WASHINGTON — House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) said Wednesday that New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has “got work to do” to mend bridges with congressional Democrats after two incumbents were swept out of office by Hizzoner’s preferred candidates.
“Every race is going to be judged on its own merits, and I’m sure that there’ll be an assessment of what happened,” Jeffries told The Post before thanking Reps. Adriano Espaillat (D-NY) and Dan Goldman (D-NY) for their years of service in the House.
Jeffries earlier told Punchbowl News that he and the Democratic socialist mayor had agreed to “strongly disagree” over their picks in the contested primaries, which functioned as de facto elections in the city’s deep-blue districts.
“He’s got work to do in terms of the conversations that he’s going to have with members of Congress moving forward,” he told the outlet.
Far-left former Mamdani organizer Darializa Avila Chevalier defeated the five-term incumbent Espaillat in the 13th District, based in Upper Manhattan and the Bronx; while ex-city Comptroller Brad Lander toppled Goldman in the 10th District, covering Lower Manhattan and tony brownstone Brooklyn.
The mayor had backed Chevalier and Lander, while Jeffries had endorsed the incumbents Espaillat and Goldman.
State Assemblywoman Claire Valdez, another Mamdani ally, won a primary to fill the vacancy left by retiring Brooklyn and Queens Democratic Rep. Nydia Velázquez, who had endorsed Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso.
