In a cluster of contentious Democratic primaries Tuesday, two New York incumbents were ousted from the U.S. House after redistricting shuffled congressional districts in one of the nation's largest liberal states.
Rep. Carolyn Maloney, a 15-term incumbent who chairs a powerful House committee, and Rep. Mondaire Jones, a first-term progressive who was one of the first openly gay Black members of Congress, lost their seats.
Maloney lost to her longtime colleague, Rep. Jerry Nadler, who became her rival as their longtime Manhattan congressional districts were merged.
Jones lost a packed primary in Manhattan and Brooklyn to Daniel Goldman, a former federal prosecutor who served as counsel to House Democrats in the first impeachment inquiry against Trump.
In other races in the state, t he chair of the House Democrats' campaign arm, Sean Patrick Maloney, survived a primary challenge of his own from a progressive. Democrats kept a swing districts in a special election — at least for a few more months.
In Florida races, an incumbent Republican narrowly defeated a far-right provocateur. Meanwhile, U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz, a conservative firebrand, won his primary with the specter of a federal investigation looming over him.
Some of the top elections:
END OF AN ERA
Nadler and Carolyn Maloney each chair powerful committees and had spent 30 years representing Manhattan's Upper West Side and Upper East Side, respectively. But they ended up in the same race after new redistricting maps merged much of their longtime congressional districts.
The race for New York's 12th District, between Maloney, 76, and Nadler, 75, became contentious. The two stopped speaking after deciding to run against each other, Nadler said, and the campaign became barbed, with Maloney questioning his mental acuity. Nadler, who was endorsed by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, has talked up his role overseeing Donald Trump's impeachments while serving as chair of the House Judiciary Committee. Maloney has touted her own check on the former president while serving as chair of the powerful House Oversight Committee and positioned herself as a feminist champion.
Challenging them both was 38-year-old lawyer Suraj Patel, who argued it was time for a new face in Congress.
A CROWDED FIELD FOR AN OPEN SEAT
With Nadler and Maloney running in the district immediately north, a congressional seat covering southern Manhattan, including Wall Street, and Brooklyn, was a rare open contest in one of the most liberal and influential areas of the country.
Daniel Goldman, a former federal prosecutor who served as counsel to House Democrats in the first impeachment inquiry against Trump, won a crowded primary for New York's 10th District, which attracted a bevy of progressive candidates.