Is another Indigenous woman headed to Congress?
New York state could elect its first known Indigenous member of Congress.
Claire Valdez, Ysleta Del Sur Pueblo, is the Democratic nominee for New York’s 7th Congressional District — it crosses two of New York City’s boroughs, Brooklyn and Queens.
She currently serves as an assemblymember in the New York state legislature.
Valdez went against three other Democratic candidates in the June 23 primary to replace U.S. Rep. Nydia Velasquez, who wasn’t seeking re-election. Valdez won with 55 percent of the votes.
She is now headed to the general election on Nov. 3 where she faces three other challengers.
“Representation is incredibly important. For so many Native people in the United States, we’ve been completely forgotten about. There’s been a long history of intentional erasure, of assimilation, and trampling of political and sovereign rights,” Valdez told ICT. “It’s really important to have representatives who understand that and want to go to Washington to stand up for our communities’ pa…