RNC targets Valdez’s ‘socialist’ brand in New York

RNC targets – The Republican National Committee has escalated attacks on New York Democratic socialist congressional contender Claire Valdez, posting videos on Elon Musk’s X platform and framing her platform around issues including free Palestine, abolition of ICE, Medicare

For weeks, Claire Valdez has been running a campaign that treats politics like something you do with your neighbors—not something you watch from a distance. On Monday, the Republican National Committee responded by trying to make that closeness a liability.

The RNC posted a video on Elon Musk’s X platform featuring Valdez declaring. “I’m a union organizer and a proud democratic socialist. ” and then attacked her for celebrating the fact that members of Democratic Socialists of America. including her top political ally. New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani. are winning major races in New York and across the country. Later. Republicans posted another video of Valdez speaking to a New York City Democratic Socialists event and announced: “New York Democrat Socialist Congressional candidate Claire Valdez lays out her radical agenda: ‘So. are we ready to free Palestine. are we ready to Abolish ICE[. ] are we ready to win Medicare for all. housing for all. and unions for all?”.

Valdez is a veteran union organizer and a New York State Assembly member. She is a leading contender in the Democratic primary for the open House seat in New York’s Seventh Congressional District—a New York City district described as multiracial and multiethnic. where Democratic nominees typically receive 65 percent of the vote or more. The race is not one Republicans are considered particularly competitive for. and it is also not one where Republicans have shown much interest in what Democratic candidates have been saying.

That is why the RNC’s priority-setting feels so pointed. The party of Donald Trump is spending political oxygen on language that is meant to scare voters away from backing Valdez in her June 23 primary contest with Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso—and. if she wins. in the November general election.

But the attack lands in a political environment the RNC can’t seem to control. The argument that “democratic socialist” policies are toxic collides with what people appear to like, at least in broad strokes. The piece notes that voters in New York and nationwide “actually like human rights. ” do not want immigrants targeted by ICE. believe steps must be taken to deliver quality healthcare and housing. and “love strong unions.”.

If that sounds like a contradiction, the campaign itself suggests why Republicans keep circling back anyway. Justice Democrats. the group that helped elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Rashida Tlaib. and Summer Lee to the US House. reposted the RNC’s fearmongering and reminded voters that Valdez’s platform is “just that good.” Valdez boosted the RNC message and added. “I’m ready!”.

The broader backdrop matters too: the latest New York Times/Siena Poll finding cited in the piece says 49 percent of Democratic voters have a favorable view of socialism, while 22 percent have an unfavorable view.

So while the RNC is criticizing democratic socialist candidates for talking about winning elections on programs centered on economic. social. and racial justice. saving the planet. promoting international human rights. and reordering budget priorities to cut military spending and meet needs of the American people. the electorate being targeted is not necessarily reacting the way Republicans want.

This fight over the word “socialism” also isn’t new in American politics. Seventy-four years ago. President Harry Truman warned that “Socialism is a scare word they have hurled at every advance the people have made in the last 20 years.” He said it was “what they called public power. ” “what they called social security. ” “farm price supports. ” and “bank deposit insurance. ” and described it as a label Republicans used for “the growth of free and independent labor organizations. ” and “almost anything that helps all the people.” Truman added that when a Republican candidate inscribed “Down With Socialism” on a banner. it really meant “Down with Progress—down with Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal. ” and “down with Harry Truman’s Fair Deal.”.

The piece argues that socialism has had electoral ups and downs across US history. but that socialists have also been elected to the US Senate and US House. served as mayors of the country’s largest cities including Milwaukee—where members of the Socialist Party governed from 1910 to 1960—and led efforts that profoundly influenced US politics and policies. It points to New York as a current example through Zohran Mamdani’s mayoral role.

Valdez’s campaign leans on that lineage. and the rhetoric reflected in the piece is not shy about the vision beneath the “democratic socialist” label. Valdez tells interviewers that “Democratic socialism…is about expanding our democracy so it’s not just voting once every two or four years. It’s about how we’ve organized together for ourselves and for our families and our neighbors.”.

Bernie Sanders—described as the nation’s most prominent democratic socialist—will be rallying in New York on Thursday night with Valdez and Mamdani. along with progressive congressional candidates Brad Lander and Darializa Avila Chevalier. Sanders has argued that “in the 21st century. in the wealthiest country in the history of the world. economic rights are human rights. That is what I mean by democratic socialism.”.

The piece draws a line from those arguments to Franklin Roosevelt’s “economic bill of rights,” describing how Sanders, Mamdani, and Valdez speak of economic rights today.

Valdez’s own view of the political opening goes beyond ideology. She says the “broad constituency” behind Mamdani’s 2025 mayoral race demonstrated openness to a democratic socialist vision for “an affordable New York” and “a just and equitable society. ” with people’s real material needs placed ahead of corporate interests. She calls that inspiring.

In the end. the RNC’s strategy appears built around a premise: that linking Valdez to democratic socialism—especially through the specific issues Republicans cite. like calls to “free Palestine. ” “Abolish ICE. ” “win Medicare for all. housing for all. and unions for all”—will reduce her appeal to voters who might otherwise consider her in a competitive primary. Yet the counterforce built into the reporting is just as direct: the same language that Republicans attempt to frame as “radical” is treated by Justice Democrats as “just that good. ” and by Valdez as something to respond to with confidence.

Whether that confidence translates into votes in the Democratic primary on June 23 against Antonio Reynoso—and then. if needed. into a November general election challenge—hangs on one question the RNC can’t answer with a video post: in a district where Democrats routinely win big margins. are voters being moved away by the label. or moved toward the promises that come with it?.

Claire Valdez RNC Elon Musk X Zohran Mamdani democratic socialism Democratic Socialists of America June 23 primary New York Seventh Congressional District Antonio Reynoso ICE Medicare for all housing for all unions for all free Palestine