Dan Goldman Wins Tight Democratic Primary in NY-10

By Reuvain Borchardt, Rabbi Binyamin Zev Karman and Matis Glenn

NEW YORK — Dan Goldman, a former Assistant U.S. Attorney who rose to fame as prosecutor of then-President Donald Trump’s first impeachment trial, won a close race in the Democratic primary in New York’s 10th Congressional district, defeating a host of elected officials in his first political race.

The Associated Press called the race at 12:39 a.m., with Goldman leading his closest challenger, Yuh-Line Niou, by 25.72% to 23.71%, or 1,306 votes, with more than 98% of the vote counted. Mondaire Jones came in third place with 18.16%, followed by Carlina Rivera at 16.93%, Jo Anne Simon at 6.15%, and Elizabeth Holtzman at 4.39%.

The district includes all of Lower Manhattan and parts of Brooklyn including Boerum Hill and Park Slope, and Boro Park below 14th Avenue.

Goldman, 46, declared victory more than two hours earlier in a 13-minute speech to supporters in SoHo, saying, “This has been an inspiring and humbling experience as a first-time candidate and to stand in front of you here today as your Democratic nominee for Congress. While we will appreciate and respect the democratic process and make sure that all the votes are counted, it is quite clear from the way that the results have come in, that we have won.”

Shortly before Goldman’s speech, Niou, 39, spoke for under six minutes to her supporters in Brooklyn Heights, saying, “I know that tonight, the results aren’t yet what we hoped to hear. But we will not concede until we count every single vote. What we’ve been through together is too important to give up this night … We sent a powerful message with election results, that things can get better, that things can change, that people can take control of their government.”

In his comments, Goldman emphasized a primary focus of his campaign, opposition to Donald Trump, saying the results are “not a victory for myself, for any one person,” but “for all of us who will not let authoritarian forces undermine the foundation of our democracy and the rule of law.”

“Donald Trump and his authoritarian Republican Party are a danger to our progressive values, our safety and our way of life,” Goldman said. “And make no mistake about it. He will run again in 2024 and he will try to steal the next election. And if the Republicans take the majority in the House in November, they will try to impeach President Biden and they will drive our government to a standstill. The stakes could not be higher right now. Everything is on the ballot in November. The right to choose, the right to vote, our safety, our planet and our democracy. We must acknowledge these stakes and aggressively fight the rising tide of fascism that has infected the Republican Party.”

Assemblyman Simcha Eichenstein, who endorsed Goldman, told Hamodia, “I’m proud to have endorsed Dan, as I believe he is uniquely qualified and will be a representative that will fight relentlessly for all our diverse communities in Washington.”

Goldman received the unanimous endorsement of Boro Park community leaders, representing over two dozen yeshivas and Chassidic groups. Goldman won 76% of the vote in Eichenstein’s 48th Assembly District.

Joel Rosenfeld, the Bobov community leader who was the first Boro Park activist to endorse Goldman, told Hamodia that Goldman was among the candidates who had most reached out and sought the community’s endorsement.

“We got to know Dan during the last few months,” said Rosenfeld. “He really showed an interest to learn about our community, and reached out constantly for our support. He is familiar with our issues, and we look forward to having a real friend in Congress.”

Goldman was also endorsed by a group of Lower East Side rabbis.

Goldman has a familiarity with the religious community, as his wife is Modern Orthodox.

Goldman, a wealthy heir to the Levi Strauss fortune, spent ten years as an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, then worked for the liberal Brennan Center for Justice and as a legal analyst for MSNBC.

He gained national prominence by prosecuting the impeachment of Trump in late 2019 and early 2020, on charges the president used his office to pressure Ukraine to investigate Hunter Biden, son of Joe Biden, who would challenge (and defeat) Trump for the presidency in November 2020. Trump was impeached by the House but acquitted in the Senate trial.

The following year, Goldman announced he would run for New York Attorney General in 2022, but he withdrew from that race after Attorney General Letitia James opted to seek reelection rather than running for governor.

Goldman may have had a disadvantage in being unfamiliar name in electoral politics, but he had an enormous financial advantage, pouring more than $4 million of his own money into the race, flooding the district with advertisements.

Goldman won a race in which more than a dozen candidates declared for the Democratic primary after redistricting made this an open seat. He ended up beating two Assemblywomen (Niou and Simon); a Councilwoman (Rivera); a sitting Congressman (Jones) who left his upstate district to run for this seat; and a former Congresswoman, New York City Comptroller and Brooklyn District Attorney (Holtzman) seeking a return to electoral politics at 81 years old. Former New York City mayor Bill de Blasio dropped out of the race last month due to low public and internal polls.

Goldman was considered the most moderate of the viable candidates, describing himself to Hamodia as taking a “practical, pragmatic, business-friendly and pro-Israel approach to the job,” though he refers to himself as a progressive.

He faced sharp criticism from his progressive opponents after saying in the Hamodia interview that he supported limiting a woman’s right to terminate her pregnancy to pre-viability, before changing his stance mid-interview and saying he opposed any restrictions on the practice. He subsequently has campaigned as staunchly pro-choice.

As recent polls showed Goldman leading the race, some of his progressive opponents, angered that this unknown moderate was spending his way to victory, campaigned together to urge voters to vote for anyone but Goldman. But none of those progressives dropped out of the race, and they essentially split the district’s large left-wing constituency, paving the way for Goldman to win with just over a quarter of the vote.

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rborchardt@hamodia.com

mglenn@hamodia.com