About Claire
Assemblymember Claire Valdez is a union organizer, artist and proud democratic socialist. A dual citizen of the Ysleta del Sur Pueblo Nation and the United States, she worked low-wage customer service jobs through high school, college and after. As a worker at Columbia University, she joined UAW Local 2110, was elected to the bargaining committee, and organized to democratize her union. A longtime leader in NYC-DSA, Claire serves in the New York State Assembly, where she has fought to tax the rich, protect tenants, and empower working people.
New York’s 7th Congressional District spans North Brooklyn and Western Queens, neighborhoods shaped by both struggle and creativity. From the industrial polluters of the 19th and 20th centuries to the real estate speculators of today, powerful interests have long sought to extract wealth here at the expense of working people. But this district is also a place of deep resilience and extraordinary diversity, where immigrants, artists, workers, and families have built lasting communities and helped define the cultural life of New York City.
I didn’t come to politics through party machines or electoral ambition. I learned how this system really works in low-wage customer service jobs and found my power in a union. This district has also long stood on the frontlines of progressive political change. It was here that the daughter of a sugarcane worker took on the political establishment and became the first Puerto Rican woman elected to Congress. Nydia Velázquez went on to spend decades fighting for workers, immigrants, and small businesses against corporate power. This district delivered the single largest margin of victory for Zohran Mamdani in the Democratic primary for mayor. It’s a district that doesn’t just want strongly-worded letters but a real economic vision to win the working class away from Trumpism. That’s what Claire will deliver.
State representatives write and vote on state laws and the state budget. Each represents a district in the legislature's lower chamber, which is called the House, the Assembly, or the House of Delegates depending on the state. Most serve two-year terms.