The Nation: Progressives Are Winning Big. Here’s How We Keep It Up.
This week, New York City beat the odds again. A year after Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s historic primary win, a new wave of progressive candidates swept the city, shattering long-standing conventions regarding what an elected official should look like or stand for.
Aber Kawas, a fellow Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, native whom I have been proud to mentor, is on her way to becoming the first Palestinian American elected to the New York state Senate. Darializa Avila Chevalier, who helped organize Columbia University’s encampments protesting the Gaza genocide, is now poised to represent the university in Congress. Brad Lander, a Jewish candidate who pledged to cosponsor the Block the Bombs Act, restricting military aid to Israel, unseated two-term Representative Dan Goldman. And Claire Valdez, who inspired voters with her appetite for championing big, bold domestic- and foreign-policy changes, is also heading to the House of Representatives. And that’s just a partial tally; strong progressive candidates won big in elections at every single level of government.
