Dec. 10 (UPI) — Rep. Dan Goldman, D-N.Y., will face a primary challenge from New York City comptroller Brad Lander, who has been endorsed by New York Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani and others.
Lander announced his candidacy for the 2026 election on Wednesday and is expected to announce receiving endorsements from Sens. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, both of whom also endorsed Mamdani, according to The New York Times.
The Working Families Party and New York City public advocate Jumaane Williams also are expected to endorse Lander, which positions Lander as a far-left candidate and Goldman as a more centrist candidate for the Democratic Party’s nomination.
“I’ve always believed that you fight for the things you love, and I love this city,” Lander said in a YouTube video announcing his candidacy.
He also said Mamdani will need a supporting voice in Congress.
“New Yorkers want Congress members who will step up and fight back against [President Donald] Trump and work with the mayor for a city that everyone can afford and where everyone is welcome,” Lander told The New York Times.
“Our mayor needs an ally in Washington and not an adversary,” he added.
Mamdani called Lander a “trusted ally and partner” who will support “those who need government to show up for them the most.”
Sanders called Lander a “relentless fighter for working people” who has “spent the past two decades taking on big corporations, winning better wages and fair working conditions for New Yorkers” in a statement endorsing his candidacy.
Lander is considered to be a progressive, but so is Goldman, according to Roll Call.
Goldman in 2022 won a close primary election to become the Democratic Party’s nominee to represent New York’s 10th Congressional District, which encompasses southern Manhattan and parts of Brooklyn.
He has been a vocal critic of Trump, but his support for Israel and moderate position on the war between Hamas and Israel had angered many far-left New Yorkers.
Lander, meanwhile, was arrested while participating in a protest against Immigration and Customs Enforcement held outside an ICE office in Manhattan in September.
Lander also was a candidate in New York City’s mayoral race won by Mamdani and was arrested in June while he escorted a defendant outside of an immigration court in Manhattan.
New York’s congressional primary is scheduled for June 23.