Jim Clyburn Unconcerned by Socialist Gains in New York Primaries

Last year, former House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn endorsed Andrew Cuomo for mayor of New York City. Clyburn, whose endorsement of Joe Biden ahead of the South Carolina primary in 2020 crushed Bernie Sanders’s campaign, likely hoped to repeat that.

It didn’t work out that way. Instead, not the former governor from Queens, but the little-known state legislator from that Big Apple borough, shocked the political world, trouncing Cuomo in the primary, beating him again in the general and the city’s first socialist mayor.

On Tuesday, Mamdani struck again by endorsing a slate of socialist candidates in New York’s congressional primary and swept, taking out two incumbent Democratic incumbents and getting his hand-picked candidate for an open seat.

But on Thursday, Clyburn told The Independent he had little reason to sweat.

"I'm not worried about a thing,” Clyburn said. When pressed about it, he simply said, “Why should I be?”

It might be easy to think that Mamdani’s socialist and socialist-backed slate – Darializa Avilia Chevalier, Claire Valdez and Brad Lander — could wind up being something akin to the House Freedom Caucus, that band of right-wing radicals who deposed John Boehner and then later Kevin McCarthy as speaker and who regularly block congressional procedure.

Indeed, this week, the House left early because a handful of right-wing radicals opposed a House rule vote, a procedural tool to allow for votes on legislation.

Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.), a moderate, openly said he thought they could wind up being troublemakers.

“You gotta look at this and say if they try to be the Freedom Caucus and the Tea Party wrapped up in one and they come here and aren't interested in making life more affordable for people and getting things done for people, but that again is giving me one why I think, right now they've shown themselves to only be problem creators, not problem solvers,” Gottheimer told The Independent.

There is some level of hypocrisy in this. For all of Gottheimer’s criticism of obstructionism, he and a handful of Democrats from New York famously tried to hold up Joe Biden’s “Build Back Better” package lest it include it lift the cap on state and local tax deductions.

Still, Gottheimer might see this crop of left-leaning Democrats as a threat, specifically because of Gottheimer’s support for Israel in the past. His fellow Democrat Dan Goldman, another major supporter of Israel, lost his primary in New York’s 10th district partially because Goldman did not endorse Mamdani. Goldman and Lander are both Jewish, but Lander’s criticism of Israel’s military engagement in Gaza earned him favor on the left.

By the same token, many left-wingers have their sights set on House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries. Most political prognosticators say that Democrats will likely win the House majority, which would make Jeffries the first Black speaker.

But Jeffries has clashed with the left throughout his time in politics and he notably did not endorse Mamdani until late in the primary.

“I have 1,000 percent confidence that he'll crush that, and he'll also crush people who try to create chaos instead of getting things done,” Gottheimer told The Independent.

There is reason to believe that the left-wing newcomers will not be as much of a hassle. For one, while they won open seats in Pennsylvania and Georgia, left-wing Democrats have had mixed success elsewhere. The same night in Utah, Ben McAdams, an anti-abortion Democrat, won a primary against a more left-wing Democrat. And in New York, Rep. Ritchie Torres won his primary despite his outspoken support for Israel.

Second, while the Tea Party and the Freedom Caucus had their moments, many of them think government doesn’t do that much good anyway. So while progressives might not like a defense spending bill or a bill that includes aid to Israel, they are much less likely to block bills that include nutrition assistance or Medicaid.

“I don't want to replicate the Freedom Caucus on our side, because it has made this place completely and totally dysfunctional, and we are not delivering for Americans,” Rep. Becca Balint of Vermont, a member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, told reporters.

Still, they will have the ability to yield leverage when it comes time, especially if the House Democratic caucus has a tight majority.

A perfect example of this is Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), whose 2018 primary victory against Caucus Chairman Joe Crowley in the Bronx now looks like a warning shot that preceded Mamdani.

When The Independent asked her in a gaggle whether having a group of left-wing lawmakers helps with leverage, she said “mhm” before going into the elevator to vote.

But Ocasio-Cortez has largely refrained from endorsing against incumbents and became one of Kamala Harris’s biggest defenders in 2024, though she still has become a sought-after endorsement among upstarts in open races outside New York.

This might be why Clyburn isn’t worried.