Lefties didn't just win state legislative races - incumbents lost big
Primary night was a particularly good one for progressives and those with the backing of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and the Democratic Socialists of America. But it was a pretty awful one for incumbent state legislators, with at least six lawmakers falling to lefty candidates Tuesday.
Indeed, Brooklyn Assembly Members Stefani Zinerman and Erik Dilan both lost their rematch challenges from DSA-backed Eon Huntley and Christian Celeste Tate, respectively. State Sen. Jessica Ramos lost to her Queens Assembly colleague Jessica González-Rojas, moderate Assembly Member Jenifer Rajkumar lost to DSA-endorsed attorney David Orkin and Assembly Member Eddie Gibbs fell to former New York City Council Member Diana Ayala. Outside New York City, state Sen. Jeremy Zellner lost to Assembly Member Jonathan Rivera, and in Syracuse, Bill Magnarelli, one of the senior-most members of the lower chamber, is trailing democratic socialist Maurice Brown in a close race, with ballots still being counted.
“Zohran Mamdani was not on the ballot, but his impact sure was,” Democratic strategist Trip Yang told City & State. Mamdani only endorsed four Assembly candidates and one in the state Senate – only for open seats to avoid friction with Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie – but DSA-backed candidates still won a handful of hypercompetitive open seats, and took out three incumbents: Rajkumar, Zinerman and Dilan. Mamdani won each of those districts by double digits in the primary last year.
All of these races – ones in which incumbents lost to candidates to their left – undoubtedly have their own nuances. Ramos’ poor relationships with her colleagues and dumbfounding mayoral endorsement of Andrew Cuomo surely did her no favors, Zellner has only been in office for about four months and Rajkumar moved into her district to run in 2020 after losing a lower Manhattan Assembly race, to name a few. Meanwhile, an onslaught of outside spending to back incumbents wasn’t enough to convince voters, in many races.
https://www.cityandstateny.com/politics/2026/06/lefties-didnt-just-win-state-legislative-races-incumbents-lost-big/414445/?oref=csny-skybox-hp