City Council Member Julie Won just announced her campaign for New York’s 7th congressional district, in what is already shaping up to be a contentious race.
Won represents Long Island City, Sunnyside, Astoria, and Woodside in the City Council’s 26th district, a position she has held since 2022. She has dubbed her congressional platform as a “Lifetime of Care,” meant to support New Yorkers from birth through retirement.
“Parents can’t find affordable childcare. Seniors are warehoused or forgotten. Workers are one illness away from losing everything. Immigrant families are being ripped apart by ICE,” Won said in a press release.
“I’m running to build a ‘Lifetime of Care’ — to move us away from a profit economy towards a care economy, where success isn’t measured by how much we take from people but by how well we take care of each other.”
Won enters at a time when the race to replace the outgoing Nydia Velázquez has been heating up. The race’s current frontrunners, Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso and State Assemblymember Claire Valdez, each represent a different flank of the Democratic party.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani and the Democratic Socialists of America recently endorsed Valdez, and Velázquez countered that with an endorsement of Reynoso, in a race that pits frequent allies against each other.