A Progressive Wave — for Now

Progressives made more gains in this week’s Democratic primaries — mainly by taking out incumbents who’ve been around long enough to see the district change beneath them.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez cruised to an easy primary victory, and Jamaal Bowman looks to have decisively defeated three-decade incumbent Rep. Eliot Engel in a Bronx/Westchester district. Rep. Carolyn Maloney is in the fight of her political life with lefty Suraj Patel.

Oh, and City Councilman Ritchie Torres heads the pack to succeed retiring Rep. José Serrano in The Bronx.

The Queens Democratic machine (now headed by Rep. Gregory Meeks) took another big whomping as Albany veterans Aravella Simotas, Michael Miller and Michael DenDekker lost to younger progressive insurgents. But the Meeks-backed Donovan Richards holds a 10-point over his closest rival in the race for borough president.

Overall, the city Democratic Socialists of America did well, as AOC, Bowman and at least three of its other candidates (out of eight) look to be winners, and a sixth, Souffrant Forrest, trails Brooklyn Assemblyman Walter Mosley slightly.

For now, the DSA and other progs are the best-organized challengers to the old machines, which are slow to adjust to demographic shifts.

But these rebels are also committed to far-left positions that may not speak to voters as circumstances change: Socialism and cop-bashing have been easy sells while the city’s been prosperous and safe; not so much if the public decides those policies are killing New York.