Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso believes that his more than a decade of experience as an elected official will be a deciding factor as he gears up for a race with Assembly Member Claire Valdez to succeed U.S. Rep. Nydia Velázquez in the 7th Congressional District.
The district, which straddles Western Queens and North Brooklyn, is one of the most liberal districts in the country and has been dubbed the “Commie Corridor” after the 2025 mayoral election, with Mayor Zohran Mamdani defeating former Gov. Andrew Cuomo by over 40 points in the district during the Democratic primary.
Velázquez, who announced late last year that she would not seek re-election after 33 years in Congress, has endorsed Reynoso to succeed her in a race that has pitted a traditional progressive candidate against a candidate further to the left backed by the New York City chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA).
Reynoso, a traditional progressive molded by Velázquez, has picked up a number of endorsements from City Council Members and Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, while Valdez, who has been endorsed by the DSA and Mamdani himself, is a movement socialist who often refers to her DSA colleagues as comrades.
Both candidates are ideologically aligned on a number of key policy issues, but Reynoso pointed to his experience as an elected official as a key difference between the two campaigns. Reynoso represented the 34th Council District for eight years before succeeding Eric Adams as Brooklyn Borough President in 2022. He also helped found New Kings Democrats, established in 2008, which fought for more inclusion in the Kings County Democratic Party.
Valdez, on the other hand, boasts a background in union labor as an organizer with UAW Local 2110 but only took office in the 37th Assembly District in western Queens last year.
Mamdani’s decision to endorse Valdez before Velázquez had made her own endorsement appears to have set the Mayor at odds with the veteran lawmaker, who was the first Congress Member to endorse Mamdani’s mayoral bid. In an interview with the New York Times earlier in January, Velázquez warned Mamdani that he risked fracturing the coalition that helped elect him by wading into New York-7.
But Reynoso asserted that the race remains a contest between him and Valdez, and believes his record as an elected official will help sway voters. He pointed, in particular, to his efforts to pass the Right to Know Act while serving in the City Council, which mandates that NYPD officers ask for consent to conduct searches without probable cause and offer business cards whenever they stop somebody.
Reynoso has listed that addressing the housing crisis, taxing the rich and abolishing ICE as some of his legislative priorities if he is elected to Congress.
QNS spoke to Reynoso about a range of campaign issues in a conversation last week. The interview has been edited for length and clarity.
When the Congresswoman announced that she was not seeking re election, what made you decide to put your hat in the ring for for this election?
Firstly, it was just a surprise that Nydia was retiring. When it comes to the leadership that we’ve been looking for, that this country has been asking for, Nydia exemplified that to the very day before she announced and so it’s sad to hear it.
But I also know the work that Nydia did to cultivate young leadership in this community. There’s a lot of us, maybe 13 elected officials, who she helped mentor and guide. What I believe she was asking for is to allow for us to jump into the race, figure out who climbs out on top, or who’s the one that can that can exemplify the leadership of the future.
I wanted to make sure that I put my hat in the ring early to let people know what my my intentions are, what my goals were.
This district straddles two boroughs. You’re obviously very familiar to the Brooklyn part of the the district but less familiar to voters in Queens. How do you plan to bridge that gap?
Brooklyn is my home. It’s a borough that I know very well, but I used to represent Ridgewood in Queens and Community Board five, so I had relationships with people in Maspeth, Middle Village and Ridgewood. It’s not foreign to me in any way, shape or form, but also, I believe that the issues that Queens is facing are the same issues that Brooklyn is facing.
Affordability is a huge issue right now. Housing costs have gone through the roof, and people are struggling. We have a President that is doing everything in his power to make our lives more difficult. We’re also seeing ICE terrorize our streets, and it’s universally something that people in this district object to, especially because the people that ICE is going after are not criminals, are not drug dealers or rapists or murderers. They’re just everyday folks.
I also want to tell the people of Queens about how much of a fighter I am, the outcome driven person I am. I passed meaningful pieces of legislation, I fought back against power consistently, and I was born in this district, and my fight for this district doesn’t come from just reading it in the papers. It comes from the experiences that raised, that were brought here, that raised me, and I wanted those experiences to continue to be like my guiding light and my North Star for how I take care of this district.
I believe that my upbringing is similar to many people in this district.
This race features two very progressive candidates that don’t differ on a lot of policy issues. When you have an opponent that is ideologically similar to you in so many areas, how do you stand out?
We’re going to agree on about 95% of issues, so I don’t think that’s necessarily going to be where we’re going to show a lot of differences. We are both deeply left elected officials, but I think what people are going to know about me is I already have a history of fighting for people. I have 12 years as an elected official, and have 20 years working in this community, one way or another, on fights that are deeply important.
When people see that I don’t only talk about it. I actually do the work. I’ve shown up for our communities. I think that’s going to matter to people, because they want people to go to Congress that are going to be fighters, that are going to meet the moment, that are going to meet crisis. I’m excited to be that person.
An example of wins that I’ve been able to get is the Right to Know Act, a piece of police reform legislation that was very difficult. Many people told me that my career would be political suicide.
I passed legislation on commercial waste zones, where we completely redesigned how private trash is managed in our city, to help workers and environmental justice.
This area has been called the “Commie Corridor” after the mayoral election. Do you see it becoming a norm where you have a traditional progressive running against a DSA candidate?
We have Democrats run against each other all the time in this city, and some of them are more left than others.
We’re seeing progressive candidates run for New York 12 right now that it’s hard to distinguish many of them as well. Democrats going against each other is very common. It’s a primary. It just happens to be that New York 7 is one of the most progressive districts in the entire country, and there’s a DSA-supported candidate. And then there’s a left-leaning candidate. I just feel like this is normal.
How did it feel to get the Congresswoman’s endorsement? Were you surprised by her comments about Mamdani and Claire Valdez in a New York Times interview earlier in the month?
Nydia’s endorsement is arguably the most important endorsement in this race, because this district has been served by her and has supported her for her entire career. Receiving her validation means everything. And not only is it good for me as a candidate, but it’s also really moving that a mentor of mine has the confidence in my abilities to represent a district that she cares deeply for. So it was, it was an honor to be able to get her her support was deeply like it was very, very meaningful.
This race is not about Zohran versus Nydia. It’s about me versus Claire. And I think when it comes down to it, the voters are going to choose between us two, and we have to make our case on why we would be the best candidate.
I’m going to show them the fights I’ve had. Before I was a City Council Member, I was fighting against party politics here in Brooklyn. As a 23 year old, I decided I was going to start an organization called New Kings Democrats, specifically to fight against that party power so that we could move the influence away from a few and give it to the entire Democratic Party.
Where do you see the federal government’s role in addressing the affordability crisis in New York City?
I think there are two aspects that I think are deeply important and meaningful. The first one is Section 8. I was a son born in Section 8-based housing, and it saved my life. And what I want to do is be able to expand on that. Stable housing is a foundational support that needs to exist for everyone… Section 8 is a path to being able to do that in a meaningful way.
I also want to address NYCHA. I think NYCHA has gone through a terrible time related to maintenance because of the terrible management of governors and mayors of the past, but NYCHA itself is the premier and the most successful affordable housing initiative this country has ever had. We can do the type of work where we have a NYCHA development that has the sustainability and the maintenance budget to be able to keep it afloat and maintain dignified housing.
If you were elected, how would you plan to push through the tax the rich policies you have proposed when you have to work with more moderate Democrats and Republicans? It has proved difficult to implement those policies in a deep-blue state like New York?
I think establishment Democratic politics have failed us for too long, and I think it’s making it so that people like Donald Trump can get elected.
At some point, the establishment has to go see what is successful in other parts of this country that is moving us in a direction where people are excited about the Democratic Party again. I think, that involves a message that doesn’t look out for the interests of the few and the rich.
We’ve seen the largest wealth transfer in this country’s history over the last five years, and what we’re seeing is arguably one of the hardest times for Americans in that same amount of time… When I get into Congress, my job every single day is to move the Democratic Party in that direction.
You have pledged to abolish ICE if elected. Where is the starting point for that if you are elected?
I think it starts with the budget. In Congress, we would have the power of the purse.
The legislation that we need to pass, to de-mask ICE agents, is something that we will work on, but we have the power of the purse. It starts by holding them accountable, that this terrorizing force in our community should not be one that we’re funding at all.
So when budget negotiations start, we have to hold the line on the fact that we want to start abolishing ICE, and the way to do that is by taking away their money.
The President has made explicit threats against a lot of blue states, New York among them. Most recently, he has threatened to withhold federal funds to any state that houses sanctuary cities. How would you stand up to those kind of threats?
First, we have to sue the president any chance we get. And then we must hold the people that are enabling this behavior accountable.
We should be holding investigations. We should be making sure we subpoena representatives that are causing harm. We should just really use the power of oversight that Congress has to make sure that we’re holding people accountable and making sure that they’re not doing things that are illegal.
But New York is a special space, and should Trump illegally make it so that he’s able to cut funds from New York, we need to be prepared at the state and city level to react to that. I think taxing the rich is a very clear way that we can make that happen.
The data shows very clearly that billionaires and millionaires are perfectly fine in New York City, regardless of who the Mayor is, but it’s just a fear tactic that people use to try to push against policies that can help the many versus the few.
Assuming you are elected, what is your day one legislative priority?
Housing is the one I want to really tackle. I want to handle the initiative to expand Section 8 and expand NYCHA. I want to enable more support for the creation of NYCHA-type units.
Puerto Rico is a big part of your campaign. You want to reintroduce Puerto Rican self-determination in Congress. How important is that to the district?
Unfortunately, Puerto Rico doesn’t have a federal representative, and as a commonwealth, has been put in a position where its representative is Nydia Velzquez. She’s taken the burden of not only representing New York 7, but also of fighting for and representing the people of Puerto Rico. So whoever takes this seat needs to be able to manage that and also take on that burden. You’re not just there for the New York 7, You’re making sure that you’re fighting and advocating for Puerto Rico’s right to self-determination. Right now, we’re seeing constant blackouts and a failed electric grid system, we’re seeing the displacement of long-term residents and Puerto Rico becoming a tax haven for external players.
