Heard Around Town
1199 backs Reynoso, three others running against DSA
Big labor is lining up behind the Brooklyn borough president in his congressional race.
Members of 1199SEIU march in Manhattan against Rite Aid in 2016. Andy Katz/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images
Powerful health care workers union 1199SEIU is endorsing Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso in the congressional race to replace retiring Rep. Nydia Velázquez.
That’s a blow to his leading opponent, Assembly Member Claire Valdez, who launched her campaign with a plan of uniting labor and the left. But despite the unwavering support of Mayor Zohran Mamdani, Valdez has yet to earn a significant labor endorsement other than from her own former union, UAW Region 9A.
Meanwhile Reynoso has been endorsed by the Hotel and Gaming Trades Council, 32BJ SEIU, District Council 37, RWDSU and CWA District 1, among others.
“For over a decade, Antonio has taken on the toughest fights in New York in the name of supporting working people. Whether we needed him on the picket line or at the negotiating table, he always showed up,” said Dell Smitherman, 1199’s New York political and campaigns director. “We look forward to sending him to Washington where he will fight to abolish ICE, tax the rich, and stand up to Donald Trump and his billionaire friends.”
Valdez’s campaign declined to comment. But she may find comfort in the fact that Mamdani won the district that spans Brooklyn and Queens in the mayoral primary last year even though Andrew Cuomo had the lion’s share of union endorsements.
The Reynoso nod is just one of a slate of endorsements 1199 is announcing Thursday, shared first with City & State. Despite its progressive reputation, the union is endorsing against several other candidates backed by the Democratic Socialists of America – throwing support behind Rep. Adriano Espaillat and Assembly Members Jenifer Rajkumar and Jordan Wright.
It’s 1199’s first midterm election year under new President Yvonne Armstrong. The 250,000-member union is also endorsing several Democrats trying to flip Republican-held seats. That includes Blake Gendebien, who is looking to succeed retiring Rep. Elise Stefanik in the North Country, Lisa Kaul who’s running against state Sen. Rob Rolison in the Hudson Valley and Sarah Rogerson, taking on state Sen. James Tedisco in the Capital Region.
1199 previously endorsed almost every other Democratic incumbent in the state Legislature, including several DSA members. But the union has yet to weigh in on Rep. Dan Goldman’s reelection race against Brad Lander, or the open race to replace retiring Rep. Jerry Nadler.