Mamdani Ally launches progressive challenge to sitting congressman

Brad Lander, the outgoing New York City comptroller, announced Wednesday that he is running for Congress, challenging U.S. Rep. Dan Goldman in a Democratic primary for a liberal district in lower Manhattan and northwestern Brooklyn.

Lander, a progressive ally of Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, launched his campaign in a video and social media posts, promising to offer “courageous leadership in the face of Donald Trump’s attacks on New Yorkers.”

“In a time of dark oppression, we can shine by fighting together,” he said. “While the oligarchy drives an affordability crisis, they should not be able to buy a seat in Congress. While our immigrant neighbors are being demonized and attacked, we can risk our bodies to protect them,” Lander said in the video.

She also evoked the late children’s television host Fred Rogers in her video, singing “Would you be mine? Could you be mine? Wouldn’t you be my neighbor?”

“I know it’s corny, but I love the idea that democracy is simply neighbors working together to improve our lives together,” said Lander, who scheduled a public speech about his campaign Wednesday night near his home in Brooklyn.

In his endorsement, Mamdani praised Lander’s “unwavering principles, deep knowledge and sincere empathy.”

“He has been a trusted ally and partner to me and I am proud to support him because I know he will continue to deliver for those who need the government to be at their side,” Mamdani added.

Both Lander and Goldman have been vocal critics of the federal government’s deportation agenda, appearing in a high-profile immigration court in Manhattan to observe proceedings over the past few months.

via News

“Brad Lander is a tireless fighter for working people,” said Sanders, an independent who is part of the Democrats. “He has spent the last two decades taking on large corporations, winning better wages and fair working conditions for New Yorkers, including important victories for fast food workers, delivery drivers and renters.”

Goldman, a two-term congressman and heir to the Levi Strauss denim fortune, is a former federal prosecutor who was the lead lawyer in Trump’s first impeachment trial. He is considered a moderate Democrat, although he has supported raising taxes on the wealthy as well as the Green New Deal proposal on climate change.

An email was sent to Goldman’s campaign seeking comment.

Lander, who is also a former city council member, will step down as comptroller next year after deciding not to seek re-election.

Lander and Mamdani supported each other during the mayoral primary in an effort, as part of the city’s ranked-choice voting system, to join forces against former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who was the front-runner at the time.

The partnership seemed to help them both. Support for Mamdani boosted Lander among the progressive base, while the endorsement of a high-profile Jewish candidate helped Mamdani as he faced attacks for his criticism of the Israeli government’s military actions in Gaza.

___

News writer Dave Collins in Hartford, Connecticut, contributed to this report.