Lander wins open House seat after successful primary challenge

Former New York City Comptroller Brad Lander is projected to win an open House seat after successfully ousting the incumbent in the primary earlier this year, according to Decision Desk HQ.

Lander easily defeated Republican Jennifer Moore, a party operative, to hold the seat for Democrats in the safe blue district. A close ally of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani (D), Lander defeated Rep. Dan Goldman (N.Y.) in the Democratic primary in June, one of a string of successes for progressive candidates in those primaries.

Goldman has been a reliable Democratic vote during his two terms in the House but came under fire from the left over his support for Israel.

Lander highlighted his opposition to sending additional aid to Israel and positioned himself to Goldman’s left, easily beating the incumbent by more than 25 percentage points this summer.

After winning his party’s nod, Lander was seen as a shoo-in to represent the district based in Manhattan and Brooklyn.