{"id":2863,"date":"2026-06-24T16:40:43","date_gmt":"2026-06-24T16:40:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=2863"},"modified":"2026-06-24T16:40:43","modified_gmt":"2026-06-24T16:40:43","slug":"mamdani-backed-ny-state-senate-candidate-who-downplayed-9-11-wins-nyc-primary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=2863","title":{"rendered":"Mamdani-backed NY state Senate candidate who downplayed 9\/11 wins NYC primary"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Aber Kawas \u2014 the DSA member and Mamdani-backed candidate who once described 9\/11 as a terror attack that a \u201ccouple people did\u201d \u2014 cinched the Democratic nomination to rep a western Queens-based state Senate district Tuesday night.<\/p>\n

Read more Dianna Russini finally addresses Mike Vrabel scandal in texts with NYT reporter \u2014 because she thought it was off the record<\/a><\/p>\n

Kawas, a self-described \u201cMuslim civil right advocate,\u201d won with 60% of the vote in her primary race against Assemblyman Steven Raga (D-Queens) to replace outgoing state Sen. Mike Gianaris (D-Queens) with 95% of precincts reporting.<\/p>\n

Kawas has also been listed as a speaker for CAIR, a controversial Muslim charity accused of Hamas links.<\/p>\n

Read more Protesters clash outside anti-Israel Brooklyn coffee shop as NYPD separates opposing sides<\/a><\/p>\n

While Gianaris, who held a significant amount of power as deputy majority leader and chair of Senate Democrats\u2019 campaign arm in Albany, made endorsements in several other primary races, he did not weigh in on his successor.<\/p>\n

Read more Furious Trump abruptly cancels housing bill signing, demands GOP move on voter ID bill<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Aber Kawas — the DSA member and Mamdani-backed candidate who once described 9\/11 as a terror attack that a \u201ccouple people did” — cinched the Democratic nomination to rep a western Queens based state senate district Tuesday night.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2862,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2863","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-metro"],"yoast_head":"\nMamdani-backed NY state Senate candidate who downplayed 9\/11 wins NYC primary - 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=2863\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Mamdani-backed NY state Senate candidate who downplayed 9\/11 wins NYC primary - 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