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THree key primaries<\/span> in New York City delivered whopping victories for an emboldened left led by Mayor Zohran Mamdani on Tuesday, as democratic socialists sought to define the future of the Democratic Party.<\/p>\n Claire Valdez, Brad Lander, and Darializa Avila Chevalier \u2014 all three Mamdani-backed candidates \u2014 won their primaries. One message from the results was clear: The left isn\u2019t just having a moment \u2014 it\u2019s dictating how Democrats play the game of electoral politics.<\/p>\n \u201cEven when we are outspent, our agenda and operation bring out voters in a way the Democratic Party establishment no longer aspires to,\u201d Gustavo Gordillo, co-chair of the New York City chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America, told The Intercept. \u201cIt is democratic socialists who are defining much of the political terrain in New York.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Several races played out as proxy wars between the Democratic Party establishment and progressive insurgents, or even between progressives and socialists, to prove who would do more to disrupt the status quo. In hotly contested primaries spanning four out of five NYC boroughs, candidates touted endorsements from Mamdani<\/a> and Sen. Bernie Sanders<\/a>, I-Vt., as well as their proximity to the most unconventional wings of the Democratic Party.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIf you\u2019re an establishment Democrat, that\u2019s spent,\u201d streamer Hasan Piker<\/a> told local outlet Hell Gate<\/a> Tuesday night. \u201cWe\u2019re not giving another dime to Israel, hopefully an arms embargo, or at least pushing for one. We\u2019re gonna make sure that we change the American trajectory.\u201d<\/p>\n As Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman put it<\/a> to CNN on Tuesday, \u201cThe dirtbag left is surging.\u201d<\/p>\n Lander, who represents the clearest bridge between socialists and progressives out of the three Mamdani-endorsed congressional candidates, was the first to sail to victory Tuesday night. Rep. Dan Goldman, D-N.Y., fell to Lander less than 10 minutes after polls closed, with roughly a third of votes counted in the 10th Congressional District. Goldman, an heir to the Levi Strauss fortune and a staunch supporter of Israel<\/a>, had lagged in public polling for months, suggesting the energy on the ground was firmly against the incumbent.<\/p>\n That momentum<\/a> among progressives and the left has forced Democrats close to the party\u2019s establishment to change the way they campaign. And the rise of the DSA chapter in New York following<\/a> Mamdani\u2019s upset win<\/a> last year has also raised questions about how the progressive and socialist wings of the party will share power as they seek to expand their coalition beyond New York and across the country<\/a>. Some critics condemned socialist darling Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who rose to power eight years ago with her own insurgent campaign<\/a> against a powerful incumbent<\/a>, for staying out of New York\u2019s congressional primaries \u2014 while others theorized<\/a> that the congresswoman and the mayor were dividing their political clout across competitive federal and state-level races.\u00a0<\/p>\n The primaries also created an unusual lane for the progressive New York Working Families Party, which found itself siding with the establishment<\/a> it has long fought by backing Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso, outgoing<\/a> Rep. Nydia Vel\u00e1zquez\u2019s handpicked successor<\/a>, against DSA candidate<\/a> Valdez.\u00a0<\/p>\n