hirschfeld/Al Jazeera]

With Tuesday’s results, Hochul and Adrienne Adams have become the first all-woman ticket to win election as governor and lieutenant governor in the Empire State’s history.

Hochul has served in her post since 2021. Adams previously served on the New York City Council.

In her victory speech, Hochul took aim at Trump, who campaigned heavily for Republicans ahead of the midterm elections.

“Just a few weeks ago, Donald Trump came to New York and told voters to pretend he was on the ballot,” Hochul said. “Well, Mr President, you got your wish.”

Hochul’s new term officially begins on the first day of January. The new congressional leaders will be sworn in on January 3, 2027.

布拉德·兰德、达里亚利扎·阿维拉-谢瓦利埃和克莱尔·瓦尔德斯在关键的民主党选区横扫国会选举。

周二，凯西·霍楚在曼哈顿向支持者发表胜选演讲。[Frank Franklin II/AP]

纽约市市长佐兰·马姆达尼支持的进步派候选人在竞选美国国会议员的活动中取得了决定性胜利。

周二，纽约市政客布拉德·兰德、达里亚利扎·阿维拉-谢瓦利埃和克莱尔·瓦尔德斯分别在第120届国会中当选，代表第10、13和7选区。

名单1/4：马姆达尼的进步派盟友角逐国会席位

列表 2/4：随着生活成本飙升，美国中期选举耗资创纪录的 120 亿美元

密歇根州迪尔伯恩市报告的4起选票短缺事件​​中的第3起

名单 4/4：民主党人罗伊·库珀庆祝赢得北卡罗来纳州参议院席位

在6月23日该州的党内初选之后，这三人都被认为胜券在握。他们的选区都是民主党的传统票仓。

但他们在 2026 年中期选举中的胜利巩固了纽约市地区的政治转变，而这一转变是由马姆达尼本人作为民主社会主义者在 2025 年市长竞选中的胜利所开启的。

“在我看来，国家的故事是关于新一代进步领导人的，以及那些将受到他们启发的人，就像他们受到马姆达尼的启发一样，这令人兴奋，”卡罗尔街竞选咨询公司的进步政治战略家阿丁·伦克纳告诉半岛电视台。

“布拉德、达里亚利扎和克莱尔正在努力将这种进步领导的愿景带到华盛顿特区。”

周二，民主党国会候选人克莱尔·瓦尔德斯在投票站外接受记者采访。[安迪·赫希菲尔德/半岛电视台]

三位当选代表周二都向公众发表了讲话，其中谈到了唐纳德·特朗普总统当天早些时候作出的承诺，即在年底前停止对以色列的年度军事援助。

切断此类援助是这三位候选人政策纲领的核心，也是他们反对以色列在加沙发动种族灭绝战争的一部分。

“我不知道我们是否可以信任这位总统，让他对我们的军费预算做出道德和一致的决定，所以我们还要拭目以待，”瓦尔德斯周二下午晚些时候在她所在选区的一个投票站外告诉半岛电视台。

瓦尔德斯将从州议会转战国会。她的政治生涯始于劳工运动，她一直致力于推动简化工会组织流程，这也是她政策纲领的一部分。

她在一场一边倒的选举中击败了共和党社区活动家梅尔文·里维拉。

美国众议员亚历山德拉·奥卡西奥-科尔特斯是一位进步派人士，她于 2018 年首次当选，并轻松赢得了第 14 国会选区的众议院席位。

众议院其他值得关注的胜利包括纽约州议员米卡·拉舍尔 (Micah Lasher) 击败共和党挑战者卡罗琳·辛克尔 (Caroline Shinkle) 后，将在国会开始他的第一个任期。

纽约皇后区现任众议员孟昭文也击败共和党挑战者周俊杰，成功连任。孟昭文告诉半岛电视台，民主党在中期选举中的大获全胜“是对我们的授权，而不仅仅是晋升”。

孟昭文在曼哈顿举行的纽约民主党选举之夜守夜活动上发表讲话 [安迪·赫希菲尔德/半岛电视台]

她说，新一届国会的目标之一就是抵制特朗普。

孟晚舟告诉半岛电视台：“他没有把国会当作政府的第三个独立分支来对待，而是随心所欲地做任何事。”

纽约州民主党人也在推动由该州第八国会选区长期代表哈基姆·杰弗里斯担任众议院议长一职。

杰弗里斯目前担任民主党众议院少数党领袖。

如果他被同僚推选为众议院议长，他将成为国会下议院历史上第一位黑人议长。

“我们将纠正方向，我的好朋友国会议员哈基姆·杰弗里斯将执掌议长之槌，”纽约州总检察长莱蒂西亚·詹姆斯在周二连任后表示。

在今年的中期选举中，纽约州共选出 26 名众议院议员。

但重要的州和地方职位也在选举之列。

例如，在州长竞选中，现任民主党州长凯西·霍楚尔成功连任。她击败了共和党候选人布鲁斯·布莱克曼，后者是一名律师，也是拿骚县的行政长官，他的竞选纲领是减税和移民改革。

霍楚的支持者在她发表胜选演讲时挥舞横幅 [安迪·赫希菲尔德/半岛电视台]

周二的选举结果显示，霍楚和阿德里安娜·亚当斯成为纽约州历史上第一对同时当选州长和副州长的全女性组合。

Hochul自2021年起担任该职位。Adams此前曾任纽约市议员。

在她的胜选演讲中，霍楚抨击了特朗普，特朗普在中期选举前大力支持共和党。

“就在几周前，唐纳德·特朗普来到纽约，告诉选民们假装他的名字也在选票上，”霍楚尔说。“好吧，总统先生，你的愿望实现了。”

霍楚的新任期将于1月1日正式开始。新一届国会领导人将于2027年1月3日宣誓就职。