Brad Lander, the former New York City comptroller and a previous member of the Democratic Socialists of America, defeated Rep. Dan Goldman in Tuesday's Democratic primary for New York's 10th Congressional District, ending the congressional career of the man who served as lead counsel during President Trump's first impeachment inquiry.
The result amounts to a takeover by the progressive wing of New York City politics in one of the most closely watched House races in the country. Lander, who describes himself as a "liberal Zionist," ran hard to Goldman's left on Israel, immigration enforcement, and housing, and won in a district spanning Lower Manhattan and western Brooklyn that includes Greenwich Village, the Lower East Side, Brooklyn Heights, Park Slope, and Sunset Park.
Goldman, first elected in 2022 after emerging from a crowded primary in the newly redrawn district, built his political identity almost entirely on his role prosecuting the case against Trump. That credential, it turns out, was not enough to survive a primary electorate more interested in Gaza, ICE abolition, and socialist-aligned city governance than in relitigating impeachment.
Lander entered the final stretch of the campaign with public polling showing him ahead. He had the backing of Sen. Bernie Sanders and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who rallied alongside Lander and Sanders at a "Get Out the Vote" event ahead of the primary. A photo caption in Fox News Digital's coverage placed Mamdani at Carroll Park in Brooklyn's Carroll Gardens neighborhood on June 14, 2026, speaking in support of Lander.
Goldman, by contrast, had the endorsement of Gov. Kathy Hochul, a figure whose moderate positioning within New York Democratic politics did not carry the same weight in a district that has lurched steadily leftward.
The race crystallized a split inside the Democratic Party that has been widening for years. On one side: an establishment wing that still views opposition to Trump as the party's organizing principle. On the other: a progressive movement that has moved well past Trump and toward a policy agenda rooted in abolishing federal immigration enforcement, redefining the U.S. relationship with Israel, and expanding government control of housing.
Lander represented the latter faction without apology. He attacked Goldman for voting in favor of U.S. military aid to Israel and slammed the incumbent for refusing to call the war in Gaza a genocide. Goldman defended his support for Israel's existence as a Jewish state, but in a district where progressive activists set the terms of debate, that defense fell flat.
The immigration issue exposed a revealing dynamic. Lander said he has supported abolishing ICE since 2018, years before the current enforcement debate reached its peak. Goldman's own campaign platform called to "abolish ICE as we know it," a formulation that tried to split the difference between progressive base voters and the broader electorate. In practice, both candidates were competing over who could be more hostile to federal immigration enforcement. Lander simply had a longer record on the issue and a more aggressive posture.
Lander was arrested at 26 Federal Plaza alongside other elected officials while seeking access to inspect ICE holding areas, an incident Goldman accused him of using for political fundraising. Whether the arrest was a genuine act of protest or a calculated campaign stunt, it gave Lander a visible credential with the activist base that Goldman could not match.
Goldman argued he was better positioned to take on the Trump administration from Congress, and that voters in the district cared more about domestic issues. The primary results suggest otherwise, or at least suggest that the voters who actually showed up on Tuesday had a different set of priorities.
The broader pattern is hard to miss. Across New York City, Democratic incumbents are facing political fallout from an increasingly restless progressive base that views establishment figures as insufficiently committed to the left's policy demands.
President Trump did not let the moment pass without comment. Breitbart reported that Trump took to Truth Social to celebrate Goldman's defeat, framing it as voters rejecting Goldman's years-long campaign against him.
There is a certain irony in the outcome. Goldman rose to national prominence as the lead House prosecutor during Trump's first impeachment inquiry over the Ukraine pressure campaign. He parlayed that role into a congressional seat and became one of Trump's most vocal critics on Capitol Hill. But the voters who sent him to Congress in 2022 did not reward that record in 2026. They chose a candidate who barely mentioned Trump at all, and who instead ran on abolishing ICE, opposing military aid to Israel, and aligning with the socialist wing of city politics.
Goldman's defeat is not an isolated event. It fits a pattern in which Democratic politicians who built their brands on anti-Trump messaging are discovering that the progressive base has moved on to other causes. The impeachment credential that once opened doors now reads, in certain precincts, as a relic of a different political era.
For those tracking the shifting dynamics within both parties, recent polling on the 2028 presidential landscape suggests the leftward pull within Democratic ranks is not confined to New York City.
Lander now advances to the November general election as the heavy favorite in a district that has not been competitive for Republicans in years. His opponent will be Jennifer Moore, the Republican and Conservative Party nominee. In a district that stretches from Greenwich Village to Sunset Park, Moore faces long odds, but the general election will test whether Lander's positions on ICE, Israel, and housing play differently before a broader electorate than they did in a low-turnout Democratic primary.
Several questions remain unanswered. Final vote totals and the margin of Lander's victory were not reported in the initial coverage. The specific polls that showed Lander ahead entering the final stretch were not identified by name or margin. And whether Lander still holds formal membership in the Democratic Socialists of America, or departed at some point before the race, remains unclear.
What is clear is the signal the result sends. A district that includes some of the most politically engaged neighborhoods in America just chose a former DSA member who supports abolishing ICE, opposes U.S. military aid to Israel, and was arrested while confronting federal immigration authorities, over a sitting congressman whose chief credential was leading the charge against Donald Trump.
Meanwhile, the broader question of who remains in Congress and who gets sidelined continues to reshape both parties heading into the fall.
Mamdani, Sanders, and the progressive coalition that backed Lander have reason to feel vindicated. They bet that the Democratic base in New York City had moved past the Trump-era playbook, and the voters proved them right. For the establishment wing of the party, and for Goldman personally, the lesson is blunt: in the precincts where progressive energy runs hottest, fighting Trump is no longer enough to keep your seat.
Goldman spent years trying to remove a president from office. His own voters just removed him instead.
