Valdez will now advance to fill the congressional seat left open by the departing Democrat Rep. Nydia Velázquez. With Chevalier, she has unseated incumbent Democrat congressman Adriano Espaillat.
Claire Valdez, a state assembly member backed by socialist New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, won the Democratic primary for New York's 7th Congressional District on Tuesday. Along with Valdez, progressive candidate backed by the mayor Darializa Avila Chevalier was also victorious in her primary in the 13th district.
Valdez and Chevalier, both democratic socialists who had polled well heading into the vote, beat out the competition in their respective districts. Valdez will now advance to fill the congressional seat left open by the departing Democrat Rep. Nydia Velázquez. With Chevalier, she has unseated incumbent Democrat congressman Adriano Espaillat.
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Mamdani's endorsement highlighted Valdez's early support for his mayoral bid and their shared progressive vision. "Claire Valdez stood with me on day one because she understands how change is won — by building power, raising expectations and delivering for working people,"
Mamdani said in a statement posted to Valdez's campaign website. "She comes from the labor movement and knows how to turn struggle into real gains on housing, health care and workers' rights. That's the kind of partner I need in Congress, and why I'm proud to endorse her."
With Chevalier, Mamdani still backed her despite her numerous anti-American, and far-left posts, including ones calling to abolish the police. The day after October 7, she attended a rally where many people celebrated the terrorist attack.
Chevalier reportedly refused to condemn Hamas previously, which prevented a left-wing group in New York from endorsing her while the mayor was willing to do so. Chevalier worked on Mamdani's campaign.
The Broadway Democrats wrote days before the primary election they would not endorse Chevalier because "she refuses to condemn Hamas or anything about it, its Oct. 7th and hundreds of other murderous assaults on Israeli people, its execution of its own political dissidents, its theocratic view of government and what a society is, its misogyny, its homophobia, its racism."
Both Chevalier and Valdez have the backing of the Democratic Socialists of America, a far-left organization that helped with Mamdani's meteoric rise in New York City as mayor.
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