Queens Council Member Julie Won on Monday announced her campaign for Congress in New York's 7th Congressional District, running on a platform that supports working families from birth through retirement.
NY-7 covers parts of Brooklyn and Queens and is currently represented by Congresswoman Nydia Velázquez, who in November announced that she was not going to seek re-election. Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso and Queens Assembly Member Claire Valdez are also running for the seat.
Won said her platform "Lifetime of Care," will push American society to a care economy from a profit economy, where "success isn't measured by how much we take from people but by how well we take care of each other."
"Here's what I believe: from the moment you're born until the day you retire, your country should have your back," Won said in a statement. "That's not how it works right now. We live in a society built to extract, not to care. You're treated as valuable only when you're most productive. The moment you're not — when you're too young, too old, too sick, too tired — you're on your own. Parents can't find affordable childcare. Seniors are warehoused or forgotten. Workers are one illness away from losing everything. Immigrant families are being ripped apart by [Immigration and Customs Enforcement]."
Won's platform includes:
- Universal paid family leave and free childcare
- Universal Healthcare for All and an end to medical debt
- Expanded Social Security, fund culturally appropriate elder care centers, and culturally appropriate meal deliveries
- Fair pay for the care workers who look after our children and parents
- Abolishing ICE and protecting immigrants through comprehensive immigration reform
- Stop the bombing of innocent civilians in Gaza
- Housing for all through social housing and tenant protections
- Climate action via green jobs and an end to fossil fuel subsidies.
Won currently represents City Council District 26, which covers portions of Long Island City, Sunnsyside, Astoria and Woodside. She is the first Korean-American to serve in the City Council.
