New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s electoral success last year is producing downstream effects on Democrats in the Empire State.
New York’s 17th District has a crowded field of Democrats vying to challenge GOP Rep. Mike Lawler, who is fighting for a third term in one of the most competitive districts in the country. In order to survive a primary, Democratic candidates are struggling to balance between the influence Mamdani and his socialist politics have had on the Democratic Party and the moderate appetites of general election voters.
Army combat veteran Cait Conley and Rockland County lawmaker Beth Davidson are reputedly the establishment picks of NY-17’s Democratic primary. Both were the only candidates invited from the district to attend a “candidate week” for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee in November.
Conley and Davidson are facing a strong outside challenge from Briarcliff Manor Deputy Mayor Peter Chatzky, who made his fortune as founder and CEO of the small tech company Napa Group LLC. Chatzky is already one of the best-funded candidates in the country after loaning his campaign nearly $6 million.
Those three candidates and a handful of others are still collecting signatures to qualify for the Democratic primary scheduled for June 23. Ahead of the primary ballot being finalized, candidates have taken steps to avoid alienating the far-Left of the Democratic base on issues such as defunding Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), a broadly unpopular stance.
The self-funded Chatzky, who claims to be a “pragmatic progressive,” said in a video last month that “it is time to abolish ICE.” His website also touts his support for “universal health insurance” and “universal pre-K.” His campaign site additionally contains a nod to the progressive values of “Diversity, Equity, Inclusivity.”
On all those issues and more, Chatzky’s platform overlaps with Mamdani. The New York City mayor’s endorsement has come up as somewhat of a litmus test for NY-17 Democrats, with none of them outright rejecting his potential support. In a sign of Mamdani’s direct influence on New York politics, Chatzky has also said that he would “probably” accept an endorsement from Mamdani after previously dodging questions related to the self-described “Democratic socialist.”
“He’s energetic. He ran a very impressive campaign,” said Chatzky late last month. “He focused on affordability. It’s a problem in [Lawler’s] district as well.”
Davidson, in her position as a legislator, is attempting to make Rockland County a sanctuary region that would offer some amount of protection for illegal aliens. Davidson is pushing a piece of legislation that she calls the “Our Safety and Dignity for All Act,” which would restrict how local law enforcement and other government workers cooperate with federal immigration officers.
Davidson has become one of the leading faces of the push in Rockland County, which sits inside NY-17, to limit federal immigration enforcement. She has pointed to the recent clashes involving immigration officers in Minneapolis as the spark for the new law.
“The Safety and Dignity Act is intended to address those concerns while honoring state and federal and judicial warrants and following the law,” said Davidson this week.
She also gave a nod to Mamdani in a recent podcast episode, highlighting the New York City mayor’s focus on “affordability” during his mayoral campaign as a central focus for her race as well.
But she has also kept her distance from Mamdani in what could be a tacit admission that Mamdani’s far-Left politics may not play well in the swing district of NY-17.
“I’m not seeking endorsements from elected officials from New York City,” said Davidson last month. She did not reject the possibility of an endorsement from the New York City mayor, however.
Conley has taken a similar line on a potential Mamdani endorsement: not seeking it, but not rejecting the democratic socialist, either. When asked last week whether she would welcome an endorsement from Mamdani, Conley said, “I think New York City is different than the Hudson Valley.”
She went on to state that she seeks to emulate parts of Mamdani’s campaign, however, such as his “young energy.”
“I respect what I believe Mamdani represents to so many people here in New York City, which is new leadership, which is young energy that isn’t afraid to tackle hard problems,” said Conley in an interview on PIX11.
In the same interview, she appeared to struggle to answer a question on whether ICE should be defunded. When pressed, Conley said “abuses should be abolished” and ICE leadership held accountable. The Democratic candidate insisted that the focus on ICE is misplaced and that the real issue is executive branch accountability. She did not condemn calls within her party to abolish the agency.
