{"id":185002,"date":"2026-04-04T00:29:20","date_gmt":"2026-04-04T00:29:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/185002\/"},"modified":"2026-04-04T00:29:20","modified_gmt":"2026-04-04T00:29:20","slug":"bernie-sanders-wades-into-ny-7-race-to-back-mamdanis-pick-to-replace-velazquez","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/185002\/","title":{"rendered":"Bernie Sanders wades into NY-7 race to back Mamdani\u2019s pick to replace Vel\u00e1zquez"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders joined Mayor Mamdani at Mount Sinai West Hospital on Jan. 20, 2026, to support NYC nurses on strike. <\/p>\n

Photo by Lloyd Mitchell<\/p>\n

U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders endorsed Assembly Member Claire Valdez<\/a> on Thursday in the Democratic primary for New York\u2019s 7th Congressional District, giving Mayor Zohran Mamdani<\/a>\u2019s preferred candidate a major boost in the race to succeed retiring U.S. Rep. Nydia Vel\u00e1zquez.<\/a><\/p>\n

The endorsement puts Sanders, one of the biggest champions of democratic socialism in American politics, squarely on Valdez\u2019s side in a contest that has become a test of the city\u2019s left flank after Vel\u00e1zquez\u2019s retirement. Vel\u00e1zquez has backed Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso<\/a> as her preferred successor, while Mamdani endorsed Valdez within a day of her launch.<\/p>\n

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.<\/a><\/p>\n

In the race to represent the heavily progressive district spanning western Queens and north Brooklyn, Reynoso has lined up support from Vel\u00e1zquez, 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.<\/p>\n

Sanders backed Reynoso in his first run for Brooklyn borough president in 2021.<\/a> Reynoso\u2019s campaign declined to comment on Thursday\u2019s endorsement of Valdez.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"ClaireAssembly 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<\/p>\n

In a statement released by the Valdez campaign, Sanders said she \u201chas the experience and vision we need to take on the oligarchy and fight for unions, Medicare for All, and affordable housing.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIn my view, Congress needs more voices who come from America\u2019s working class. I\u2019m proud to endorse her campaign for Congress,\u201d the statement read.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

In response to the endorsement, Valdez, a former union organizer with UAW Local 2110, said Sanders was formative to her foray into politics.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cThree things made me a democratic socialist: low-wage jobs, the labor movement, and Bernie Sanders\u2019 runs for president,\u201d Valdez said in a statement. \u201cHis political revolution changed my life \u2014 and showed millions of Americans what\u2019s possible when working people organize.\u201d<\/p>\n

The endorsement deepens Sanders\u2019 political alignment with Mamdani. Sanders endorsed Mamdani in last year\u2019s mayoral race, swore him in at his inauguration<\/a>, and has since appeared with him at labor events, including rallies with striking nurses and Starbucks workers.<\/p>\n

The Vermont senator also headlined a \u201cTax the Rich\u201d rally in the Bronx last weekend<\/a>, though Mamdani did not attend as he presses Albany to raise taxes on the wealthy this budget season.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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 \u2013 official figures have not yet been published by the FEC.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders joined Mayor Mamdani at Mount Sinai West Hospital on Jan. 20, 2026, to support…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":185003,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[2898,5057,74384,9440,1445,9,24,63,613,122,124,123],"class_list":{"0":"post-185002","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-queens","8":"tag-antonio-reynoso","9":"tag-bernie-sanders","10":"tag-bernie-sanders-endorsement","11":"tag-claire-valdez","12":"tag-mamdani","13":"tag-new-york","14":"tag-new-york-city","15":"tag-nyc","16":"tag-pm-newsletter","17":"tag-queens","18":"tag-queens-headlines","19":"tag-queens-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/185002","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=185002"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/185002\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/185003"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=185002"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=185002"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=185002"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}