Valdez launched her campaign in January flanked<\/a> by the UAW and Mamdani, and the union endorsed Avila Chevalier in late April, weeks before the mayor threw his support behind her<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cI think last year was the big shift, with the mayoral election, and I think this year proves that that politics is sustainable,\u201d said Brandon Mancilla, the regional director for New York\u2019s UAW Region 9A. \u201cWithin our own ranks, there is energy and leadership that can take the next step, not just to union office, but to now federal office.\u201d<\/p>\n Without the financial resources enjoyed by New York\u2019s largest unions, UAW\u2019s rank-and-file members got to work the old-fashioned way.<\/p>\n They volunteered for door-to-door canvasses in force \u2014 out-organizing much larger unions to carry Valdez to victory against Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso, who was backed by the Working Families Party and most other unions in the city including 32BJ SEIU and 1199 SEIU.<\/p>\n The UAW also endorsed<\/a> Brad Lander, who trounced incumbent Rep. Dan Goldman in New York\u2019s 10th Congressional district spanning lower Manhattan and parts of brownstone Brooklyn. It also backed one losing House candidate, east side Assemblymember Alex Bores, who lost to Assemblymember Micah Lasher.<\/p>\n The union bragged about its primary night performance in a lengthy email it sent to its New York members on Wednesday afternoon that was obtained by The City Reporter: More than 500 of its members canvassed and phone banked, reaching more than 50,000 voters. It nearly swept its slate of U.S. House and New York state Assembly endorsements and swept all five of its state Senate picks.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cYesterday, there was not a single UAW member in Congress. We changed that, and come November we will elect two UAW Region 9A members to Congress!,\u201d read the memo. \u201cWe learned that if our members not only support but fully identify with our endorsements (since they are a part of the process), that they will go to work for our candidates.\u201d<\/p>\n Union endorsements are highly coveted by campaigns<\/a> because of their ability to reach huge swaths of voters \u2014 both within their own membership and by providing an army of volunteers to push people to the polls \u2014 and because of their considerable financial resources.<\/p>\n Last year, most of the city\u2019s largest unions endorsed former Gov. Andrew Cuomo over Mamdani, in part because Cuomo led the polling in the lead-up to election day.\u00a0<\/p>\n This year, major unions spent millions supporting Bores, the east side Assembly member, over Lasher, who beat a crowded field to succeed retiring Rep. Jerrold Nadler. After Mamdani endorsed Avila Chevalier in May, more than a dozen labor groups such as the New York State AFL-CIO and the Hotel Trades and Gaming Council rallied with Espaillat in Harlem in a show of force. None of it proved to be enough for those candidates to prevail.<\/p>\n Candidates From the Rank and File<\/p>\n Though a powerhouse union nationally, UAW locals in New York City have a fraction of the membership and resources of the city\u2019s mightiest unions like 32BJ SEIU or the Hotel Trades and Gaming Council.<\/p>\n In New York City, the UAW is better known for representing legal workers<\/a>, museum staff<\/a> and graduate students<\/a> \u2014 a membership that is young, highly educated and skews left,<\/a> with a bent for social justice issues. Its members in the region routinely rally against ICE<\/a>, and it was the first union in the country<\/a> to call for a Gaza ceasefire in 2023 \u2014 all ideological overlaps with the Democratic Socialists of America, of which Mancilla, the UAW regional director, is a dues-paying member.<\/p>\n Mancilla credits the UAW\u2019s success in cultivating candidates who come from the rank and file. Valdez was a union organizer before she ran for state Assembly with the union\u2019s full support. For her victory speech on Tuesday night, she wore a UAW t-shirt beneath her suit, and her party closed out with a rendition of the union anthem \u201cSolidarity Forever.\u201d<\/p>\n Avila Chevalier was a researcher at a public defender provider and graduate student at CUNY\u2019s Graduate Center when she decided to run for office. The UAW didn\u2019t endorse her right away, but rank-and-file members observed her campaign gaining momentum in the spring and voted to endorse her in April.<\/p>\n The union also endured some disappointments on Tuesday. Another rank-and-file member, public defender Conrad Blackburn, lost his primary bid against Harlem Assembly member Jordan Wright, the son of the Manhattan Democratic Party chair. He was the only candidate endorsed by both the UAW and the DSA who lost his contest.<\/p>\n![\"State](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/062326_valdez_uaw.jpg\")
State Sen. Michael Gianaris wears a UAW shirt in support of congressional candidate Claire Valdez while she campaigned in Sunnyside on Democratic primary day, June 23, 2026. Credit: Alex Krales\/The City Reporter<\/p>\n![\"Democratic](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/061826_darializa_gotv.jpg\")
Democratic Congressional candidate Darializa Avila Chevalier speaks in Brooklyn during a Get Out The Vote rally ahead of New York\u2019s primary election, June 18, 2026. Credit: AP Photo\/Ryan Murphy<\/p>\n