News summary produced by Claude AI
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani endorsed three progressive candidates in Democratic U.S. House primaries held Tuesday, and all three won their races. Two of the victors are self-described democratic socialists who are expected to win their general election contests in heavily Democratic districts. Mamdani characterized his approach as supporting “better Democrats” who would “put working people back at the heart of politics.” The results included state Assembly Member Claire Valdez defeating Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso for retiring U.S. Rep. Nydia Velázquez’s seat, and Democratic U.S. Rep. Adriano Espaillat losing his reelection bid to Darializa Avila Chevalier, a Mamdani-backed candidate without prior public office experience. Former city comptroller Brad Lander also won with Mamdani’s support, defeating U.S. Rep. Dan Goldman.
In a Manhattan Democratic primary for retiring U.S. Rep. Jerry Nadler’s seat, a competition emerged between major artificial intelligence industry factions. New York Assemblyman Alex Bores, a former Palantir employee who proposed sweeping state-level AI regulation, faced opposition from groups financed by OpenAI investors spending over $7 million in attack advertising. Anthropic-connected groups countered with more than $10 million in supporting ads. Bores ultimately lost to Assemblymember Micah Lasher, a longtime government official backed by Democratic leadership, who criticized the involvement of major tech companies in the race.
President Donald Trump adjusted his endorsement strategy following two unsuccessful endorsements in earlier gubernatorial primaries. After initially backing Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette in South Carolina, Trump added an endorsement of state Attorney General Alan Wilson in the runoff, stating he could not risk hurting either candidate by endorsing only one. Wilson won the runoff, giving Trump another successful endorsement on the night.
In Utah, a newly created Democratic district in the Salt Lake City area drew unusual attention to Democratic primaries in the traditionally Republican state. Former U.S. Rep. Ben McAdams won the Democratic primary in the new left-leaning district after shifting his positions, now supporting abortion rights after previously describing himself as pro-life. In Maryland, Democratic Gov. Wes Moore won his party’s primary for reelection to a second term and is viewed by observers as a potential presidential candidate. Republicans selected Dan Cox, characterized as the furthest-right candidate in the field, in their gubernatorial primary.