Everyone agreed that New York City’s primary Tuesday was high stakes. Could Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s charisma, ideas, and volunteer power translate into electoral victories for his allies? And could the New York City Democratic Socialists of America (NYC-DSA) keep up its electoral momentum after the group’s historic upset in last year’s mayoral race? Last night’s answer to both questions was a massive, resounding yes.

The socialist victories far surpassed anyone’s predictions. In an open primary to replace retiring progressive giant Rep. Nydia Velázquez, State Assembly Member Claire Valdez’s race against Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso was the subject of significant attention, since Velázquez openly denounced Mamdani for not backing a candidate personally approved by her as a successor and the Working Families Party (WFP) endorsed the borough president. The race was expected to be a close one.

Reynoso is an undeniable progressive with a substantive history of independence from the Democratic Party establishment. But Reynoso was more embedded in traditional backroom political dealmaking and backed by the low-expectations wing of the labor movement, in which politics is mostly a matter of making safe bets on electing and reelecting traditional corporate Democrats — even in cities and neighborhoods where it’s clear that the horizons have shifted in a more expansive pro-worker direction.