New York primaries test Mamdani’s pull and Trump’s endorsement power

Voters in New York, Maryland, Utah and South Carolina head to the polls Tuesday in primaries that will test the power of outside money, party establishment and the political figures trying to bend both to their side.

The marquee race is in New York’s 12th District, where Democrats are choosing a nominee to replace retiring Rep. Jerry Nadler in one of the safest blue seats in the country. The crowded Manhattan primary includes Assemblymen Alex Bores and Micah Lasher, along with Jack Schlossberg, a grandson of President John F. Kennedy.

Bores’ record on artificial intelligence regulation — and the outside money around it — has turned the race into a national proxy fight over how aggressively Democrats should regulate one of the fastest-growing sectors of the economy.

Elsewhere in New York, Mayor Zohran Mamdani is trying to prove his democratic socialist political movement can outlast his own campaign and reshape Congress. Upstate, the Republican primary to replace Rep. Elise Stefanik will test whether President Donald Trump’s endorsement can overpower the local GOP establishment.

In Maryland, Democrats are choosing a successor to former House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, while Rep. April McClain Delaney faces a self-funded challenge from former Rep. David Trone. And in Utah, new House maps have scrambled primaries in both parties.

Here are five things to watch Tuesday:

Mamdani is not on the ballot Tuesday, but his political movement is. A year after his surprise primary win reshaped New York politics, the 34-year-old New York City mayor is trying to turn his left-wing coalition into a force in Congress.

He has endorsed Darializa Avila Chevalier against Rep. Adriano Espaillat in NY-13, former New York City Comptroller Brad Lander against Rep. Dan Goldman in NY-10 and Assemblywoman Claire Valdez in the race to replace retiring Rep. Nydia Velázquez in NY-7.

Those endorsements have angered parts of Mamdani’s coalition.

Espaillat is chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and a close ally of House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, also of New York. Velázquez, an early Mamdani supporter, broke with him over Valdez. Labor unions, Latino leaders and some progressives have also bristled at his decision to challenge incumbents and longtime allies.

But Mamdani is betting that Democratic voters are more open to disruption than party leaders think.

A Honan Strategy Group survey found…