cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/41843291
Akela Lacy
January 14 2026, 6:00 a.m.Justice Democrats is wading into a high-profile congressional race in New York City, where a competition between the progressive Brooklyn borough president and a socialist first-term State Assembly member is testing competing visions for the future of the electoral left under Mayor Zohran Mamdani.
The group is endorsing Claire Valdez, a State Assembly member from Queens and member of the Democratic Socialists of America, to replace retiring Rep. Nydia Velázquez in New York’s 7th Congressional District. Valdez launched her campaign last week alongside Mamdani and United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain, two of her highest-profile backers, in a signal that the race could prove divisive among the most influential figures in the Democratic Party’s left flank.
“Valdez’s campaign has pledged to reject corporate PAC money and is centering her campaign around her background as a labor organizer. Asked about differences between her and Reynoso, Valdez has pointed to her early leadership on Palestinian human rights issues amid the genocide in Gaza.
“I look forward to hashing out our differences over the course of this primary. What I want to bring to Congress is the experience and perspective of a union organizer and proud democratic socialist who’s been a longtime leader in the movement that elected Zohran Mamdani as our Mayor,” Valdez said. “And I’ve been a vocal and consistent opponent of the Israeli genocide in Gaza and the system of apartheid that denies freedom for all Palestinians.”