Queens state Assemblywoman Claire Valdez — a Democratic Socialists of America member and ally of Mayor Zohran Mamdani — formally announced her candidacy Thursday to replace outgoing Rep. Nydia Velázquez.
The 36-year-old former union organizer promised to usher in “a golden age” of labor organizing as well as fighting “regime change” in Venezuela in her launch video for New York’s 7th Congressional District posted to X.
“This year Democrats across the country will take on MAGA fascists to win back the majority. But it is this district that will decide what this majority fights for,” she said.
Valdez will be squaring off in a Democratic primary against fellow lefty pol Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso, a native son of Brooklyn and former councilman, for the district stretching from North Brooklyn into Western Queens.
While Mamdani hasn’t officially endorsed anyone in the race, he had strong praise for Valdez in December when her candidacy was first rumored.
“I think Assemblymember Valdez is someone who’s been an incredible public servant and someone who has shown the ability to marry the politics of working class people, whether we are speaking of an ideology of the left as well as organized labor,” he said at the time.
Mamdani’s brain trust members Morris Katz and Andrew Epstein, who worked on his insurgent bid for mayor but have not taken any official City Hall positions, will be advising Valdez’s congressional campaign.
Katz has been privately pushing Mamdani to endorse both Valdez and Upper West Side state Assemblyman Micah Lasher, who is competing in the heavily crowded primary to replace retiring Rep. Jerry Nadler in New York’s 12th Congressional District, according to sources.
Neither Katz nor a rep for Mamdani responded to requests for comment.
