Rep. Nydia Velázquez’s retirement has opened up a competitive primary in a New York City congressional district. The race to replace her is a proxy battle over the future of the Democratic Party.
MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:
Early voting is underway for the New York primary. While Democrats are expected to win easily in all five districts, the city’s voters can indicate how far left they want the Democratic Party to go. A congressional race has become a proxy battle between Democratic Socialists led by Mayor Zohran Mamdani and the institutional progressive wing. Journalist Steve Kastenbaum has been following the race.
(APPLAUSE)
STEVE KASTENBAUM: Within weeks of each other, two very different political worlds – both important to Democrats – flexed their muscles just a few miles apart.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
NYDIA VELAZQUEZ: Character and credibility are important in this election.
KASTENBAUM: Rep. Nydia Velázquez, known to her supporters as the Fighter, rallied a crowd of union members in Queens behind Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso. After representing New York’s 7th Congressional District for 33 years, the first Puerto Rican woman elected to Congress is retiring and wants Reynoso to take her place.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
VELÁZQUEZ: Do you know how we won? Not singing, but knocking on doors.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: Correct.
VELÁZQUEZ: Knocking on doors.
KASTENBAUM: In Brooklyn’s Bushwick neighborhood, a different kind of energy was taking hold.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
ZOHRAN MAMDANI: So I ask you: are you ready to knock on doors?
(APPLAUSE)
KASTENBAUM: New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, whose landslide victory over the Democratic establishment last year shocked the party, is unnerved by state Assemblywoman Claire Valdez.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
MAMDANI: Are you ready to do everything possible to get Claire Valdez to Congress?
(APPLAUSE)
KASTENBAUM: Valdez is the Democratic Socialist candidate in this Democratic primary, running in a district that’s a patchwork of immigrant communities, working-class neighborhoods and the kind of hipster enclaves where young, college-educated newcomers formed the backbone of Mamdani’s army last year. Reynoso, the son of Dominican immigrants, believes he is the rightful heir to Representative Velázquez’s legacy.
ANTONIO REYNOSO: There is a progressive who is already doing it. There is a progressive who has battle scars. There is a progressive who has the receipts for my position in each of these unions.
KASTENBAUM: Your opponent responded that in the current political landscape, institutional progressivism is not enough. Claire Valdez grew up in Texas. After moving to New York, she became a union organizer for the United Auto Workers Union and spent seven years building Democratic Socialists of America from within, knocking on doors for candidates. In 2024, he won a seat in the state assembly.
CLAIRE VALDEZ: That’s exactly how I got involved in politics, having those connections with my neighbors and talking about campaigns and different issues.
KASTENBAUM: The DSA sees this race as its best chance to send another Democratic Socialist to Congress, taking advantage of Mamdani’s victory as mayor in a district that voted overwhelmingly for him. Valdez does not frame this as a contest against Reynoso personally.
VALDEZ: This district is one of the most progressive in the country. He should lead a lot of these fights.
KASTENBAUM: The DSA is doing everything it can. On Thursday, Mayor Mamdani appeared at a rally in Brooklyn alongside Senator Bernie Sanders and several DSA candidates, including Valdez. Reynoso, however, is not backing down.
REYNOSO: The progressive movement was not born with Zohran in this district. He was born with Nydia Velázquez and he was built and then he made it so that when he ran, we did well here.
KASTENBAUM: With the primaries just days away, the race remains extremely close. In an Emerson College poll conducted last month, Valdez and Reynoso were virtually tied, with more than half of voters still undecided or supporting a third candidate.
UNIDENTIFIED CROWD: (Chanting in a language other than English).
KASTENBAUM: In this district, the Democratic primary is the whole game. Whoever wins next Tuesday will almost certainly go to Washington. For NPR News, I’m Steve Kastenbaum in New York.
(SOUND OF MUSIC)
Copyright © 2026 NPR. All rights reserved. Please visit the terms of use and permissions pages of our website at www.npr.org for more information.
The accuracy and availability of NPR transcripts may vary. The transcript text can be revised to correct errors or match updates to the audio. Audio on npr.org may be edited after its original broadcast or publication. The authorized record of NPR programming is the audio record.