HasanAbi Claire Valdez could change congress forever...
9 snips
Feb 9, 2026 
Claire Valdez, a New York State Assembly member, former union organizer and Democratic Socialist running for NY-7. She discusses organizing 500 clerical workers, a five-point campaign on housing, healthcare, unions, Gaza and ICE. They explore social housing models like Barcelona and Vienna, underfunded public housing, movement-driven taxation, and confronting establishment Democrats.
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From Columbia Clerical Organizer To Politician
- Claire Valdez began organizing as a clerical worker at Columbia, unionizing 500 administrative staff against the university.
- Sitting across the table from management to negotiate a contract transformed her into a full-time organizer and politician.
Five-Point Federal Socialist Agenda
- Claire Valdez centers her campaign on five big demands: housing for all, health care for all, unions for all, ending the genocide in Gaza, and abolishing ICE.
- She plans federal pushes like the PRO Act and national social housing to make those demands concrete.
Recenter Housing Policy Away From Homeownership
- Valdez argues national housing policy focuses wrongly on homeownership and tax incentives instead of decommodified housing.
- She advocates deeply affordable, permanently affordable, democratically managed social housing as the corrective path.
