Brad Lander, Dan Goldman feud over 'dark money' in NY's 10th District primary

Dave Goldiner, New York Daily News on Mar 23, 2026

By clicking submit, I authorize Arcamax and its affiliates to: (1) use, sell, and share my information for marketing purposes, including cross-context behavioral advertising, as described in our Privacy Policy , (2) add to information that I provide with other information like interests inferred from web page views, or data lawfully obtained from data brokers, such as past purchase or location data, or publicly available data, (3) contact me or enable others to contact me by email or other means with offers for different types of goods and services, and (4) retain my information while I am engaging with marketing messages that I receive and for a reasonable amount of time thereafter. I understand I can opt out at any time through an email that I receive, or by clicking here

NEW YORK — Brad Lander and Rep. Dan Goldman traded barbs on Monday over their campaigns’ conflicting proposals to limit the impact of big-money spending by outside political special interest groups in their fierce Democratic campaign in the NY-10 House district.

Lander started the squabble by calling on Goldman to sign what he called a “People’s Pledge” to reject attack ads funded by outside super PACs, which are often bankrolled by murky billionaires and lobbyists like the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, or AIPAC.

The voluntary pledge, which Lander says was initiated by Sen. Bernie Sanders in 2012, calls on candidates’ campaign to donate 50% of the cost of any ads spent by outside groups on its behalf to charity.

“NY-10 should not be for sale,” said Lander, the former controller and mayoral candidate. “I’m challenging Dan Goldman to sign the People’s Pledge and commit to leaving this race up to the people of this district.”

Lander’s campaign portrayed the effort as a way to prevent AIPAC-aligned groups from meddling in the primary on behalf of Goldman, who is a strong supporter of the Jewish state.

Goldman’s campaign wasted no time hitting back at Lander for what it suggested was hypocritical grandstanding.

It noted that Lander is actively seeking the backing of left-leaning groups like the Working Families Party and Indivisible, which are harshly critical of Goldman.

“We propose that both candidates sign a simple pledge to cease all negative messaging from the campaigns themselves as well as all associated organizations, and reject outside interference in the election entirely,” said Simone Kanter, a Goldman campaign spokesperson.

Goldman also repeated his call for seven televised debates between the two candidates. Lander has not committed to the debates.

Lander is mounting what is considered to be a potent challenge from the left to Goldman in the June 23 primary for the Democratic nomination in the district spanning lower Manhattan and a swathe of brownstone Brooklyn.

Mayor Zohran Mamdani and several progressive leaders are backing Lander but Goldman, a two-term incumbent, says he is running on a record of effective opposition to President Trump.

Some Democratic power brokers were hoping New York would redraw its congressional districts to combine Goldman’s home turf in lower Manhattan with Rep. Nicole Malliotakis’ Staten Island-based NY-11 district, a move that would have likely led Goldman to switch races.

But the U.S. Supreme Court nixed that plan, putting Lander and Goldman back into a Democratic primary cage fight.

_____