Some politicians lose three congressional primaries in a single night and respond by reassessing their strategy. Hakeem Jeffries lost three congressional primaries in a single night and responded by going to the Capitol the next morning to stand next to Republican Speaker Mike Johnson and unveil a giant time capsule for America’s 250th birthday, which is either institutional statesmanship of the highest order or the single most unintentionally on-brand photograph of the 2026 cycle.
Brad Lander beat Jeffries’s endorsed candidate Dan Goldman, 66-34, a margin that is not a defeat so much as a demolition. Darializa Avila Chevalier beat Jeffries’s endorsed candidate Adriano Espaillat, a five-term incumbent. Claire Valdez won. All three were backed by Mayor Zohran Mamdani. According to The Intercept, when Jeffries appeared on the screen at Mamdani’s Brooklyn election night watch party, the crowd chanted: “You’re next! You’re next!” Jeffries was not at the watch party. He was absorbing results somewhere and then apparently resting up for his bipartisan time capsule engagement the following morning.
Before the polls closed Tuesday, Jeffries told reporters, according to The Intercept, that he and Mamdani have “agreed to strongly disagree,” and that “a handful of primaries that go in one direction or the other in a given state or two aren’t going to reshape who we are as House Democrats.” Three primaries went in one direction, in one state, and the crowd watching them go in that direction chanted that Jeffries is next.
The Intercept published a piece Thursday by Katherine Krueger arguing that Democrats must move left or become irrelevant. Krueger noted that Jeffries’s political operation has sneeringly referred to any left-wing party challenge as coming from “Team Gentrification.” Team Gentrification won all three races. The label did not survive the night it was coined to insult.
The time capsule unveiled at the Capitol contains messages to be opened in 2076. Fifty years from now, Americans will open it and read whatever Jeffries and Johnson deposited there on the morning after the three worst primary results of Jeffries’s leadership tenure. The capsule’s contents have not been disclosed.
When the leader of the House Democrats spends the morning after his worst primary night standing next to the Republican Speaker for a photo, who exactly is the photo for?
Sources
The Intercept: Democrats Must Move Left or Become Irrelevant
The Intercept: The Left Is Unstoppable, According to Republicans
HuffPost: Top Democrat Seems Sour After Mamdani-Backed Candidates Oust House Incumbents
