DSA endorses Valdez in race for Western Queens Assembly seat
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Claire Valdez was officially endorsed by the New York City chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America in next year’s race for Assembly District 37. Valdez Campaign
By Ryan Schwach
The New York City chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America officially endorsed Claire Valdez in next year’s race for Assembly District 37 this weekend, potentially setting up a two-way race between the union organizer and embattled legislator Juan Ardila, who has yet to announce his bid for reelection.
Heading into the weekend, Valdez was one of three candidates who had filed to run in the progressive bastion against Ardila, who in March was accused of sexual assault but has, in the months that have followed, resisted calls to resign.
Following DSA’s endorsement of Valdez, candidates Emilia Decaudin and Hailie Kim, both of whom were also vying for the socialist organization’s endorsement, announced that they will no longer be running for the Western Queens district.
Ardila has ignored a slew of calls for his resignation from officials across the state after sexual assault allegations were brought to light in March, but has yet to officially file a campaign nor has he clearly stated if he intends to do so.
Decaudin, a district leader who was hoping to be the state’s first transgender lawmaker, suspended her campaign after Valdez was tapped by DSA – as she said she would. Kim, who had filed to run for the seat but had yet to announce her campaign, told the Eagle she will not be going through with the campaign as she deals with personal issues and the recent death of her grandfather.
Decaudin’s decision to suspend her campaign is keeping true to a promise that she would do so if she didn’t receive the DSA’s nod, hoping to keep a united left as the election gets closer.
“Following the New York City Democratic Socialists of America’s endorsement of Claire Valdez, I am suspending my own campaign for State Assembly and enthusiastically endorsing Claire — a working class Union organizer who will deliver the change we need in the state legislature; who will put us first, over the interests of the rich,” Decaudin said in a statement. “While it has been the honor of a lifetime to run on behalf of my community, being a member of a democratic organization and a disciplined movement for socialism means putting that movement first. This is a responsibility I not only take seriously, but believe in wholeheartedly.”
Decaudin would have been the first transgender state legislator in the state’s history had she been elected, and in her weekend statement thanked the supporters of her short-lived campaign.
“While I look forward to the day when my trans siblings gain representation in Albany, I intend to continue my work as an advocate for a New York where trans people are not just protected, but are able to thrive,” she said. “I want to thank each and every one of my supporters and those who donated to my campaign or signed-up to volunteer. I could not have done this without you, and for that, you have my eternal gratitude.”
The endorsement leaves Valdez, a Ridgewood resident, as the only candidate whose campaign is filed with the state’s Board of Elections.
Valdez celebrated the endorsement when speaking with the Eagle on Monday.
“It felt really good,” Valdez told the Eagle. “DSA has been my political home for the past four and a half years or so, and it's just the most meaningful endorsement I could receive. It's a really rigorous and democratic process, and so that means a lot that membership had faith in me.”
Valdez also acknowledged Decaudin’s resignation, and called it “a real testament to the strength of our movement.”
“There were two amazing candidates to begin with [but] there's recognition that we need to kind of consolidate around someone and make sure that the movement stays together and doesn't get fractured,” she said.
A local union organizer and staffer with the United Auto Workers, Valdez said she never considered running for office until she was asked to run in the upcoming 2024 election for Assembly District 37.
“We started early, in part because mounting a challenge to a sitting incumbent is a lot of work,” she said. “It requires a lot of volunteer energy, money and starting fundraising and getting momentum around the campaign is really important.”
Valdez said she “fully expects” to be running against Ardila in June, someone who she said she felt betrayed by after voting for him last year.
Valdez said that last year, while she was working on a separate campaign in a neighborhooding district on election day, she got on her bike and rode back home so that she could cast a vote for Ardila, taking “time away from this other campaign so [she could] cast a vote for this person that was supposed to be a progressive and a defender of working class people.”
“It felt like such a betrayal in March to hear these allegations,” Valdez said. “As a woman, it was especially kind of disappointing [and] disgusting.”
Valdez says she wants her campaign to center around labor and housing, as well as bringing together different progressive groups in Western Queens.
“I want my campaign very much to be one that unifies different parts of the left, that brings in progressive labor unions, and that can mount a true challenge to a sitting incumbent and also lead the way for campaigns in their future,” she said.
