Three candidates for New York’s 7th Congressional District met Wednesday night on Spectrum NY1 for their first televised debate. They agreed on immigration policy and affordable housing, then split on Gaza accountability, ICE cooperation, and whether a DSA-backed socialist should take super PAC money. The Democratic primary is June 23.
Council Member Julie Won, Assemblymember Claire Valdez, and Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso are competing to succeed Rep. Nydia Velázquez in NY-7, a district that covers western Queens and northern Brooklyn. Velázquez has endorsed Reynoso. Mayor Zohran Mamdani and the New York City chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America have endorsed Valdez. Won called herself an independent who came to politics after ten years in tech. She pointed to her 2021 City Council win in the 26th District, which she won without major union or party backing, as evidence she could run on grassroots support.
Reynoso, who was born in Brooklyn to Dominican parents, opened with his working-class immigrant upbringing. “In one generation, my family is able to see me here before you, running for Congress,” Reynoso said, calling it “the American Dream.” Bushwick Daily reported this week that Reynoso is backing a $150,000-a-year workforce program aimed at placing 1,000 young Bushwick adults in jobs.
Gaza drew the hardest exchange. According to QNS coverage of the debate, all three candidates called Israel’s actions against Palestinians a genocide, said they would support arresting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in New York under an International Criminal Court warrant, and said they would work to end the war in Iran if elected. Valdez pressed Reynoso on his record, accusing him of adopting the genocide framing and ceasefire position only after launching his congressional campaign. “I and many others have been in the streets calling for a ceasefire, calling for an end to US complicity in that genocide, but I never saw you there,” Valdez said. “As far as I can tell, I don’t believe you’ve ever called for a ceasefire, and the first time you called a genocide was when you launched this congressional campaign.” Reynoso said the timing of his statements mattered less than his commitment to act once in office.
On NYPD cooperation with immigration enforcement, all three said the department should not work with federal agencies. They differed on exceptions. Won said police should coordinate with ICE on serious charges like rape or murder. Valdez said the state’s criminal procedures are sufficient to hold people accused of “heinous crimes” accountable without ICE. Reynoso said most ICE operations don’t involve serious criminal charges.
Campaign finance produced a long argument. Won and Reynoso pressed Valdez on the left-leaning super PAC American Priorities, which was formed to counter pro-Israel outside spending and has put $2 million behind Valdez and two other congressional candidates, Brad Lander and Darializa Avila Chevalier. Won accused Valdez of violating an agreement the three candidates made in March not to accept super PAC support. Valdez said she has refused money from corporate, fossil fuel, and real estate super PACs and that her campaign built its base from roughly 20,000 individual donors averaging $45 each. Reynoso asked why Valdez’s campaign website had a “red box,” a tool for directing super PAC spending, that steered money into the district’s wealthiest neighborhoods. Valdez said she supports overturning the Citizens United ruling but has “a campaign that we need to win.”
All three candidates said they generally support Mayor Mamdani’s Sunnyside Yard proposal, a $21 billion plan to deck over a Queens railyard and build 12,000 new homes, half under the Mitchell-Lama affordable housing program. Each called for extensive public input and said they would not visit the White House to lobby President Trump, who has backed the project. Reynoso took a shot at Mamdani, who met with Trump over the plan in February. “I don’t think we should be visiting the White House and talking to Trump,” Reynoso said. “This guy is terrorizing our neighbors and is committing war crimes. He’s somebody that we should be getting ready to impeach.” Won raised the same objection: “Neither Donald Trump nor Zohran Mamdani are kings of the city, and we have to make sure that there’s a fair process, legally.” Valdez said she would require multiple rounds of public hearings before the project could move forward, adding that she would not expect a warm reception at the current White House.
A lightning-round question on ranked-choice preferences showed the informal alliances. Won and Reynoso each named the other as their second choice. Valdez chose Won.
Featured image: Marc A. Hermann / MTA / CC BY 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons
