Claire Valdez, a first-term state assemblywoman, won the Democratic congressional primary in New York’s Seventh District on Tuesday, defeating a longstanding incumbent to become the presumptive winner of the general election in November.
Here are five things to know about her.
1. Ms. Valdez received Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s endorsement. She was one of several candidates across the city backed by the mayor, who has sought to reshape New York’s congressional delegation to reflect his own brand of democratic socialism. He also helped Ms. Valdez raise money and campaigned for her in the Seventh District, which includes parts of Brooklyn and Queens. But the race split his progressive coalition, pitting left against further left.
2. She defeated Antonio Reynoso, with whom she broadly agrees. Mr. Reynoso, the Brooklyn borough president, would normally have been the favorite to win because of his deep roots in the district and his progressive record. He and Ms. Valdez share many positions, including abolishing the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, raising taxes on the rich, and opposing Israel’s war in Gaza. But she argued that he had not been bold enough in office, and she had the backing of the popular mayor, who wonthe district decisively last year.
3. She was opposed by Representative Nydia Velázquez, the Seventh District’s outgoing congresswoman. Ms. Velázquez, the first Puerto Rican woman elected to Congress, has been a towering figure among New York City progressives for three decades. Ms. Velázquez endorsed Mr. Reynoso and has openly chafed at Mr. Mamdani’s involvement in the race.
4. She has promised “a golden age for organized labor.” Ms. Valdez, who is Latina and a Native American citizen of the Ysleta del Sur Pueblo Nation, moved to New York from Texas in 2015 to pursue a career in the arts. She later worked at Columbia University, where she became an active union organizer, and joined the Democratic Socialists of America. She has said she would be one of the few members of Congress to have belonged to a labor union.
5. The race was a contest to define both the left and the district. The Seventh is home to some of the country’s youngest and most progressive voters. Mr. Reynoso’s political base consisted of older and longer-term residents, including many Latinos, while Ms. Valdez drew support from newer arrivals in gentrified neighborhoods.
The post 5 Things to Know About Claire Valdez appeared first on New York Times.
