Has New York Hit a Progressive Plateau? The Mayor’s Race Is a Key Test.

Concerns about crime are dominating the Democratic primary, and the party’s left wing has just started to coalesce.

A year ago, the left wing of New York’s Democratic Party was ascendant. Deeply progressive candidates triumphed in state legislative primaries and won a congressional upset, activists fueled a movement to rein in the power of the police, and Mayor Bill de Blasio agreed to cut the Police Department budget. But for most of the Democratic primary season this spring, nearly every available metric has suggested that the political energy has shifted. The question is, by how much. The June 22 primary contests for mayor and other city offices are critical, if imperfect, tests of the mood of Democratic voters on the cusp of a summer that many experts believe will be marked by high rates of gun violence in cities across the United States.