When everyone agrees on policy, what sets them apart?
BY JACK DELANEY
jdelaney@queensledger.com
Rep. Nydia Velazquez, the longtime Congresswoman nicknamed “la luchadora,” is an outer borough institution. First elected to the House in 1992, she has occupied the position continuously since then, shaping multiple generations of local officials in Brooklyn and later Queens.
But last November, the 73-year-old Velazquez shocked many politicos by announcing her retirement. Who would succeed her? Rumors bubbled for weeks, before two answers surfaced: Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso, a Velazquez protége endorsed by the outgoing representative; or Assemblymember Claire Valdez, carrying the banner of Mayor Zohran Mamdani and the DSA.
Don’t rule out the dark horses, though. In a cross-borough district, Reynoso boasts Brooklyn bona fides. Yet City Councilmember Julie Won, who grew up in Astoria and is currently representing the neighborhood for a third consecutive term, has strong roots in the north. And Vichal Kumar, a public defender who’s lived in Clinton Hill for two decades, will be hoping to combine his own Brooklyn backstory with a simple pitch: he’s not a career politician.
Squint, and the candidates’ progressive platforms may be hard to tell apart. On foreign policy, all four candidates support ending military aid to Israel, with Valdez being perhaps the longest-standing and most outspoken on the issue. (Some of Reynoso’s donors have ties to AIPAC, per the Judge Street Journal, but he has used the term “genocide” and promised to vote against weapons shipments.)
Other hot-button issues also offer overlap: Every candidate backs abolishing ICE, establishing universal healthcare, and fast-tracking affordable housing.
Put bluntly, one framing of this race is that it’s a choice between four different flavors of New York Cit’s progressive movement. Excited by the DSA? Go for Valdez. More mainstream and hyperlocal? Reynoso awaits. Looking for someone unaffiliated but still politically proven? Maybe try Won. Or a lawyer running from outside the system altogether? Kumar is that option.
Read on for more details about each candidate!
Antonio Reynoso
Antonio Reynoso began his career as a youthful disruptor, co-founding a group called the New Kings Democrats to reform Brooklyn’s clubbish political machine. Next came two terms in the City Council — representing parts of Bushwick, Williamsburg, and Ridgewood — where he chaired the sanitation committee and championed a law that restricted stop-and-frisk. As Brooklyn Borough President, Reynoso has also allocated $45 million to overhaul maternal health care centers.
“Democrats don’t get anything done — that’s how they describe us,” he said, in an interview earlier this spring. “I get things done.”
Reynoso’s endorsements include Queens Borough President Donovan Richards, New York A.G. Letitia James, and several unions.
What’s one way they would make New York City more affordable?
Repeal the Faircloth Amendment to build more public housing; tie transit funding to adding homes near train stations.
Claire Valdez
Claire Valdez’s path into politics came through labor organizing. Valdez, who grew up in Texas, moved to NYC in 2015 to carve out a career as an artist.
Valdez took a position at Columbia in 2018 and joined a union representing campus workers, rising through the ranks to become a unit chair in 2022. Those early union meetings, she recalled, were “the most democratic thing I’d ever seen in my life.”
A DSA member since 2019, Valdez ran for the Assembly in 2024. During her first term, Valdez has sponsored bills related to workplace surveillance, security deposits, and unemployment benefits.
Valdez is endorsed by Mayor Mamdani, Sen. Bernie Sanders, AM Emily Gallagher, state Sen. Mike Gianaris, and others.
What’s one way they would make New York City more affordable?
Establish universal rent control, while empowering the NLRB to fine employers who engage in union busting.
Julie Won
Julie Won partially grew up in Sunnyside and Astoria, two neighborhoods she would represent as a three-term City Council member.
In the interim, Won worked at IBM as a consultant; she later served as a board member of Queens Community Board 2 and co-founded the Queens Small Business Alliance (QSBA).
Won’s first Council campaign in 2021 focused on expanding free WiFi. This time, her tagline is “A Lifetime of Care,” pushing for benefits from prenatal care to burial assistance. Though progressive, she rejects socialism: “Normal democracies can have functional efficient social programs,” she argued.
Won’s backers include Sen. Andy Kim, state Sen. John Liu, AM Ron Kim, and AAPI advocacy groups.
What’s one way they would make New York City more affordable?
Provide down payment assistance to homeowners, and allocate more money to home care workers and senior centers.
Vichal Kumar
When Vichal Kumar was eight years old, his parents — who owned a convenience store — were sued by a customer. That difficult experience drove him to become a public interest lawyer, a calling he’s followed across his entire career.
Kumar gained his law degree from Hofstra by taking night classes while working for The Bronx Defenders, a legal services nonprofit. Kumar now manages Partners for Justice, which supports public defender offices nationwide.
While describing himself as a “prison abolitionist,” Kumar shies away from labels. “Their experience is being politicians,” Kumar said of his opponents. “Ours is actually working to protect community members.”
Kumar does not list any major endorsements.
What’s one way they would make New York City more affordable?
A three-part small business plan that would lower barriers to loans and block the mergers of large wholesale suppliers.
