Queens Assembly Member Claire Valdez on Thursday launched her bid to replace U.S. Representative Nydia Velázquez in New York's 7th Congressional District, challenging Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso in the June Democratic primary election.
In her campaign launch, Valdez, a Socialist Democrat, said she came to politics through low-wage jobs and the labor movement.
"That’s the perspective I’ll bring to Washington to take on oligarchy, fascism, and war—and win for working people," she said on Instagram.
The campaign video touched on the affordability issue for working New Yorkers, who talked about rising rent and the inability to have children in an expensive city.
"Workers deserve it all," she said in the video. "Not scraps, not promises, not someday but now."
As a worker at Columbia University, Valdez joined UAW Local 2110, was elected to the bargaining committee, and organized to democratize her union, according to her campaign website. A longtime leader in New York City Democratic Socialists of America, Valdez has served in the state assembly since 2025.
The 7th District, which houses parts of northern Brooklyn and Queens, is currently represented by Velázquez, who in November announced that she was not going to seek re-election.
Reynoso, also a progressive Democrat, launched his bid for the seat in December.
