NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani basks in the glow of big primary wins. Here's what they could mean.

The New York primaries on Tuesday were a big win for the progressive left. All three congressional candidates endorsed by Mayor Zohran Mamdani won.

Mamdani is not just basking in the glow of a massive victory that will expand the reach of democratic socialists in New York City and Washington D.C.; he also sees it as having fellow travelers who will vote against aid to Israel.

Republicans, on the other hand, see the election as a gift to help in the November midterms.

"New Yorkers are hungry for a new kind of politics"

Mamdani was all smiles Wednesday as he took a victory lap after a successful campaign to send two sitting congressmen packing and install a little-known assemblywoman into the seat of retiring Rep. Nydia Velazquez.

"I see these results as a reflection of the fact that New Yorkers are hungry for a new kind of politics," Mamdani said.

The freshman mayor was clearly pleased that Brad Lander defeated Rep. Dan Goldman in the 10th District, Darializa Avila Chevalier toppled Rep. Adriano Espaillat in the 13th District, and that democratic socialist Claire Valdez will go to Washington representing the 7th District when Velazquez retires.

He was also pleased that a free-Palestine, anti-Israel platform was part of the campaigns of Lander, Chevalier and Valdez.

"When [Chevalier] speaks about 'babies, not bombs,' when Claire Valdez speaks about a foreign policy that understands human rights for all, when Brad Lander commits to co-sponsoring [the] Block the Bombs [Act], all of that is reflective also of a commitment to a new approach to ensuring that we're fighting for working people," Mamdani said.

"Every American needs to take this seriously"

The mayor's victories also have national implications as House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries tries to flip control of Congress and the Republicans try to hold onto power.

House Speaker Mike Johnson said he sees the New York results sending two democratic socialists and a left-leaning progressive to Washington as an opportunity to wipe the smile off Mamdani's face.

"These kind of people have been popping up. You've been hearing me say for weeks there are many Mamdanis popping up all around the country. It is a dangerous thing. This is not a joke. We are in a fight right now to save the republic, and every American needs to take this seriously. You need to wake up," Johnson said.

Pundits say the New York elections might help Republicans nationally.

"When New York City Democrats are electing folks that are so antisemitic in their rhetoric, [it] is going to send the message to purple districts and purple states that this is where the Democratic Party is going," political analyst J.C. Polanco said.

Republicans to try to use Mamdani's success against Hochul  

There are also political implications right here in New York, where Gov. Kathy Hochul will be running for reelection in November. The question is, will Republicans be able to use the election to stop Hochul in her tracks?

The governor, for her part, is having none of it.

Even though she didn't back any of the left-of-center candidates that won on Tuesday, she said she's untroubled by their success, adding Democrats are a big tent party with room for all.

"I've never said we're united as a party. I've been involved in this political party my entire life. No one has ever accused us of being fully united behind one individual, one concept," Hochul said.

The governor put on her game face, apparently unperturbed that the candidates she backed in the congressional primaries, including Goldman and Espaillat, lost.

As she embarks on her own reelection campaign, she said she's spoken to the mayor about harnessing the excitement his supporters are feeling in a joint effort to thwart President Trump and help Democrats flip control of Congress.

"We just have to turn this into a winning strategy against Donald Trump and his cronies and the MAGA candidates running in New York, and there's plenty of them," Hochul said.

Blakeman plans to try to get some Dems to jump ship  

Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, Hochul's opponent in November, thinks he can turn victories on the left to his advantage by luring moderate Democrats and Jewish voters turned off by the anti-Israel rhetoric of the Mamdani slate.

"There's gonna be a lot of traditional Democrats that are gonna be very upset that the party is being taken over by the lunatics, and I believe that they will vote Republican," Blakeman said. "I think that it will help my candidacy because I have tried to show the sharp distinctions between the policies of Mamdani and Hochul and those of traditional Democrats and common-sense Democrats, so I actually think that last night was a defining moment."

Experts say that linking Hochul and Democratic candidates to the mayor and his left-of-center slate could have an effect.

"There's no question that moderate Democrats are looking for a new place to go and they may vote for the right Republican," Polanco said. "They're looking for the Republican that they can support, and you have a lot of Jewish Democrats that are also going to do the same. No question about it."