Claire Valdez
D · U.S. House, NY-7 · Tier 6
Tier 6, “Most critical of Israel / supports Palestine”
Assembly Member, DSA-endorsed and Mamdani-backed, who won the June 2026 primary for the open NY-7. Called for a ceasefire almost immediately after Oct 7, 2023; arrested protesting outside Schumer’s and Gillibrand’s offices; cosponsors Not on Our Dime. In her own words: “In Congress, I will vote to end military funding to Israel, cosponsor Block the Bombs, and fight every day for a free Palestine.” Her platform frames it as “a full suspension of U.S. military funding and arms transfers to Israel until it complies with international law.” In a July 2026 Breakthrough News interview she rejected an offensive/defensive split — “I don’t see a difference between offensive and defensive weaponry… we have to remove all aid, period” — and, asked about sanctions like those on apartheid South Africa, answered, “Absolutely… In the same way that we sanctioned South Africa during their apartheid regime I think we should be looking at those tools now in this moment,” adding that “we shouldn’t be punishing people who have been supporting boycott divestment sanctions.” City & State reports that she supports the BDS movement. In a conversation with the writer Touré at a Brooklyn church, posted on YouTube on October 28, 2026, she said, “It can’t just be about ending arms sales to Israel. I think we need to look at, I don’t know, sanctions,” and called for holding officials of the Biden administration “who upheld and apologized for and lied about the genocide” accountable so that “they can’t hold public office again and be in the State Department ever again.” Listing her disagreements with Democratic leaders, she said, “I want to see us end aid to Israel … I don’t want us to be complicit anymore in an ongoing genocide and upholding an apartheid state.” On October 30, 2026, quote-posting the DSA’s announcement of its arms-embargo campaign, she wrote on X that her “future constituent was detained by Israeli authorities and interrogated for hours, before being denied entry — without explanation,” adding: “No one should be subjected to this treatment. And for Palestinians living under occupation, the stakes are far higher. Free Palestine.”
A 6. Her Tier 5 stance is firm and in her own voice: she will “vote to end military funding to Israel” and cosponsor Block the Bombs, and she names the genocide. BDS is the only position on her record that questions Israel’s legitimacy as a Jewish state. City & State describes her as supporting the movement, and USCPR Action’s endorsees commit to it. In her own words, in a July 2026 interview, she backed sanctions on Israel “in the same way that we sanctioned South Africa during their apartheid regime” and said people “supporting boycott divestment sanctions” should not be punished: the sanctions leg of BDS, in her own voice, and a defense of the movement. Behind those positions stands a record of action: in the Assembly she cosponsors Not on Our Dime, she called for a ceasefire almost immediately after October 7, 2023, and in 2025 she was arrested outside Senators Schumer’s and Gillibrand’s offices protesting Israel’s military actions, as City & State reports. Her platform pledges to “support a comprehensive arms embargo” and to “push to end all weapons sales and military aid to Israel” — a suspension to last “until it complies with international law” — says the United States has backed Israel “as it entrenches apartheid and military occupation across Palestine” and that “Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has carried out genocide,” and backs “policies that recognize Palestinian statehood.” That, on top of a firm arms record with no offensive/defensive split (“we have to remove all aid, period”), puts her at the critical end. Counter-case: 5/6, since she has not said she supports BDS by name, and her platform words the arms suspension as lasting “until it complies with international law.”
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elect26 places 2026 midterm candidates on a six-tier spectrum, from 1 (most pro-Israel) to 6 (most critical of Israel).