A series of Democratic primary elections across New York and other major cities is revealing an increasingly familiar pattern: candidates aligned with the party’s socialist wing are finding their strongest support among younger, college-educated voters in affluent urban neighborhoods, while more moderate Democrats continue to perform better among many working-class and lower-income communities.
The trend emerged most clearly in New York City’s June 23 congressional primaries, where every candidate endorsed by Democratic Mayor Zohran Mamdani won. Mamdani, a member of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), backed candidates in the Seventh, Tenth, and Thirteenth Congressional Districts, and each defeated either an incumbent or an establishment-backed Democrat.
Perhaps the most striking upset came in the 13th District, where Democratic Socialist Darializa Avila Chevalier unseated five-term Congressman Adriano Espaillat.
According to The New York Times, Chevalier prevailed by building overwhelming support in higher-income neighborhoods while Espaillat maintained stronger backing in lower-income communities. The socialist candidate also performed exceptionally well among younger voters and in precincts with large numbers of college graduates. Times data showed Chevalier winning younger voters by more than 24 percentage points and carrying college-educated areas by roughly 20 points.
Espaillat, meanwhile, remained strongest in heavily Hispanic neighborhoods including Morris Heights, Fordham, and Kingsbridge, communities with comparatively lower median household incomes.
A similar pattern appeared in New York’s Seventh Congressional District.
DSA-backed Assemblywoman Claire Valdez defeated Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso despite Reynoso receiving the endorsement of retiring Democratic Rep. Nydia Velázquez.
According to election data analyzed by The New York Times, Valdez dominated wealthier neighborhoods while Reynoso won many lower-income precincts by wide margins. Valdez also posted commanding victories among younger voters and in areas with high levels of college attainment.
One notable exception involved Orthodox Jewish neighborhoods, where Reynoso overwhelmingly outperformed his opponent. Those same communities have increasingly supported Republican candidates in recent election cycles, including President Donald Trump in 2024.
The demographic divide has become one of the more intriguing aspects of recent Democratic primaries.
While progressive candidates often describe themselves as champions of working-class Americans, recent voting data suggests many of their strongest performances are occurring in affluent urban neighborhoods populated by younger professionals and highly educated voters.
Polling also suggests that support for democratic socialism varies considerably across demographic groups.
NBC polling has found Hispanic voters generally hold more negative than positive views of socialism, while earlier surveys similarly showed skepticism among Latino voters. Orthodox Jewish voters have likewise shifted toward Republican candidates in recent election cycles, making them one of the Democratic Party’s least receptive constituencies for DSA-backed candidates.
The trend is not confined to New York.
In Seattle, Katie Wilson captured the mayor’s office after building substantial support among younger voters living in densely populated neighborhoods. Although Wilson has described herself as a socialist, her campaign was not formally endorsed by the Democratic Socialists of America.
Her platform emphasized expanded public transit, rent control, environmental initiatives, social housing, and government-operated grocery stores—a proposal that closely mirrored one advanced by Mamdani during his own mayoral campaign in New York.
Mamdani’s coalition also reflected similar demographic patterns.
According to The New York Times and Quinnipiac University polling, his strongest support came from voters between the ages of 18 and 34, public transportation commuters, Asian Americans, and voters identifying as nonreligious. Exit polling indicated that roughly three-quarters of younger voters backed his campaign.
Former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, who ran on an independent ballot line, performed significantly better among white voters overall and within many Orthodox Jewish communities.
Another victory for Mamdani’s political coalition came in New York’s Tenth Congressional District, where former City Comptroller Brad Lander defeated incumbent Congressman Dan Goldman by a decisive margin.
Although Lander has not identified himself as a Democratic Socialist of America member, he campaigned alongside Mamdani, Chevalier, Valdez, and Independent Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, signaling close ideological alignment with the party’s progressive movement.
Once again, voting patterns largely mirrored the other races.
Lander dominated affluent, college-educated neighborhoods such as Park Slope, where household incomes substantially exceed citywide averages and educational attainment is among the highest in New York. Goldman, by contrast, remained more competitive in lower-income areas and overwhelmingly carried Borough Park, one of the city’s largest Orthodox Jewish communities.
Taken together, the primary results suggest that the Democratic Party’s internal ideological divide increasingly follows educational, geographic, and generational lines as much as traditional economic ones.
Whether that pattern continues may become clearer in the coming months.
