NEW YORK (AP) — New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani stepped into the national spotlight this week as an ascendant political force within the Democratic Party.

Democratic leaders aren’t so sure that’s a good thing.

As progressives cheered across the nation, some of the most powerful Democrats in the country, including House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, also of New York City, downplayed the impact of Mamdani’s victories on Tuesday, when the 34-year-old democratic socialist mayor’s slate of congressional candidates defeated three establishment favorites — including two incumbents — in primary contests. He had even more victories in state legislative races, where he successfully backed five other candidates.

It was a stunning sweep for Mamdani, just six months into his first term, that will expand his influence in Washington and Albany. The mayor said Wednesday that he hopes to export his policies and politics to other states, while demanding major changes across the Democratic Party with an eye toward midterm elections in November, in which the party hopes to regain control of Congress.

“Working people are struggling across the country,” Mamdani said. He added that he hopes to help “write a new chapter in our party’s history, where working people are back at the heart of that struggle. And I believe that will be key in not just the midterms coming up in November, but also in the years to come.”

The mixed reaction from Democratic leaders as they grappled with the fallout from Mamdani’s success exposed the depth of the divide between the party’s progressive and establishment wings, who are at odds over how Democrats should govern — and how to win elections — over the final two years of US President Donald Trump’s term.

Indeed, Democrats hope to avoid an all-out intraparty civil war ahead of the midterms, especially with Republicans fighting amongst themselves over Trump’s war in Iran, how to address the affordability crunch and the president’s costly efforts to build a massive White House ballroom.

Democrats aren’t sure which direction to take

The resistance to Mamdani from senior Democrats was not subtle.

“The effort to nationalize New York is going to fail,” said Sen. Richard Blumenthal of neighboring Connecticut. “What’s happening in New York will be really irrelevant by the time of the elections in November.”

Rep. Marc Veasey of Texas, a vice chair of the New Democrat Coalition, was similarly dismissive, saying progressives were playing checkers while moderates were playing chess.

“No one in DSA is trying to win in a red-to-blue seat, or in a tough general election matchup,” Veasey said, referring to democratic socialist candidates........

© The Times of Israel