Claire Valdez could change congress forever...
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Who is Claire Valdez and what is her political background?
We're here with Claire Valdez, running for New York 7. As you guys know, I'm trying to get socialist elected, and Claire happens to be one. We're very honored and very excited to have you on the stream. You've been side by side with Zoram Mamdani from the beginning of the underdog campaign. You've been there from the jump. And now you're running for Congress. Welcome to the broadcast. Thank you very much. I'm sure people are going to have a lot of thoughts, but let's get started on your background. Yeah, totally. So I'm currently a New York State Assembly member, like Zoran was. And he was one of the people who actually really convinced me to run in the first place when I was running for assembly. We had a really great conversation about what our offices could do to build socialism beyond the legislature.
And it was really inspiring. But before that, I was a union member. I was in UAW Local 2110. And I worked at Columbia University as an administrative assistant there. And I organized alongside of 500 of my co-workers who are also administrative assistants, clerical workers, call center workers, the most underpaid, hardest working people on campus. And we organized and bargained against Columbia University, a $14 billion endowment institution that is mostly a real estate portfolio at this point, but also happens to grant degrees. So I got my start in unit politics, and that was my introduction to this crazy world of organizing. I'm also a GSA member for the past seven years, since 2019. So yeah, you organize alongside your colleagues at Columbia for the UAW.
And you were talking about the clerical workers and all the people that 500 members that are some of the most like undermined. Underpaid, most invisible workers on campus who actually make the university run. And we went toe to toe with Columbia, got to sit across the table from management to negotiate our contract. It's a transformative experience to sit across from your boss and be an equal. And that was really my start into organizing, into politics, and it's the fight that I want to take to Washington now. Hell yeah. What are some of the agenda items? Like if you were to break it down, Zoran style, like, you know, five major points you want to hit on your campaign. What would you say those like five points are?
Because this is not a mayoral race. Right. This is a congressional race.
What inspired Claire Valdez to run for Congress?
So obviously the stakes are higher. Yep. You have more power, technically. I mean, I guess like the... Mayor's got a lot of power. Mayor's got a lot of power in New York. Yeah. But I meant like... You are going to be building coalitions with other progressives Inshallah once you get an office and There's going to be a legislative agenda Obviously, it's still impacted by whether or not Democrats are gonna win the majorities in both the houses and there's still the the White House. Yeah, but let's say you are now a part of Congress and and you've been able to secure coalitions within the Congressional Progressive Caucus. What are the five things that you would want to bring to the table? Yeah, so the campaign's really about housing for all, healthcare for all, unions for all, ending the genocide in Gaza, and abolishing ICE.
So the big picture platform is around those five things. I'd say in terms of legislation, the things that I'm really excited about fighting for, passing the pro-apt finally, winning social housing across the United States and here in New York. Okay. Let's go. So I love that. Yeah. This is something that I've had a big gripe with, with the national Dems, with the party in general, including but not limited to even the likes of, I would say, Bernie Sanders, Because there is no real vision like this is a often not discussed element of the affordability crisis that Americans are facing housing for all as a policy or social housing as a policy is I feel like unheard of in America, but it is definitely one of the most important aspects of I think a socialist position a leftist position
So it's actually quite surprising to hear that from someone who is running for Congress.
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Chapters
5 chapters
1
Who is Claire Valdez and what is her political background?
0:00–2:31
2
What inspired Claire Valdez to run for Congress?
2:31–13:07
3
What are the main agenda items for Claire's campaign?
13:07–17:14
4
How does Claire Valdez plan to address housing issues?
17:14–21:17
5
What role does social housing play in Claire's platform?
21:17–32:22