NEW YORK — Two Democratic heavyweight committee leaders are engaged in a battle; only one can win. The meddling of former President Donald Trump has shaken up a new race. In a third match, the party congress campaign chairman faces a progressive challenger backed by a local hero.
Welcome to New York’s Democratic primaries, a chaotic season of clashes over ideology, generational change and the quality of party leadership, with the careers of prominent politicians at stake.
The primary was postponed after the courts threw out a previous congressional card and drafted a new one, sparking a number of intra-party battles that will be settled Tuesday in House races in and around the city.
Here are three key Democratic primaries to watch:
Clash of committee chairmen
The race in the 12th Congressional District pits two mighty House seats against each other: Jerry Nadler of the Judiciary Committee, representing the Upper West Side, and Carolyn Maloney of the Oversight Committee, representing the Upper East Side. The new map brings their districts together and establishes a primary that serves as a de facto general election in this Democratic stronghold.
The two seven-year-olds served together in adjacent districts for three decades and have risen to prominent positions in Washington since their first election in 1992. Nadler has chaired the Judiciary Committee for more than three years, leading both the Trump impeachment and the Democrats’ weapon. bills. Maloney took over the gavel of the Oversight Committee in late 2019, using the cane to investigate the firearms industry and election misinformation.
Their voting behavior in recent years is similar. But on a recent debateNadler dug further back to note that he was against the Iraq War and the Patriot Act, while Maloney supported both; he also noted that he supported the Obama-era nuclear deal with Iran while she was against it.
Only one of them can serve in Congress next year.
The race also includes a wild card, featuring Suraj Patel, 38, a lawyer, which revolves around the theme of generational change; Patel said in a recent debate that it is “time to turn 1992”.
Trump meddles in Manhattan
A well-attended game places freshman Rep. Mondaire Jones, a progressive millennial who is one of the first two openly gay black congressmen, against wealthy lawyer Dan Goldman.
In an unusual move, Trump has attempted to influence the primaries by backstabbing Goldman, a former federal prosecutor who counseled House Democrats during the former president’s first impeachment inquiry.
Trump boasted of his acquittal in the trial, saying on social media that “I am honored to strongly endorse Goldman, predicting that he has “a wonderful future ahead of him.”
goldman turned down it as an “obvious attempt to manipulate the election to prevent me from standing up to him again in Congress.”
He has also become a target of Democratic rivals. Jones has branded Goldman “a conservative” in the battle for the 10th district, which covers lower Manhattan and parts of Brooklyn. Meanwhile, Manhattan city councilor Carlina Rivera and state councilor Yuh-Line Niou are setting up progressive platforms and urging voters in the deep blue area not to support Goldman.
Campaign leader battles AOC-backed rival
In a suburb that spans parts of Westchester County and the Hudson Valley, Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney, chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, to a challenge from Alessandra Biaggi, a progressive state senator who has the support of a local star, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
Maloney is seen as the favorite in the newly drawn neighborhood, a short train ride from New York City on the Metro-North rail.
Biaggi has criticized Maloney’s leadership of the campaign arm, disagreeing with the party’s acceptance of corporate money, his support of D-Texas anti-abortion representative Henry Cuellar, and his decision to put a far-right Michigan far-right candidate in a GOP to support primary that Democrats see as easy prey in general elections.
Maloney defended Michigan’s meddling on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday, saying, “My job is to win elections for the Democrats. And I take that seriously, because it’s the moral obligation to get the hammer out of the hands of the Democrats. Kevin McCarthy,” the Republican House leader from California. “This is the deal: we have a better chance of winning that seat.”
The contest has strained relations between New York Democrats.
After his district was divided, Jones was caught off guard by Maloney’s announcement that he would be joining the new 17th district. which includes parts of Jones’ current neighborhood. Jones then chose to compete in a Manhattan district instead.
Some had expected Maloney to run in a different district, and Ocasio-Cortez even suggested he step aside as chairman of the campaign committee.