{"id":151070,"date":"2026-03-03T15:21:08","date_gmt":"2026-03-03T15:21:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/151070\/"},"modified":"2026-03-03T15:21:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-03T15:21:08","slug":"ag-letitia-james-endorses-antonio-reynoso-in-bid-for-ny-7-congressional-seat-qns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/151070\/","title":{"rendered":"AG Letitia James endorses Antonio Reynoso in bid for NY-7 Congressional seat \u2013 QNS"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\"Brooklyn\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso speaks at La Flor in Woodside after New York State Attorney General Letitia James endorsed his campaign. Photo by Shane O\u2019Brien. <\/p>\n

New York State Attorney General Letitia James has endorsed Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso<\/a> in the race to succeed veteran U.S. Rep. Nydia Vel\u00e1zquez in New York\u2019s 7th Congressional District.<\/p>\n

James made the announcement at Woodside<\/a> restaurant La Flor Sunday afternoon, touting Reynoso\u2019s commitment to affordable housing residents across the district as well as the borough president\u2019s \u201cpublic service and leadership.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe is the most experienced in this race and therefore I thought it necessary for me to come out and endorse him,\u201d James told QNS.
\n\"NewNew York State Attorney General Letitia James. Photo by Shane O\u2019Brien.\n<\/p>\n

Reynoso is one of three candidates running to succeed Vel\u00e1zquez in NY-7, with Assemblymember Claire Valdez<\/a> and Council Member Julie Won<\/a> also launching campaigns to succeed the veteran lawmaker, who announced late last year that she would not seek re-election after 33 years in office.<\/p>\n

Reynoso has received numerous endorsements from traditional progressive Democrats since launching his campaign at the end of the year, including from Vel\u00e1zquez herself in January. Council Member Shekar Krishnan, Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, the New York Working Families Party and Make the Road Action have also endorsed the Reynoso\u2019s campaign.<\/p>\n

Valdez, meanwhile, has picked up endorsements from Mayor Zohran Mamdani and the New York City chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), with the race pitting traditional progressives against a DSA-backed candidate.<\/p>\n

Won, who was a late entrant to the race at the beginning of February, has yet to pick up a meaningful political endorsement but has insisted that she is not concerned, noting that she won a crowded field for the 26 Council District without any meaningful endorsements.<\/p>\n

However, James\u2019 endorsement represents a major coup for the Reynoso campaign.\n<\/p>\n

The Attorney General said Sunday that Reynoso will \u201cfight back\u201d against President Donald Trump\u2019s \u201cagenda\u201d and work for an economy that prioritizes the working class.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cAntonio Reynoso has delivered real results on affordable housing, good jobs, and justice for our communities as Brooklyn Borough President,\u201d James said. \u201cI can\u2019t think of anyone who is more prepared to serve in that seat than Antonio Reynoso.\u201d<\/p>\n

James said she did not have any concerns about breaking with Mamdani to endorse against his chosen candidate, adding that the issue would not impact her relationship with the Mayor.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cBut at the end of the day, Letitia James usually wins,\u201d she said.\n<\/p>\n

Reynoso, meanwhile, described James as \u201cone of the strongest champions of working people\u201d that New York has ever seen, adding that he is \u201chumbled\u201d by the endorsement.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cAttorney General Letitia James\u2019 support gives us powerful momentum in this race as we take on Trump, fight back against ICE, and take on MAGA extremists that run Congress,\u201d Reynoso said.<\/p>\n

Vel\u00e1zquez, who also joined Sunday\u2019s endorsement announcement, described Reynoso as the \u201cright leader\u201d to meet the moment.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cI truly believe that this moment found Antonio Reynolds and the Attorney General needs someone in Washington,\u201d Vel\u00e1zquez said.
\n\"BrooklynPhoto by Shane O\u2019Brien\n<\/p>\n

Vel\u00e1zquez endorsed Reynoso in January shortly after Mamdani had endorsed the Valdez campaign, touting the borough president\u2019s \u201cdeep connection\u201d to the district in an apparent swipe at Valdez, who moved to New York City from Lubbock, Texas, in 2015.<\/p>\n

Announcing her endorsement two months ago, Vel\u00e1zquez described Reynoso<\/a> as a \u201chomegrown progressive leader\u201d who understands the \u201cstruggles of working families.\u201d Reynoso has frequently pointed to his upbringing in Section 8 housing throughout the campaign.<\/p>\n

Vel\u00e1zquez, who was the first member of Congress to endorse Mamdani\u2019s mayoral bid, appeared to fire a warning shot at the Mayor in an interview with the New York Times<\/a> published around the same time as her endorsement of Reynoso.<\/p>\n

Vel\u00e1zquez said Mamdani had risked causing a split in the coalition that helped him win election last year by endorsing in the district before she had endorsed her own successor.\n<\/p>\n

She said primaries can provide a \u201cdistraction\u201d to Mamdani\u2019s own agenda, adding that his decision to endorse in the upcoming NY-7 open primary could risk intra-party fights among the coalition he needs to govern effectively.<\/p>\n

She also told the New York Times that she did not initially plan to endorse in the race to succeed her because she assumed a lawmaker that she had personally mentored, including Reynoso, would win easily once they launched their campaign. However, she said Mamdani\u2019s endorsement of Valdez in early January forced her hand, describing the race to succeed her in the 7th Congressional District as \u201cpersonal.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso speaks at La Flor in Woodside after New York State Attorney General Letitia…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":151071,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[2898,9440,9442,398,9,24,55,54,56,29446,8004],"class_list":{"0":"post-151070","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york-city","8":"tag-antonio-reynoso","9":"tag-claire-valdez","10":"tag-julie-won","11":"tag-letitia-james","12":"tag-new-york","13":"tag-new-york-city","14":"tag-new-york-city-headlines","15":"tag-new-york-city-news","16":"tag-ny","17":"tag-ny-7","18":"tag-nydia-velazquez"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151070","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=151070"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151070\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/151071"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=151070"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=151070"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=151070"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}