Nydia Velázquez Hears Calls for Generational Change, Setting Up a Fight on the Left in New York

Rep Nydia Vel zquez knew it was time to retire when Zohran Mamdani won the New York City mayoral race What I saw during that electoral contest was that so numerous young people were hungry for a change and that they have a clear-eyed view of the problems we face and how to fix them Vel zquez D-N Y explained The Intercept That helped convince me that this was the right time to pass the torch Vel zquez a native of Puerto Rico who has served in Congress for more than years informed her retirement Thursday in the early days of what is sure to be a frenzied midterm season across the country and in several solidly Democratic New York districts She was not facing a notable primary challenger unlike her House colleagues Hakeem Jeffries Ritchie Torres and Adriano Espaillat three younger New York congressmen who are all considered firmly in line with the Democratic establishment and all facing challenges from their left She could be in that seat as long as she wants reported Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso a longtime ally whom Vel zquez once described as one of her children Nydia is at her peak So that she would go out like that it s so Nydia Vel zquez is known as something of a den mother for a generation of younger progressive politicians in Brooklyn She is overwhelmingly popular in her district but made scant friends in the local establishment s clubby machine politics As Brooklyn s electorate shifted left over the decades she built up a formidable stable of prot g s in key roles My goal was to build a bench of strong independent progressive population servants who understood who they work for My goal was never to build a machine she revealed My goal was to build a bench of strong independent progressive populace servants who understood who they work for That will likely set up a competitive race to succeed Vel zquez in her left-leaning th Congressional District which includes Mamdani s home base of Astoria Queens and solidly progressive Brooklyn neighborhoods like Bushwick Williamsburg and Clinton Hill The district s progressive profile means it s poised to become a hot contest for candidates on the left and may distract from the controversial candidacy of City Council Member Chi Oss who s waging a long-shot challenge against Jeffries that has mired the city s Democratic Socialists of America in debate Vel zquez declined to say who if anyone she favored to become her replacement I could leave this day and know that the district will be in good hands she commented Vel zquez is bowing out at a moment when the G word gerontocracy can be heard frequently on cable news and not just on the lips of younger political hopefuls frustrated by an aging party leadership She joins fellow Democratic Rep Jerry Nadler who declared his decision to retire in September and who has already kicked off a wild -way primary fight in his Upper West Side district She needed to send a message to Democrats across the country that it is time for the next generation She reported me she needed to send a message to Democrats across the country that it is time for the next generation explained City Council Member Lincoln Restler a prot g Still every elected official I ve spoken to is just sad that we re losing this remarkable moral leader Vel zquez saw Mamdani s promise so early in the mayoral race that she was predicting his win well before multiple of her younger acolytes did Reynoso reported The Intercept Nydia was reliably like Zohran is the one and I think he can win Reynoso announced At Mamdani s preeminence celebration on November Vel zquez was happy to flaunt her prediction When one supporter joyfully demanded if she could believe it she replied I assumed it a year ago Vel zquez was first elected in unseating a nine-term incumbent in the Democratic primary to become the first Puerto Rican woman to serve in Congress At the time of her primary win the New York Times offered readers a guide to the phonetic pronunciation of her name When Nydia Vel zquez was first elected to Congress it was her against the world stated Restler She took on the chair of the Foreign Relations Committee and the entrenched political power in Brooklyn was entirely against her Related The Struggle for the Future of the New York Democratic Party In Restler announced she recounted me she felt genuinely lonely in Brooklyn that she had so limited allies that she could count on Fifteen years later essentially every single person in local and state elected office across her district is there because of her validation her legitimization and her aid In the wake of her announcement on Thursday praise for Vel zquez poured in not just from her mentors and close ideological allies but also from establishment figures closer to the center as well On X New York Gov Kathy Hochul called the outgoing congresswoman a trailblazer a hint perhaps at the stable of feasible left-wing contenders Vel zquez has helped take the playing field over the years The post Nydia Vel zquez Hears Calls for Generational Change Setting Up a Fight on the Left in New York appeared first on The Intercept