Democratic Primary Forum: NY-7

**SPEAKER_1** (0:00)
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**Brian Lehrer** (0:27)
It's The Brian Lehrer Show on WNYC. Good morning, everyone. And go New York, go New York, go New York, go, right? We're continuing to bring you candidate forms on the show in competitive New York primary races for Congress. Early voting will begin this Saturday.
Today, it's the three Democrats vying to succeed retiring member of Congress Nidhi Velasquez from parts of Brooklyn and Queens. They are Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso, State Assembly member from part of the district, Claire Valdez, and City Council member from part of the district, Julie Won. This is kind of a BQE district with areas on either side of the highway, you might say. In Brooklyn, they include Greenpoint, Williamsburg, Bushwick, the Brooklyn Navy Yard area, Broadway Junction, part of Cypress Hills. In Queens, they include Woodhaven, Ridgewood, Glendale, Long Island City, Hunters Point, and Sunnyside. I think I covered the whole thing.
According to DataUSA, the population of the district is about a third white, a third Latino, about 12 percent Asian-American, and 10 percent black, about a third are foreign-born. This race has a notable and unusual endorsement divide on the political left. Congressman Velasquez and the Working Families Party are among those supporting Antonio Reynoso. Mayor Mamdani and the Democratic Socialists of America are supporting Claire Valdez, DSA and Working Families endorsements usually align. We will use Mr. and Ms. as we do in these formats, not people's titles. So Ms. Won, Ms. Valdez, Mr. Reynoso, thanks so much for engaging in this forum and in our electoral process. Hello.

**Antonio Reynoso** (2:12)
Thank you, Brian.

**Brian Lehrer** (2:13)
Good morning. And listeners, the format for this forum will be like our earlier ones for the 10th and 13th and 17th, congressional district primaries. It'll be informal and conversational, not a formal debate. I'll post questions and try to moderate in good faith. And listeners, once again, you can pose some questions too, by calling or texting 212-433-WNYC 212-433-9692.
We do have our usual guidelines. First priority will go to undecided voters in the district. If you're undecided and plan to vote in this primary, we encourage you to call it with a question, 212-433-9692, call or text. But whoever does, we ask that you come with questions, not speeches or endorsements. The candidates are very capable of arguing their positions for themselves. Our screeners will also ask you to identify if you support one or the other. We know some of you lie about that, or are undecided and whether you're from in or out of the district. We just want to be transparent about who we're putting on to the maximum extent possible. But again, first priority to undecideds from those parts of Brooklyn and Queens in this race, but anyone else too, 212-433-WNYC, 212-433-9692, call or text.
Mr. Reynoso and Ms. Valdez, I want to go right to the endorsements I mentioned in the intro because it seems to be a defining dynamic in the race, certainly been getting a lot of press. So Ms. Valdez, you have Mayor Mamdani's endorsement and the DSA while he has the Working Families Party and the current Congress member, Nidia Velasquez, who's retiring from the district. What in your opinion should this split among progressives mean for voters who might be very happy to vote for either of you if you weren't running against each other?

**Claire Valdez** (4:13)
Thank you, first of all, for having us, Brian. This is really exciting. This weekend, we had a huge canvassing launch in Greenpoint. A couple of hundred people came out to knock doors. I think we cleared over 20,000 doors knocked just this weekend. For me, that's what this campaign is about. It's about grassroots energy. It's about people who are really dissatisfied with the political status quo and ready to organize to make this district reflect their priorities and their values. We're running to win Medicare for all, for unions for all, housing for all.
I'm really excited by how many people have come out to Canvas. Over 2,700 people have signed up to Canvas, and we're just pressing towards election day.

**Brian Lehrer** (5:02)
I'm glad there are more than 27 I'm sure there are that many for each of you.
Well, as a follow-up, before we bring in Mr. Reynoso and then of course, Ms. Won, are there any differences that stem from this divide or just labels or loyalties or what you were just emphasizing, which is organizing power?