A new generation of progressive candidates is heading to Albany, and the real estate industry is paying close attention. Tuesday’s Democratic primaries for New York’s state Senate and Assembly saw a wave of challengers unseat incumbents, many of them backed by Mayor Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic Socialists of America, and the Working Families Party. Their victories stand to reshape housing and tenant policy across the state.
Orkin Ousts Rajkumar in Queens
Perhaps the most striking result came in Assembly District 38 in Queens, where immigrant rights attorney David Orkin defeated five-year incumbent Jenifer Rajkumar by nearly 19 points.
He earned just shy of 59 percent of the vote with backing from the Democratic Socialists, the Working Families Party, and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Though Mamdani did not formally support him, it is rumored the mayor helped recruit the challenger to the race, and Orkin leaned into that perception with campaign materials featuring photos of them together.
Tenants’ rights and housing affordability anchored Orkin’s platform in the Ridgewood, Glendale, and Woodhaven district. The candidate pledged to expand good cause eviction protections, support a statewide right to counsel, and broaden access to housing vouchers.
He also backs the Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act, which would give tenants partnered with nonprofits the right of first refusal when buildings go up for sale.
The real estate industry, meanwhile, lined up behind Rajkumar. Two Trees CEO Jed Walentas gave $5,000, while Alice and Sam Tisch contributed a combined $7,500. An SL Green subsidiary chipped in another $3,000. REBNY’s PAC plus the NYC District Council of Carpenters added similar amounts to her reelection effort. The incumbent ran largely on an anti-DSA message and boasted endorsements from Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, state Sen. James Sanders Jr., District Council 37, and 32BJ SEIU.
In April, Orkin sued to get Rajkumar removed from the ballot after her campaign was accused of forging petition signatures — including from a journalist and one of Orkin’s own volunteers — but a judge dismissed the case on procedural grounds.
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Huntley Cruises in Brooklyn
Over in Assembly District 58 in Brooklyn, Eon Huntley beat five-year Stefani Zinerman by 22 points in his second attempt at the Bed-Stuy and Crown Heights seat.
He lost to her in a 2024 primary but returned with socialist and Working Families Party endorsements this time around. City Council member Chi Ossé framed the race as a choice between developer influence and affordability. Zinerman’s backing by SL Green and the Moving Brooklyn Forward independent expenditure — which drew sizable donations from Extell chairman Gary Barnett and Two Trees — wasn’t enough to hold the seat.
Huntley’s housing platform describes the neighborhood’s soul being “ripped out by landlords and real estate developers who see our homes as nothing more than assets from which to squeeze a profit.” The Brooklyn candidate has outlined priorities including funding public housing upgrades, supporting a plan for a Social Housing Development Authority, and expanding eviction protections for renters in small and new buildings. Mamdani appeared alongside him during the campaign but did not officially endorse.
The Edge Cases and Establishment Holdouts
Not every winner fit neatly into the socialist mold. In Senate District 13 in Queens, Assembly member Jessica González-Rojas — backed by the Working Families Party but not the DSA — secured the Democratic nomination to replace seven-year Jessica Ramos, along with defeating former State Senator Hiram Monserrate.
An ongoing feud between the outgoing senator and billionaire Mets owner Steve Cohen over his Metropolitan Park casino project became a flash point.
The winner supported allocating parkland for the casino in Flushing Meadows Park.
Ramos introduced a bill Monday that would have blocked a contribution from Cohen to González-Rojas’ spouse Danny Rojas, who runs tech education nonprofit All Star Code and received money from the Steven & Alexandra Cohen Foundation in 2025. The billionaire denied the payment had anything to do with the casino proposal. An independent expenditure committee supporting the senate candidate received a record-breaking $850,000 from a similarly named entity, Progress for New York Inc., one week before primary day.
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González-Rojas’ senate housing platform includes a “21st-Century Mitchell-Lama” program using public investment to build permanently affordable co-ops and rentals, support for a statewide Social Housing Authority, and full funding of the Housing Access Voucher Program at $250 million.
In Senate District 25 in Brooklyn, Jabari Brisport — Mamdani’s former roommate — fended off a challenge from Marlon Rice by 57 points.
The senator is pushing legislation to crack down on NYCHA code violations through a searchable public database and has championed a four-bill package aimed at curbing deed theft. He backs a “flip tax” on property transfers designed to deter speculation and generate revenue for affordable housing.
During his first term on the State Senate housing committee, Brisport passed legislation to restrict foreclosures and evictions for a two-year period and made certain zip codes “Cease and Desist Zones” to prevent aggressive real estate solicitation practices.
Grace Lee Wins Lower Manhattan With Real Estate Backing
Assembly member Grace Lee landed the Lower Manhattan Senate seat held by outgoing Senator Brian Kavanagh, beating former colleague Yuh-Line Niou by 25 points. The winner was one of few candidates to secure a Democratic nomination for the state legislature with backing from major real estate players, including the Tisch family and Downtown for Change, an independent expenditure committee that received $50,000 from Extell’s Gary Barnett.
Niou had Working Families Party backing plus financial support from the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades and Platinum CEO James Halpin. The mayor opted not to endorse in the race despite the lack of an incumbent.
Her platform includes funding a voucher program for housing, building permanently affordable housing, and capping utility bills at six percent for low-income households. Lee aligned with her opponent on opposing a new high-rise jail in Chinatown, pitching a relocation of the borough-based detention facility to the vacant Manhattan Correctional Center complex nearby.
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During her Assembly tenure, she passed eviction protections, secured $400 million in emergency rental assistance for NYCHA and Section 8 residents, and voted for 485x developer abatements plus an office-to-residential conversion tax credit.
An Unfinished Race and an Incumbent Who Held On
In Assembly District 66 in Manhattan, local District Leader Jeannine Kiely leads five other candidates with 27.6 percent of the roughly 15,000 ballots cast, but the race remains too close to call. The frontrunner founded the Friends of Elizabeth Street Garden, which sued the city to block plans for 123 units of senior housing on the Nolita site.
Officials ultimately abandoned the plan.
The contest has become a referendum on development politics in a district spanning the West Village, Soho, and Tribeca. Ryder Kessler, co-founder of pro-growth group Abundance New York, sits in third place with 22.7 percent — a partial rebuke to growth-focused messaging.
Outgoing Assembly member Deborah Glick selected Kiely as her successor last year and was a frequent antagonist of property developers.
In Assembly District 70 in Harlem, Jordan Wright held his seat against DSA-backed challenger Conrad Blackburn with 53.9 percent of the vote. Wright campaigned on boosting housing production across income levels. His opponent argued the sitting member had failed to tackle the neighborhood’s shortage of homes for low- and middle-income residents and backed tenant purchase rights and community land trusts.
Outside Super PACs poured more than $900,000 into anti-Blackburn efforts, the most directed at any DSA-backed candidate in Tuesday’s primaries. The second-largest target was Huntley, who faced about $600,000 in outside opposition but defeated the incumbent anyway.