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Brad Lander, an ally of Mayor Zohran Mamdani, won the Democratic primary in a progressive New York House district on Tuesday, according to The Associated Press, in a race that hinged largely on the candidates’ different stances on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

With 53 percent of the vote counted, Mr. Lander, a former city comptroller and mayoral candidate who has criticized Israel’s war in Gaza, was almost 30 points ahead of the incumbent, Representative Dan Goldman, a pro-Israel former federal prosecutor who helped lead the first impeachment inquiry into President Trump.

Mr. Lander benefited from his deep roots in the 10th District, which covers Lower Manhattan and parts of Brooklyn. His victory makes him the likely winner of the general election in November.

Mr. Lander, 56, was one of three progressive primary candidates endorsed by Mr. Mamdani, with whom he has had a political alliance since last year’s Democratic mayoral primary.

The two men began as rivals, but cross-endorsed each other as the primary date closed in, saying they wanted to work together to keep former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo from winning the nomination. Their alliance has elevated them both — Mr. Mamdani to City Hall, and Mr. Lander to the cusp of a congressional victory.

Mr. Lander reflected on the decision to team up with Mr. Mamdani during a televised debate last week, saying it had modeled a new kind of politics for New York.

“It unleashed a nice sense of solidarity,” he said on the debate stage. “People said to me, ‘Wait, you mean politics doesn’t have to be a sour, selfish ego trip — it can be a team sport for the values you share?’”

Among several closely watched primaries across the city and state, the contest in the 10th District was notable for the degree to which it was dominated by the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Both Mr. Lander and Mr. Goldman are Jewish and describe themselves as liberal Zionists, but they approach the issue in very different ways.

Mr. Lander has spent decades in the world of progressive Jewish activism, working with organizations like Jews for Racial and Economic Justice and cofounding the New York Jewish Agenda, a left-leaning group.

He has also been a longtime player in Democratic politics in New York City, and entered the primary with a committed base and a groundswell of good will in the district.

He spent many years running a community development organization in Park Slope, then served on the City Council for more than a decade representing several of the congressional district’s neighborhoods. After he left the Council, he served as city comptroller, during which time he chose not to repurchase State of Israel bonds that had matured.

Mr. Lander has been an outspoken critic of Israel since the start of the war in Gaza, which began after the Hamas-led terror attack on Oct. 7, 2023.

Mr. Lander has backed claims by human rights groups and a United Nations commission that Israel has committed genocide in Gaza, frequently using that word on the campaign trail, and has said he supports legislation to block U.S. military aid to the country until it meets human rights standards.

Mr. Goldman’s views hew more closely to the longtime status quo in American politics regarding the U.S.-Israel relationship. He is a critic of Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, but has said he supports continuing to provide the military aid that underpins the decades-long alliance between the two countries.

And he has said he does not believe Israel has committed genocide in Gaza or that its treatment of the Palestinians can fairly be described as apartheid — another word Mr. Lander frequently uses — calling them ideologically charged terms.

Mr. Goldman accepted the endorsement of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, a hard-line pro-Israel lobbying group increasingly shunned by Democrats, but was also endorsed by J Street, a more liberal pro-Israel group.


https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/23/nyregion/ny10-primary-lander.html

  • Belly_Beanis [he/him]@hexbear.net
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    10 days ago

    “Wow so you support Trump instead of Biden, who is obviously the harm reduction candidate. You should vote for Harris in the upcoming election because she’s pro-choice.”

    ^ This is you. Why are you insisting on going to bat for the nazi Blackwater mercenary war criminal who is going to immediately continue Collins’ policies? This isn’t reassuring to leftists and it makes you look like you only care about free healthcare, fuck anyone who is anti-imperialist.

    • CyborgMarx [any, any]@hexbear.net
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      10 days ago

      who is going to immediately continue Collins’ policies?

      Because this is a conspiracy theory with no grounds to believe it, the crucial difference is Platner runs on anti-Zionism and Biden/Kamala didn’t, if Platner was a Zionist, AIPAC would be funding him and the media wouldn’t hound him, facts that blow your conspiracy to pieces

      Platner is the Trump in the new form of that argument I made two years ago and you are even more cowardly than the liberal in that thread because at least THEY ADMIT they prefer the ultra-Zionist wins

      • Belly_Beanis [he/him]@hexbear.net
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        10 days ago

        “Do you really think nazis would do that? Just lie to get elected to office?”

        Here’s a refresher on the tactic they’ve been using straight from Hitler himself:

        Don’t accuse me of cowardice just because you’re a fucking liberal zionist apologist who will throw others under the rug so long as you get to go back to brunch. We know electoralism is a dead end in the US. There is no benefit to go around calling people names to defend whatever fascists are getting elected.

        Platner is the Trump in the new form of that argument

        …AND WE DON’T SUPPORT TRUMP, EITHER. Jesus fuck lmao.

        • CyborgMarx [any, any]@hexbear.net
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          10 days ago

          “Do you really think nazis would do that? Just lie to get elected to office?”

          Do nazis need to lie to get elected to office, especially in cracker states like Maine? Again, these questions blow your conspiracy out of the water

          Don’t accuse me of cowardice

          I actually apologize for that because I thought I was responding to Chana who is a coward and does have a history of dodging my questions, but at the same time that’s what happens when you dogpile, so expect crossfire AND I’ll ask you the same question I asked Chana, do you prefer Platner or ultra-Zionist Susan Collins wins a Senate seat?

          We know electoralism is a dead end in the US

          Then wallow in self-marginalization, because under current conditions there is no other path to power in the imperial core

          …AND WE DON’T SUPPORT TRUMP, EITHER. Jesus fuck lmao.

          The question is/was not about whether we support Trump dumbass, it’s whether it’s BETTER for the left if Trump or Harris won, same goes for Platner and ultra-zionist Susan Collins, don’t butt into a debate if you can’t follow the flow of the arguments

          • Belly_Beanis [he/him]@hexbear.net
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            10 days ago

            Again, these questions blow your conspiracy out of the water

            The conspiracy that…checks notes…a neo-nazi war criminal is lying about being a neo-nazi to avoid political fallout and fool leftists into thinking he’ll be meaningful for change?

            Do you prefer Platner or ultra-Zionist Sudan Collins wins a Senate seat?

            I don’t care. The US senate is still going to continue their support of Israel and the genocide of Palestinians. It’s like asking if I prefer Netanyahu or Ben-Gvir for leader of Israel. The reason I don’t care us because I’m a Marxist who rejects Great Man of History. The system itself is fundamentally zionist and needs to be destroyed. You cannot work within that system to change it. There’s even arguments to be made that doing so only reinforces the legitimacy of the system, diverting any revolutionary potential.

            And while Susan Collins is uber, super duper ultra zionist, Platner has bragged about actually killing Arab civilians. He says he enjoyed doing it. Collins would probably enjoy doing the same if their lives were reversed with each other. She bought him the gun. He pulled the trigger. They are as the USA has always been: a one-party state, but with typical American extravagance, there’s two of them.

            no other path to power in the imperial core

            Third-world Maoism intensifies

            Maybe that’s because so-called leftists in the Imperial Core keep reinforcing its power structure and institutions, instead of dismantling it?

            it’s whether it’s BETTER for the left if Trump or Harris won

            …which would lead to the left supporting a candidate over the other. If we can determine one candidate actually is better for the left, why wouldn’t we support that candidate? We ruled out neither of them is helpful for the left in any meaningful way, so the solution was third party candidates or to not vote at all.

            What you’re doing with Platner is saying he will provide meaningful support for the left (he won’t. More likely he’ll assist in Night of the Long Knives: 2026 edition), while shouting at anyone who points out he’s a literal nazi. This is actively harmful because 1) it fools leftists into letting their guard down around fascists; 2) tells people who Platner enjoys killing (which he’s been vocal about) you don’t care about them. Your support is conditional. Their wellbeing is secondary to your wellbeing in the Imperial Core. You’re throwing away any solidarity that can be built with marginalized groups all for the sake of some bourgeois election.

            • CyborgMarx [any, any]@hexbear.net
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              10 days ago

              The conspiracy that…checks notes…a neo-nazi war criminal is lying about being a neo-nazi to avoid political fallout and fool leftists into thinking he’ll be meaningful for change?

              If he’s a neo-Nazi, why isn’t he running as a Republican? Why is he appealing to leftists in Maine of all places? Why is he inviting the wrath of the Zionist lobby, who aren’t shy about digging into his family and personal life? Why is the media hounding him, are they unaware of the conspiracy? Why in an interview a month ago did he give the correct Marxist definition of class and trash the concept of class collaboration? What kind of Nazi does that or even knows enough to do that?

              I don’t care. The US senate is still going to continue their support of Isreal and the genocide of Palestinians

              Cowardice and doomerism, that’s all I get from you people, Bernie Sanders losing really bricked your minds

              It’s like asking if I prefer Netanyahu or Ben-Gvir for leader of Isreal.

              When have Bibi and Ben-Gvir ever run on anti-zionism?

              The reason I don’t care us because I’m a Marxist who rejects Great Man of History. The system itself is fundamentally zionist and needs to be destroyed

              The best-case scenario for Platner is a senator who votes to defund Israel. THAT’S IT, he’s not fucking Lenin or baby Stalin or whatever other fantasy; he’s a single goddamn vote at a crucial leverage point that could have downstream effects that benefit the Palestinians in their resistance against annihilation

              AND YOU and the rest of the doomers don’t have the POWER to dismantle this system, and you don’t have the right to wait for correct conditions to spontaneously arise through accelerationist bullshit; we work with what we have and we suffer the consequences. Socialists don’t get to say “I don’t care”; that is individualism. You wrestle with this shit until we find a viable path to power; we try and try again. Stop acting like we won already

              Maybe that’s because so-called leftists in the Imperial Core keep reinforcing its power structure and institutions, instead of dismantling it?

              Keynesianism IS DEAD, there have been no “leftists” in power since the end of WW2, the collapse of American empire will not be halted because we improved the living standards of Americans

              We ruled out neither of them is helpful for the left in any meaningful way, so the solution was third party candidates or to not vote at all.

              First of all most of us did conclude Trump would be better for the left in the long run, and we’ve been horrifically correct about that. And second, where are your third parties? This last year and a half was their moment to emerge; the Democrats suffered a historic defeat, and yet where was PSL? Where were the pure worker’s parties? Did any bookclub groups hit the street and organize disillusioned libs into a viable national third party? No, third parties are structurally illegal in the United States; insurgency within the duopoly is the only viable path open to us, centered on anti-zionism as the litmus test

              Your support is conditional.

              My or your individual support IS USELESS, did my/your support save children from burning alive in Gaza? Platner is a vote, he’s a tool, he isn’t even human, he’s a key to a lever in DC that reads “funding for Israel”, he’s gollum

              I will sacrifice all notions of personal rectitude for ANY chance to upset the zionist machine

              You’re throwing away any solidarity that can be built with marginalized groups all for the sake of some bourgeois election

              You don’t even consider helping marginalized people in the West a viable option, and you think you’re gonna help rescue the victims of the American empire overseas?

              • Belly_Beanis [he/him]@hexbear.net
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                If he’s a neo-Nazi, why isn’t he running as a Republican? Why is he appealing to leftists in Maine of all places? Why is he inviting the wrath of the Zionist lobby, who aren’t shy about digging into his family and personal life? Why is the media hounding him, are they unaware of the conspiracy? Why in an interview a month ago did he give the correct Marxist definition of class and trash the concept of class collaboration? What kind of Nazi does that or even knows enough to do that?

                it fools leftists into letting their guard down around fascists

                They are as the USA has always been: a one-party state, but with typical American extravagance, there’s two of them.

                When have Bibi and Ben-Gvir ever run on anti-zionism?

                You’re sooooooooooooooooooooooo close, I can feel it lmao

                You don’t even consider helping marginalized people in the West a viable option, and you think you’re gonna help rescue the victims of the American empire overseas?

                I AM one of those marginalized people living in the West, you fucking honkey.

                • CyborgMarx [any, any]@hexbear.net
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                  10 days ago

                  You actually have to justify your conspiracy theory and not simply rely on intuition, vibes and crackpot cynicism. Platner being a secret agent of Mossad to pull one over on the left makes no sense, zionists do not push anti-zionism under any circumstance

                  I AM one of those marginalized people living in the West, you fucking honkey.

                  AND I AM ARAB, what now?

                  • Belly_Beanis [he/him]@hexbear.net
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                    10 days ago

                    You actually have to justify your conspiracy theory

                    Calling it a “conspiracy theory” doesn’t make it so. Nazis say the wrong things on purpose. They lie. I even provided you a quote from Mein Kampf and the chapter where Hitler talks about using leftwing rhetoric and aesthetics to fool socialists into voting for him. Hitler did it. Mussolini did it. Pol Pot did it. Nazbols in Eastern Europe do it. And every time, there were leftists who assumed, because they got the lingo correct, they could trust these people who turned out to be fascists.

                    It’s not Mossad pushing Platner. He’s a neo-nazi with a neo-nazi tattoo doing work to diffuse leftism and prevent it from organizing into an actual party. Bernie Sanders was also one such release valve, but he doesn’t work anymore because of his zionism. So how do you prevent people from going to the DSA or PSL and stay within the Democratic party? Run another “”““progressive””“” but without the zionism to steer people back to being the DNC voter base.

                    what now?

                    I dunno, maybe not run interference for people who would enthusiastically murder you because of your ethnicity? I don’t know how you can defend a guy who was a guard at Abu Ghraib, used mortars on civilians, and worked for Blackwater, then got a nazi tattoo on top of it all. Have some self-respect.