Former New York City comptroller Brad Lander faced off and won against Rep. Dan Goldman in a highly contested Democratic primary Tuesday in New York’s 10th Congressional District, in which their views on Israel have become the main issue in the contest.
Lander, 56, has perched his campaign on a refusal to take money from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, the pro-Israel lobbying group. Goldman, an attorney who led the first impeachment inquiry against US President Donald Trump, was hailed for his efforts on that front, but his more supportive views on Israel have proven increasingly unpopular in his lower Manhattan and Brooklyn district in recent years.
Polling by Emerson College last month indicated a more than 30-point lead for Lander.
The winner of Tuesday’s primary in the heavily Democratic district, which runs from roughly below 14th Street in Manhattan to Brownstone Brooklyn and parts of Borough Park and Bay Ridge, is tantamount to winning the election in November.
Both identify as Zionists - Goldman says he is “unabashedly pro-Israel” - but Lander qualifies his views as those of a “liberal Zionist.” He is also a former member of the Democratic Socialists of America. But he left the group following the October 7, 2023, Hamas attacks in Israel, disappointed by the DSA’s participation in a pro-Palestinian rally on October 8. He says he has been a member since his freshman year of college.
“On October 8th, they advertised a rally that I thought was heinous, that spoke about Hamas in ways that I just thought were vile, and I could not continue to be a member,” Lander said during a June 1 debate with Spectrum NY1.
Lander endorsed by Zohran Mamdani
Lander ran for New York City mayor last fall and cross-endorsed with Mayor Zohran Mamdani in an effort to thwart former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo. Mamdani then encouraged Lander to run for Congress and, in February, endorsed him in a video calling out AIPAC. He has also been endorsed by Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, New York City Councilmember Shahana Hanif, former Manhattan Borough President and activist Ruth Messinger, Jews for Racial and Economic Justice, IfNotNow, the Sunrise Movement, United Auto Workers, and other progressive groups.
Lander has used the word “genocide” to refer to Israel’s actions against Palestinians in Gaza. He has also long criticized AIPAC and what he says are the group’s contributions to Goldman’s campaign. But Goldman’s team says AIPAC is uninvolved in his campaign.
“Israel is not the most important issue in this district,” Goldman said during the June 1 debate.
Goldman has outspent Lander more than 7-to-1 on the airwaves, according to data from political advertising tracker AdImpact. A multimillionaire and heir to the Levi Strauss fortune, Goldman had also pledged to personally match each dollar donated to his campaign.
Lander is currently backed by a new super PAC called American Priorities, which has put forward $2 million into the primaries to fight AIPAC. American Priorities is also backing New York State Assemblymember and congressional candidate Claire Valdez, a Democrat in New York’s 7th Congressional District, and Democratic congressional candidate Darializa Avila Chevalier in the 13th District. Both women are members of the DSA.
Lander appeared with Mamdani, Valdez, and Chevalier in a post-Knicks game ad, where he passes a basketball to Chevalier, who was also at the October 8 rally that he and Mamdani condemned. Mamdani, Valdez, and Chevalier have been outspoken Israel critics.
Lander would vote against weapon sales to Israel
In a 2025 interview with Zeteo, Lander said he would vote to recognize a Palestinian state and oppose the sale of weapons to Israel. As comptroller, Lander maintained the city’s pension investments in Israeli military technology company Elbit Systems, which earned criticism from left-wing activists, but he defended the decision.
Goldman did not endorse Mamdani because he felt he “never fully got there,” he told The New York Editorial Board in late February. Goldman has been endorsed by New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, New York City Comptroller Mark Levine, and various public housing advocates and local unions.
There is one area where the candidates agree. They both said they would have voted against the Israel boycott at the Park Slope Food Coop, the famed worker-owned market in Brooklyn that was recently the subject of a contentious and successful BDS vote.
Lander’s campaign has faced its own controversy. In February, Jewish Insider reported that one of his campaign’s highest-paid staffers, Kaif Gilani, had circulated conspiracy theories about Israel on social media. Gilani, who was promptly removed from the Lander campaign, is also credited with starting the “Hot Girls for Zohran” campaign during last year’s mayoral election.