Brad Lander on his bid to unseat a fellow Democrat in one of NYC's key 2026 House races
New York City's former comptroller Brad Lander thinks his next stop should be Washington, D.C., as he challenges Rep. Dan Goldman in the Democratic primary for New York's 10th Congressional District.
Lander is endorsed by Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Goldman is backed by Gov. Kathy Hochul in a race that has turned into one of the city's hottest elections of 2026.
Challenging the incumbent
Lander called Goldman "a corporate Democrat" and said he's the better candidate to take on President Trump, in an interview Sunday on CBS News New York's "The Point with Marcia Kramer."
"This moment is a five-alarm fire for our democracy. Donald Trump is abducting our neighbors and corrupting our government, cost of living is skyrocketing, and in my opinion, corporate Democrats like Dan Goldman don't know what time it is," said Lander.
Goldman, a two-term congressman, has been a fierce critic of Mr. Trump's immigration crackdown and ICE. He touted his own work to free dozens of immigrants who were unlawfully detained and questioned the White House's stated goal of going after criminals during a recent debate with Lander.
The former federal prosecutor also led Democrats' first impeachment proceedings against the president in 2019, before he became a congressman.
"My real beef with [Goldman] is that he's not taking on the wealthy special interests and billionaires that have brought Trump in the first place," said Lander.
Lander, another vocal ICE critic, was arrested in 2025 while observing an immigration hearing in Manhattan.
Fighting Trump "smarter and harder"
If Democrats regain control of the House in 2027, which Lander is confident will happen, he said the party will have to "fight smarter and harder than we've been" to take on Mr. Trump, who will still have veto power and a social media empire.
Lander said a Democratic majority should be prepared to fight tooth and nail to force the president to accept a budget that delivers on their promises.
"You focus on fights people care about. Let's take healthcare for starters, that's one good thing Democrats did last year. They focused the budget fight on healthcare subsidies, and people know Donald Trump screwed us, took away our healthcare subsidies, our Medicare, our Medicaid, and we can get that back," Lander said. "If he wants to pass a budget, it'll have to be a budget that restores healthcare subsidies to people, and then people see we're fighting for them."
A strategy like that could lead to disfunction in Washington, another source of voter frustration, but Lander said it's "a fight we gotta be willing to have."
"People don't know what Democrats stand for. I want us to stand, of course for taking on Trump, but for delivering on housing affordability, on healthcare, instead of sending money for endless wars," he said.
Click here to watch Lander's full interview.
Who's running in NY-10?
Democratic Rep. Dan Goldman is running for reelection and a third term in New York's 10th Congressional District, which includes Lower Manhattan and neighborhoods of western Brooklyn.
Brad Lander is challenging Goldman in the Democratic primary on June 23. He is already set to appear on the general election ballot under the Working Families Party, according to Ballotpedia.
The Republican primary was canceled and Jennifer Moore will be the GOP's nominee, also according to Ballotpedia. Moore will appear on the Conservative Party line as well.
