Claire Valdez Claims Resounding Win in NYC Primary

Democratic Socialist Claire Valdez, an artist and New York State Assemblywoman, clinched the Democratic nomination to represent New York’s 7th Congressional District in the United States House of Representatives in a landslide victory in Tuesday night's primary.

Valdez, a Texas-born painter who moved to New York City to work in the arts, had defeated her top competitor, Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso, a member of the progressive Working Families Party, by about 20% as of Wednesday morning, June 24.

Valdez is now poised to win the seat representing New York's so-called "Commie Corner", a district encompassing parts of Brooklyn and Queens, including Ridgewood, Williamsburg, and Bushwick, in November's election. She would succeed retiring Representative Nydia Velázquez, who had endorsed Reynoso.

In an interview with Hyperallergic's Editor-in-Chief Hakim Bishara, Valdez, 36, connected her experience as an artist in the city to her platform of affordability and labor rights.

“We’re at this terrible crisis moment where bosses and billionaires are crushing working people. They’re making our rents too expensive; they’re cutting our wages; they’re stealing our time,” Valdez said.

“As somebody who once aspired to be an artist and came to New York to pursue that dream, the purpose of our movement is to make sure that anyone can be an artist, that everyone has the time off, and the living wages, and the healthcare, and the space to pursue passions, to spend time with family, to live a good life,” she continued.

Valdez worked as a program assistant in the visual arts department at Columbia University, where she cultivated a passion for labor organizing as part of UAW Local 2110. She eventually joined the local chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America, and in 2024, she won the Assembly District 37 race with a campaign that took aim at corporate donors and centered strong unions and affordability.

Valdez was one of three Mamdani-backed congressional candidates to sweep Tuesday's Democratic primaries, including activist Darializa Avila Chevalier and former comptroller Brad Lander.

Chevalier, a Democratic Socialist, toppled five-term Democratic congressman Adriano Espaillat for New York's 13th district seat, which encompasses Upper Manhattan and parts of the Bronx. The city's 10th congressional district, including Lower Manhattan and parts of eastern Brooklyn, handed the Democratic nomination to Lander, unseating two-time Congressman Dan Goldman.

The trio's victory underscored the city's appetite for policies that affirm immigrants' rights, democratize healthcare and education, and condemn Israel's genocide in Gaza.

“Artists are struggling with the same things as everyone else: housing, healthcare, and time off,” Valdez told Hyperallergic.

“Art is often treated as a luxury good and as an investment, not as something that is the representation of our collective humanity,” she said. “The people who make art are workers who deserve remuneration, protection, and dignity.”