N.Y. Dem Rep. Nadler Defeats Dem Rep. Carolyn Maloney in Primary

Rep. Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., has defeated Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., in a Democrat  primary after a court forced the two veteran lawmakers into the same New York City congressional district.

As the chair of the House Judiciary Committee, Nadler twice led fights to impeach former President Donald Trump. His victory ends a 30-year run in Congress for Maloney, who fought to get government aid for people sickened by clouds of toxic soot after the Sept. 11 attacks.

The unusual battle between incumbents resulted from a redistricting process that lumped Nadler's home base on the west side of Manhattan together with Maloney's on the east side. 

Both lawmakers live in New York's newly configured 12th Congressional District. Neither was willing to run in another part of the city.

Nadler and Maloney was joined in the race by 38-year-old Suraj Patel, a lawyer and lecturer at New York University who also challenged Maloney in Democrat primaries in 2018 and 2020. A fourth candidate, Ashmi Sheth, a former Federal Reserve Bank of New York employee, was on the ballot but did not meet fundraising benchmarks to qualify for debates.

Nadler, 75, was first elected to Congress in 1992. As chair of the House Judiciary Committee, he led both impeachments of Trump. He was buoyed in the last weeks of the campaign by endorsements from The New York Times and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.

Maloney, 76, was also first elected in 1992. She is the first woman to chair the House Oversight and Reform Committee. She is known for her longtime advocacy for Sept. 11 first responders seeking compensation for diseases they attribute to contamination from the destruction of the World Trade Center. She wore a firefighter’s jacket on Capitol Hill and at the 2019 Met Gala.

Few policy differences between Nadler, Maloney and Patel emerged during the primary campaign.

All support abortion rights, the Green New Deal and tighter restrictions on gun ownership. Patel argued that Nadler's and Maloney's generation failed to achieve Democrat goals like codifying Roe v. Wade and should cede to new blood.

Nadler and Maloney countered their seniority in Congress brings clout that benefits New Yorkers.

Friends for many years, the two Democrats lamented having to run against each other — something that only happened after a court redrew the boundaries of the state’s congressional districts after concluding the legislature botched the process.

"I didn't want to run against my good friend, Jerry Nadler," Maloney said at a recent debate. "We have been friends and allies for years. Unfortunately, we were drawn into the same district."

The primary winner in the overwhelmingly Democrat district will face Republican Michael Zumbluskas in the November general election.