Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders joined Mayor Mamdani at Mount Sinai West Hospital on Jan. 20, 2026, to support NYC nurses on strike.
Photo by Lloyd Mitchell
U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders endorsed Assembly Member Claire Valdez on Thursday in the Democratic primary for New York’s 7th Congressional District, giving Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s preferred candidate a major boost in the race to succeed retiring U.S. Rep. Nydia Velázquez.
The endorsement puts Sanders, one of the biggest champions of democratic socialism in American politics, squarely on Valdez’s side in a contest that has become a test of the city’s left flank after Velázquez’s retirement. Velázquez has backed Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso as her preferred successor, while Mamdani endorsed Valdez within a day of her launch.
Valdez already has backing from the United Auto Workers and the New York City chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America, of which she is a member. She has also benefited from her partnership with Mamdani, who not only endorsed her early but also publicly appeared with her, issued a joint video fundraising call, and lent her his closest political advisers, as reported by City & State.
In the race to represent the heavily progressive district spanning western Queens and north Brooklyn, Reynoso has lined up support from Velázquez, Rep. Pat Ryan, Rep. Jerry Nadler, Attorney General Letitia James, the Working Families Party, Make the Road Action, Citizen Action of New York, and the Hotel and Gaming Trades Council.
Sanders backed Reynoso in his first run for Brooklyn borough president in 2021. Reynoso’s campaign declined to comment on Thursday’s endorsement of Valdez.
Assembly Member Claire Valdez already has backing from the United Auto Workers and the New York City chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America, of which she is a member.Photo via via Instagram/@claireforqueens
In a statement released by the Valdez campaign, Sanders said she “has the experience and vision we need to take on the oligarchy and fight for unions, Medicare for All, and affordable housing.”
“In my view, Congress needs more voices who come from America’s working class. I’m proud to endorse her campaign for Congress,” the statement read.
In response to the endorsement, Valdez, a former union organizer with UAW Local 2110, said Sanders was formative to her foray into politics.
“Three things made me a democratic socialist: low-wage jobs, the labor movement, and Bernie Sanders’ runs for president,” Valdez said in a statement. “His political revolution changed my life — and showed millions of Americans what’s possible when working people organize.”
The endorsement deepens Sanders’ political alignment with Mamdani. Sanders endorsed Mamdani in last year’s mayoral race, swore him in at his inauguration, and has since appeared with him at labor events, including rallies with striking nurses and Starbucks workers.
The Vermont senator also headlined a “Tax the Rich” rally in the Bronx last weekend, though Mamdani did not attend as he presses Albany to raise taxes on the wealthy this budget season.
Valdez has built her campaign around that same working-class message. Since entering the race in January, she has cast herself as a labor organizer whose experience in low-wage jobs and union campaigns matters more than time in elected office. She has made the PRO Act, Medicare for All, affordable housing, abolishing ICE and taxing the rich central parts of her campaign.
Her campaign said Thursday that it raised $750,000 from more than 11,200 donors in its first FEC reporting period, with an average contribution of about $53.73 and no corporate PAC money – official figures have not yet been published by the FEC.