{"id":383,"date":"2026-07-01T22:16:05","date_gmt":"2026-07-01T22:16:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businessrelocationdigest.com\/?p=383"},"modified":"2026-07-01T22:16:05","modified_gmt":"2026-07-01T22:16:05","slug":"how-ritchie-torres-diehard-israel-supporter-easily-survived-a-brutal-primary-cycle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businessrelocationdigest.com\/?p=383","title":{"rendered":"How Ritchie Torres, diehard Israel supporter, easily survived a brutal primary cycle"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

While three congressional candidates who are highly critical of the United States\u2019 relationship with Israel won Democratic primaries last week, Rep. Ritchie Torres\u2019 resounding primary win bucked the trend. Torres is a staunch Israel supporter, an incumbent who has received $1.6 million in individual donations directed to his campaign from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee over the course of his congressional career, one of the top recipients in the House. And despite a primary challenge from the left, he\u2019s sailing to reelection for the third time with a resounding 72% of the vote.<\/p>\n

Read more What\u2019s NOT in the New York City budget?<\/a><\/p>\n

Torres has been a staunch supporter of Israel for many years, becoming a leading advocate in Congress among Democrats. As Americans\u2019 positive perceptions of Israel have waned, now more than two years into Israel\u2019s war in the Gaza Strip, Torres has backed off slightly. He\u2019s been less outspoken of late, but his positions have not shifted. As recently as 2025, he called the Free Palestine movement a “social contagion.”<\/p>\n

If New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani\u2019s election over former Gov. Andrew Cuomo was the canary in the coalmine for pro-Israel politicians like Goldman and Espaillat, what does their defeat say for a politician like Torres?\u00a0<\/p>\n

On paper, Torres is exactly the kind of candidate that the Democratic Socialists of America would want to take down. \u201cI know you stopped talking about Israel, Ritchie Torres,\u201d leftist streamer Hasan Piker, who is closely affiliated with many DSA candidates, said at Claire Valdez\u2019 victory party. \u201cI\u2019ll see you in two years motherfucker. Every time there\u2019s a decision that you can make where you are pro-Israel I hope you remember you got two more years Ritchie.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

But House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, another AIPAC darling, cited Torres\u2019 victory as proof that the Israel issue isn\u2019t the only deciding factor. \u201cIn the South Bronx, Ritchie Torres was running against somebody who was heavily critical of Ritchie Torres\u2019 position on Israel, and he won by 50 points.\u201d<\/p>\n

So what gives? How did Torres survive when other Democrats of his ilk were targeted and lost? According to his allies, the 38-year-old Congress member is still seen as a rising star who maintains close relationships and diverse alliances and who is not out of step with his Bronx district. According to critics, he\u2019s just really good at adapting. Torres has recently made overtures to Mamdani, for example, appearing with the mayor at an internet access event in May.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cHe’s shifted over the years when he’s needed to, in a very shrewd way,\u201d said state Sen. Gustavo Rivera, who has generally been a Torres critic.. \u201cHe certainly knows how to keep himself politically alive. But you know, his time might be running out.\u201d<\/p>\n

Torres was elected to the New York City Council in 2013, and he represented the Central Bronx for six years before prevailing in a crowded primary to replace retiring Rep. Jos\u00e9 Serrano in 2020. This year was the first time since that the incumbent faced a challenger: Former Assembly Member and former mayoral candidate Michael Blake. Blake\u2019s campaign heavily emphasized Torres\u2019 support for Israel.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But compared to the campaigns of fellow insurgents Darializa Avila Chevalier and Brad Lander, Blake\u2019s effort fell flat. Torres effectively cast him as an unserious perennial candidate and exploited his inconsistency on issues including support for Israel. Blake failed to land endorsements from popular figures like Mayor Zohran Mamdani or from organizations like the Working Families Party. He even ended up winning\u00a0 Blake\u2019s former Assembly district with 71% of the vote. Torres\u2019 $15 million dollar warchest, compared to Blake\u2019s paltry half million, will lead him sailing into victory in November when he faces Andre Easton, a teacher running with the Party for Socialism and Liberation.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Read more Darializa Avila Chevalier is dating Mamdani\u2019s lawyer Ramzi Kassem<\/a><\/p>\n

His longstanding history with the district has led Torres to a smooth victory in every election. But in the wake of the defeat of fellow AIPAC-funded candidates like Rep. Dan Goldman and Rep. Adriano Espaillat, could Torres be the next target of the DSA, an organization he has called \u201cdespicable, detestable, disgraceful, and disgraced.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

“There’s clearly a lot of hunger to challenge him,\u201d said NYC-DSA Co-Chair Gustavo Gordillo. He noted that likely redistricting makes it difficult to predict what the organization\u2019s strategy will be in 2028, but had thoughts on what Torres could do to avoid a DSA-backed primary challenge: \u201cRitchie Torres needs to break ties with AIPAC. He needs to stand with Palestine. He needs to prioritize his constituents who live in one of the poorest congressional districts in the country rather than focusing on wars abroad.\u201d<\/p>\n

Torres\u2019 campaign defended the Congress member.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cRitchie is a fighter from the Bronx and for the Bronx\u2014a next-generation Democrat with deep roots in the community and a proven record of delivering results for the Bronx,\u201d said Torres campaign spokesperson Benny Stanislawski. \u201cHe has a rare ability to bring together a multi-racial, multi-ethnic, and multi-religious coalition that reflects the diversity and unity of One Bronx. A young, dynamic leader, Ritchie fights for the people of the Bronx because he is one of them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Since Torres\u2019 election in 2020, over $3 billion in federal funds for NYCHA repairs have arrived to his district, City & State reported in a 2024 profile. He\u2019s known for his ability to deliver poignant remarks off the cuff, and, one of the first Black, gay men elected to Congress, he\u2019s been involved in the opening of the first LGBTQ senior center in the Bronx.<\/p>\n

Torres is backed by many established politicians in the Bronx who endorsed him this election season, from Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie to Bronx Borough President Vanessa Gibson to Assembly Member Jeffrey Dinowitz.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had broad support in the community,\u201d\u00a0 said Dinowitz, who represents Riverdale in the state Legislature while Torres represents the neighborhood in Congress. \u201cMaybe in other districts pro-Israel candidates lost, but not in our district.\u201d He said that Torres is able to attract voters by keeping to the \u201cbread and butter issues that they really care about.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

At a press conference in May at an affordable housing complex in the South Bronx, Torres joined Mamdani to announce an expansion of the Neighborhood Internet Program. While the two leaders vehemently disagree on Israel, Torres was eager to stand alongside the mayor who his district backed in the general election in 2025 \u2013 thanking him for \u201cbringing his bold vision of affordability to where it is needed most.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Congressional Democrats blast Trump, Blakeman over newly enacted Essential Plan cuts<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The three-term Congress member handily defeated challenger Michael Blake while two colleagues lost their seats to pro-Palestinian lefties.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":382,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[21],"class_list":["post-383","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-new-york-city","tag-new-york-city"],"yoast_head":"\nHow Ritchie Torres, diehard Israel supporter, easily survived a brutal primary cycle - Business Relocation Digest<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/businessrelocationdigest.com\/?p=383\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How Ritchie Torres, diehard Israel supporter, easily survived a brutal primary cycle - 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