{"id":2839,"date":"2026-06-24T10:38:20","date_gmt":"2026-06-24T10:38:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=2839"},"modified":"2026-06-24T10:38:20","modified_gmt":"2026-06-24T10:38:20","slug":"hakeem-jeffries-backed-candidates-lose-key-primary-races-as-influx-of-socialists-set-to-join-democratic-leader-in-congress","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=2839","title":{"rendered":"Hakeem Jeffries-backed candidates lose key primary races \u2014 as influx of socialists set to join Democratic leader in Congress"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) suffered a blow Tuesday night after far-left congressional hopefuls defeated his preferred candidates in three New York primary election races.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Read more Exclusive | Isaiah Evans wears $4 million worth of diamonds to NBA Draft 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

Wins by socialists Darializa Avila Chevalier and Claire Valdez in the Empire State\u2019s 13th and 7th congressional districts, respectively, along with left Israel-critic Brad Lander\u2019s victory in New York\u2019s 10th District, could complicate Jeffries\u2019 path to retaining the Democratic leadership post \u2013 and potentially the speakership \u2013 after the November midterm elections.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Jeffries endorsed defeated incumbent Reps. Dan Goldman (D-NY) and Adriano Espaillat (D-NY) for re-election in the 10th and 13th districts \u2013 both of whom had pledged to fall in line behind Jeffries if Democrats reclaimed the majority.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Lander, a former member of the Democratic Socialists of America who beat Goldman, has signaled that while he\u2019s inclined to support Jeffries, he intends to \u201chold leadership accountable, and hold our party accountable, and hold myself accountable.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cProgressive and moderate Democrats, across the whole spectrum, are going to have to have consensus behind a leader. And you\u2019re not going to agree with that leader on every issue. And there are moments, therefore, when you have to stand unified, and there are moments when you have to be willing to speak up courageously when you don\u2019t think people are fighting hard enough. And I\u2019m committed to that,\u201d he said in February.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Avila Chevalier refused to commit to backing Jeffries during a debate earlier this month.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

In the open 7th district race vacated by Rep. Nydia Velazquez, Jeffries opted not to formally endorse a candidate per custom, but touted the coalition behind Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso.<\/p>\n

\u201cNydia Velazquez and a coalition of very progressive Democrats, including Tish James, the attorney general, and the public advocate Jumaane Williams, along with the Working Families Party and many of the unions that we\u2019ve worked closely with are on one side of that race, with DSA on the other. We\u2019ll see what happens,\u201d the Democratic leader said during a press conference just a few hours before Reynoso lost to Valdez.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Read more ESPN reporter in deep talks to join Hawks front office in stunner<\/a><\/p>\n

Like Avila Chevalier, Valdez would not say whether she would be a yes to keep Jeffries as Democratic leader next year, while Reynoso said he would support the Brooklyn Democrat.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Lander, Avila Chevalier and Valdez \u2014 who were all endorsed by Mayor Zohran Mamdani \u2014 will be heavily favored in their general election races come November, and stand to add to the growing far-left and socialist bloc in Congress \u2013 which could create a myriad of other political headaches for Jeffries or another House Democratic leader.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Self-styled Democratic Socialist state Rep. Chris Rabb won Pennsylvania\u2019s Third Congressional District primary last month, powered by endorsements from Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and other lefty \u201cSquad\u201d Democrats.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

Like the trio of New York lefties, Rabb is heavily favored to win his November race.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Socialist Sacramento City Councilwoman Mai Vang could also be seated in Congress next year if she defeats longtime incumbent Rep. Doris Matsui (D-Calif.) in California\u2019s 7th District runoff in November.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Another race to watch is the June 30 Democratic primary in Colorado\u2019s 1st Congressional District, where at least one recent poll shows 29-year-old, DSA-endorsed candidate Melat Kiros ahead of incumbent Rep. Diana DeGette (D-Colo.) by 5 percentage points.<\/p>\n

Read more Cameron Boozer\u2019s mom CeCe stuns at 2026 NBA Draft<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) suffered a blow Tuesday night after far-left congressional hopefuls defeated his preferred candidates in three New York primary election races.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2838,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2839","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics"],"yoast_head":"\nHakeem Jeffries-backed candidates lose key primary races \u2014 as influx of socialists set to join Democratic leader in Congress - Metro Transit Review<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=2839\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Hakeem Jeffries-backed candidates lose key primary races \u2014 as influx of socialists set to join Democratic leader in Congress - Metro Transit Review\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) suffered a blow Tuesday night after far-left congressional hopefuls defeated his preferred candidates in three New York primary election races.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=2839\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Metro Transit Review\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-24T10:38:20+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=2839#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=2839\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7cd7bd9683106710eed62ba5da559b14\"},\"headline\":\"Hakeem Jeffries-backed candidates lose key primary races \u2014 as influx of socialists set to join Democratic leader in Congress\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-24T10:38:20+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=2839\"},\"wordCount\":599,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=2839#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/4b7e07db6fe0006c7d80814fd426e984.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"Politics\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=2839#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=2839\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=2839\",\"name\":\"Hakeem Jeffries-backed candidates lose key primary races \u2014 as influx of socialists set to join Democratic leader in Congress - Metro Transit Review\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=2839#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=2839#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/4b7e07db6fe0006c7d80814fd426e984.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-24T10:38:20+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7cd7bd9683106710eed62ba5da559b14\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=2839#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=2839\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=2839#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/4b7e07db6fe0006c7d80814fd426e984.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/4b7e07db6fe0006c7d80814fd426e984.webp\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":799},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=2839#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Hakeem Jeffries-backed candidates lose key primary races \u2014 as influx of socialists set to join Democratic leader in Congress\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Metro Transit Review\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7cd7bd9683106710eed62ba5da559b14\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Hakeem Jeffries-backed candidates lose key primary races \u2014 as influx of socialists set to join Democratic leader in Congress - Metro Transit Review","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=2839","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Hakeem Jeffries-backed candidates lose key primary races \u2014 as influx of socialists set to join Democratic leader in Congress - Metro Transit Review","og_description":"House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) suffered a blow Tuesday night after far-left congressional hopefuls defeated his preferred candidates in three New York primary election races.","og_url":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=2839","og_site_name":"Metro Transit Review","article_published_time":"2026-06-24T10:38:20+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=2839#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=2839"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/#\/schema\/person\/7cd7bd9683106710eed62ba5da559b14"},"headline":"Hakeem Jeffries-backed candidates lose key primary races \u2014 as influx of socialists set to join Democratic leader in Congress","datePublished":"2026-06-24T10:38:20+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=2839"},"wordCount":599,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=2839#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/4b7e07db6fe0006c7d80814fd426e984.webp","articleSection":["Politics"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=2839#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=2839","url":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=2839","name":"Hakeem Jeffries-backed candidates lose key primary races \u2014 as influx of socialists set to join Democratic leader in Congress - Metro Transit Review","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=2839#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=2839#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/4b7e07db6fe0006c7d80814fd426e984.webp","datePublished":"2026-06-24T10:38:20+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/#\/schema\/person\/7cd7bd9683106710eed62ba5da559b14"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=2839#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=2839"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=2839#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/4b7e07db6fe0006c7d80814fd426e984.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/4b7e07db6fe0006c7d80814fd426e984.webp","width":1200,"height":799},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=2839#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Hakeem Jeffries-backed candidates lose key primary races \u2014 as influx of socialists set to join Democratic leader in Congress"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/","name":"Metro Transit Review","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/#\/schema\/person\/7cd7bd9683106710eed62ba5da559b14","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/metrotransitreview.com"],"url":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2839","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2839"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2839\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2838"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2839"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2839"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2839"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}