The dust is still settling on the Great Democratic Primary Election of 2026, and future historians will be the ultimate arbiters of what it all meant. But it is said that journalists write the first draft of history, and so, having covered the races in the lead-up to the election and livestreamed the results as they came in, we are emboldened to make some preliminary assessments.
Specifically: Who comes out ahead in this new, post-primary era? Whose days are numbered? Who, in the glib parlance of the listicle, are the winners and who are the losers? Here's a breakdown.
Winner: Zohran Mamdani
The Mayor. Hizzoner. Big Body Zohran. Has any sitting mayor in recent history ever had such an impact on a nonmunicipal election? No way. A week after dancing with the Knicks on the steps of City Hall while Alicia Keys performed "Empire State of Mind," Mamdani has somehow soared even higher. His social media post Tuesday night quoting Jalen Brunson made it clear—he's not listening to the haters, and it's Zohran's way or the highway. Governor Kathy Hochul was paying attention before, but now she's got to contend with an even larger contingent of Mamdani allies in Albany, as his DSA coalition continues to expand its political turf. Mamdani, in his own words, just turned the volume up.
Winner: Brad Lander
The former comptroller has spent the past two years in campaign mode, first through his failed effort to be elected mayor, and now with his successful run for Congress, where he demolished the deeply unpopular jeans heir Dan Goldman. Lander could have taken Mamdani's rise as a slight or even an insult (many have). Instead, Lander became a steadfast ally, one whose loyalty—even when Mamdani wouldn't give him a job—has earned him what essentially amounts to a lifetime appointment to Congress. He has indeed been reincarnated as a lotus flower.
