Brad Lander, the outgoing New York City comptroller and a major player in progressive politics, announced Wednesday he would run for Congress, challenging moderate pro-Israel Democrat Dan Goldman for a district that includes Lower Manhattan and northwest Brooklyn.
Progressives are hoping to build on the momentum of democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani’s stunning victory in the mayoral election across several races in 2026. It remains to be seen if Mamdani’s win portends a more significant swing to the left for Democrats.
“Our mayor can have an ally in Washington instead of an adversary in his own backyard,” Lander said in a video, which referred to Goldman’s pro-Israel position as well as his wealth. “While the oligarchy drives the affordability crisis, they shouldn’t be able to buy a seat in Congress.”
Lander has been a fixture of city politics for more than a decade as both a councilmember and city comptroller, a role which serves as the city’s fiscal manager. He came in third in the 2025 mayoral primary after forging a highly celebrated alliance with Mamdani and drawing national attention for protesting federal agents detaining migrants at 26 Federal Plaza. Over the summer, he had told multiple people he was interested in becoming Mamdani’s first deputy mayor. Mamdani instead chose Dean Fuleihan, who served in the same role under Bill de Blasio.
The candidates’ stances on Israel will likely be a major source of contention. Lander, a self-described liberal Zionist, has criticized Israel’s conduct in the war and called for a cease-fire, while Goldman, who is also Jewish, has defended the country’s right to defend itself against Hamas.
Goldman was among several high-profile Democrats who expressed concern that Mamdani has not sufficiently condemned antisemitic violence. “I’ve asked him to speak out on that and to condemn that and I frankly haven’t really seen him do much on that,” Goldman told CNN in October.
Goldman’s campaign released a statement touting his progressive bona fides on Tuesday after Politico reported Lander’s entry into the race was imminent.
“Dan is focused on stopping the Trump administration from what they’re doing to immigrant families in his district right now,” said Maddy Rosen, a spokesperson for the campaign. “He’s proud of his progressive record in Congress and will deal with Brad and other challengers in the new year.”
Progressives have been hungry for a primary against Goldman since he narrowly won a newly created seat four years ago. Lander’s decision to run comes after the Working Families Party — an influential progressive third party who played a strategic role in the mayoral primary — voted Tuesday evening vote to support him over two other contenders: City Councilmember Alexa Avilés and Yuh-Line Niou, a former state assemblymember who was endorsed by the party when she ran for the seat four years ago. Both have expressed interest in entering the race, but Niou on Tuesday said she would not join the race “so we on the left can consolidate behind a unified progressive candidacy.”
“The choice for us has always been clear: consolidate and win, or fracture and lose,” she wrote on X.
All four, including Goldman, took part in an interview process before party members last Thursday, according to Ana María Archila, co-director of the WFP.
Archila said the WFP’s early endorsement was intended to consolidate support on the left for one candidate in a district that has long been a party stronghold. The WFP helped coalesce support for Mamdani in the primary, endorsing him as its first choice. During the general election, 169,000 people voted for Mamdani on the WFP line. That came out to 15% of his total vote count.
The WFP is also seeking to avoid what happened in 2022 when over a dozen candidates, including former Mayor de Blasio, lined up to win the open seat that was created as a result of redistricting. Goldman, who ran as a former federal prosecutor who would stand up to President Donald Trump, beat Niou by less than 3 percentage points in a field with multiple other progressives.
“Our role is to make sure that we organize the progressives to be as strategic and united as possible,” Archila said.
She argued Goldman, a wealthy scion of the Levi Strauss family, would have “almost unlimited resources” to fend off a challenge. “This is not an easy race by any stretch,” she said.
Jay Jacobs, the state Democratic Party chair and moderate Democrat who has fought with progressives, declined to comment on Lander’s challenge.
The 2022 contest was heavily shaped by campaign spending. Goldman poured nearly $5 million of his own money into the race.
The local chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America, of which Mamdani is a member, has said it is backing Avilés. The mayor-elect recently discouraged Chi Ossé, a DSA-backed city councilmember from Brooklyn, from launching a challenge against House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries.
This story has been updated with additional information.
