Outgoing city comptroller and Zohran Mamdani ally Brad Lander is launching a bid for Congress in the hopes of knocking off two-term Manhattan Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY), The Post confirmed.
Lander’s campaign sent out an email to supporters Tuesday ahead of his official rollout, highlighting his fights with the Trump administration and how he put “his body on the line” for illegal immigrants at 26 Federal Plaza, including getting arrested for allegedly blocking ICE operations there in September.
“It’s time to fight, not fold,” the Brad Lander for Congress email, obtained by The Post, concludes.
The missive also referenced Lander’s cross-endorsement of Mamdani when the two were running in the Democratic mayoral primary in June, giving each other a leg up in the ranked-choice voting election.
The one-term comptroller’s campaign kickoff event was scheduled for Wednesday evening.
Mamdani was expected to throw his support behind Lander despite the pair’s rocky relationship over the past year and a far-left challenger expected to also possibly jump into next year’s race, sources said.
Lander, a former Brooklyn councilman, had been eyeing a top-level job in the incoming City Hall administration, but Mamdani grew frustrated that Lander was touting himself as the would-be adult in the room when the 34-year-old socialist darling took over, according to sources.
The lefty Queens assemblyman was also not impressed with Lander, believing he didn’t fully live up to the good-government persona he painted himself as, the sources said.
Politico first reported Lander’s impending Congressional campaign launch.
The mayor-elect’s fellow Democratic Socialist of America comrade, City Council Member Alexa Aviles, was considering challenging Goldman, too.
Goldman, an heir to the Levi Strauss fortune, was first elected to Congress in 2022 after surviving a crowded primary. He represents the 10th Congressional District represent parts of Lower Manhattan and Brooklyn.
— Additional reporting by Vaughn Golden
