Comptroller Brad Lander leads incumbent Rep. Dan Goldman by 19% in a new progressive poll of a potential Democratic primary matchup in the deep-blue NY-10 district spanning lower Manhattan and brownstone Brooklyn.
Lander, who is enthusiastically backing Zohran Mamdani’s mayoral candidacy, leads Goldman by 52%-to-33% in the poll of a hypothetical one-on-one 2026 primary matchup.
Goldman, a two-term pro-Israel moderate who hasn’t endorsed Mamdani yet, says he and Lander are allies in the fight against President Trump and he welcomes competition in a potential primary face-off.
“Dan has a lot of respect for Brad and enjoys working with him on a number of issues, including Trump’s attack on immigrants. If he or anyone else would like to throw their hat in the ring, they are more than welcome to,” said Simone Kantor, a Goldman spokesman.
Team Goldman derided the survey as an “agenda driven push poll” and predicted that the main issue on the ballot in 2026 will be the battle to win back Congress from Trump’s Republicans, not Mamdani or Israel.
The poll says Lander boasts much better favorability numbers, with a +59 approval rating compared to Goldman’s modest +19% in the poll, which was sponsored by the progressive Demand Progress group.
The former mayoral candidate is also better known than Goldman in his own district, with just 11% not knowing enough about him to make a judgment compared to 24% who said the same about their sitting representative in Congress.
Lander, who co-endorsed Mamdani in their ranked-choice primary against main rival ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo, hasn’t commented on rumors he might run for Congress.
Lander has been considered a likely candidate to take a senior post in a potential Mamdani mayoral administration, assuming the progressive assemblyman fends off Cuomo along with Republican Curtis Sliwa and Mayor Adams in the November general election.
Lander’s Park Slope home is in the 10th district, which was created ahead of the 2022 election and includes all of Manhattan south of 14th Street and a chunk of western Brooklyn.
Significantly, Brooklyn voters comprise nearly 60% of the district’s electorate, a potentially problematic figure for Goldman, who lives in Tribeca.
The poll, which contacted 533 voters since Sept. 3, portrays Goldman’s strong support for Israel as an Achilles heel in a Democratic primary, with the party’s liberal base now strongly disapproving of the seemingly unending conflict in Gaza.
So far, no one has formally announced a challenge to Goldman. Further north, Rep. Jerry Nadler has announced he won’t seek election, setting off a likely crowded race for his district that includes both the Upper East Side and Upper West Side.
