On June 22, 2026, New York held Democratic primary elections for Congress. The Democratic Socialists of America — a left-wing group within the party — ran candidates in multiple New York City districts. It was their biggest push in a single city.

The DSA learned from a win last year. In July 2025, a democratic socialist named Zohran Mamdani won New York City's mayoral primary. AP News reported his victory. Unlike what many expected, he didn't need other candidates to drop out — he just won outright. Politico reported in June that the DSA decided to use the same strategy for House races.

But not all neighborhoods are the same. New York's 12th Congressional District covers wealthy parts of upper Manhattan. There, a different kind of Democrat is leading the race. Al Jazeera reported that the race included candidates like Bores, Lasher, Schlossberg, and Conway. The district is full of highly educated, high-income voters who tend to vote for candidates with government experience. The DSA's strategy — which depends on knocking on doors and organizing volunteers in apartment-heavy neighborhoods — doesn't work as well there.

This vote happened during a larger election day. Citizens Union noted that June primaries also included races for the State Legislature and the State Comptroller position. The Comptroller job is important: that official manages New York's huge pension funds—over $250 billion—and has influence over how big companies are run. A ballot drawing for the Comptroller primary on June 23 was tracked by the New York State Board of Elections.

There's a bigger picture here. The Democratic Party in New York has been split since 2018. The party's energy and new voters are coming from the left. But the party also needs to win in suburbs and wealthy areas, where more centrist Democrats do better. These two approaches were both on display June 22 in the same city — which offers a natural test of which works.

The real question for experts watching the 2026 elections nationally is how badly the DSA wins or loses. A clear victory tells one story. Barely winning a crowded race tells a different one. If centrists do well in NY-12, it might mean that Zohran Mamdani's mayoral win was special to him, not a sign that the left can win anywhere in New York.