US Midterms 2026
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Claire Valdez, a Democrat and member of the New York State Assembly since 2025, is her party's nominee for the open 7th congressional district seat in 2026 against Republican Melvin Rivera.
Live TruthIndex™ and prediction market consensus for races contested by Claire Valdez.
Recent media coverage for Claire Valdez.
Claire Valdez is highlighted as a New Yorker candidate likely to win a seat in the U.S. House, with the article noting she could join fellow left-leaning figures in Congress.
The article covers comments by Mamdani (Zohran Mamdani) and NY-13 congressional candidate Avila Chevalier (Darializa Avila Chevalier), clarifying a reported rift over Tisch (likely referring to NYC official Tisch).
The page announces the sixth cohort of the Kriegel Fellowship for Public Service Leaders by ISLG (CUNY Institute for State & Local Governance).
Claire Valdez is a Democratic Socialist who won the nomination for U.S. Representative for New York's 7th Congressional District (NY-07) in a June primary.
Claire Valdez is a Democratic Socialist candidate running in New York’s 7th Congressional District (NY-07).
No story this week names this candidate.
Claire Valdez was born on October 12, 1989, and is originally from Lubbock, Texas. She is a dual citizen of the Ysleta del Sur Pueblo Nation and the United States. Valdez earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, where she studied painting and art history, and worked a series of service jobs, including at Taco Bell, Pizza Hut and Trader Joe's. She moved to New York City in 2015 to pursue a career in art and lives in Ridgewood, Queens.
In New York, Valdez worked as a program assistant in the visual arts department at Columbia University, where she became an active member of United Auto Workers Local 2110 and was elected unit chair. She joined the New York City chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America in 2019, served as its new member coordinator, and worked on chapter campaigns including Julia Salazar's 2020 re-election.
In 2024 Valdez ran in the Democratic primary for the 37th Assembly district, defeating incumbent Juan Ardila by 48 percentage points and Johanna Carmona by 27 points, and she was unopposed in the general election.
Since taking office in 2025, she has sponsored New York For All, which bars the use of state and local resources in federal immigration enforcement, and the Not On Our Dime Act. She was among the earliest supporters of Zohran Mamdani's 2025 campaign for mayor of New York City.
The 7th district covers parts of Brooklyn and Queens, including Clinton Hill, Williamsburg, Greenpoint, Bushwick, Woodhaven, Maspeth, Sunnyside and Long Island City. The seat is open because Democrat Nydia Velázquez, who has served since 1993, announced her retirement in November 2025.
Valdez entered the race on January 8, 2026, as the candidate selected by Mamdani and NYC-DSA, while Velázquez backed Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso.
In the June 23 primary Valdez won with 56.2% of the vote, ahead of Reynoso with 35.6%, councilmember Julie Won with 6.3% and public defender Vichal Kumar with 1.7%.
Also running on the Working Families Party line, she faces Republican Melvin Rivera, an activist and tenant organizer, and independent Priscilla Ghaznavi in the general election on November 3, 2026.
