NY-07: Third Candidate (D) Enters Heated Race for Open House Seat
The race to replace retiring Representative Nydia M. Velázquez in New York City has already become a closely watched showdown between two candidates, one backed by traditional progressives and the other by democratic socialists.
Now, another hopeful, Councilwoman Julie Won, is joining the fray, positioning herself on Tuesday as an alternative for the district in Brooklyn and Queens by emphasizing her life experience over factional politics.
Her campaign will be an uphill battle. Many of the city’s leading Democrats have already taken sides in what had been a head-to-head fight between Antonio Reynoso, the progressive Brooklyn borough president, and Claire Valdez, a democratic socialist assemblywoman.
But in an interview, Ms. Won, 35, said she believed she could offer voters something different by running as a progressive Democrat, an immigrant who already represents Queens and the only candidate in the race with lengthy corporate experience before she took office.
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/02/nyregion/julie-won-house-candidate.html