Rival NY 7th District candidates agree: President AOC in 2028, Knicks in 5

Dave Goldiner, New York Daily News on Jun 11, 2026

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NEW YORK — The three rival congressional candidates in the NY-07 Democratic primary agree on two things: President AOC in 2028 and the Knicks in 5.

Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso, Assemblywoman Claire Valdez and City Councilwoman Julie Won all vowed to back Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in the next presidential election, even though hasn’t announced any plans to run for the White House.

The across-the-board backing for the fellow progressive Democrat came in the so-called lightning round of a televised debate between the three wannabe members of Congress vying in the June 23 primary in one of the deepest-blue districts in the entire nation.

Ocasio-Cortez didn’t immediately respond to the vote of confidence from her fellow lefty New Yorkers. The progressive lawmaker from a neighboring district recently barnstormed the nation with Sen. Bernie Sanders, drawing big crowds in deep red states.

It wasn’t only the race for president that the candidates agreed on. The trio mostly staked out common ground on a host of issues, with only shades of differences on topics like building more housing, opposing aid to Israel and even the Knicks’ amazing playoff run.

The low-key debate hosted by WPIX aired right before tip-off of the Knicks’ thrilling comeback victory over the San Antonio Spurs in Game 4 of the NBA Finals, and just one journalist showed up in the designated spin room for the clash.

Even before the Knicks stormed back from a 29-point second-half deficit to make history at Madison Square Garden, all three candidates predicted they would roll to a 4-1 series victory.

Valdez, who somehow avoided being grilled about being born and raised in Texas, picked Jalen Brunson as her choice for most valuable player.

Reynoso went with Karl-Anthony Towns, with whom he shares Dominican heritage.

Won chose Josh Hart as her MVP, a pick that nearly went sour when the Knicks forward made a couple of bonehead plays in the final minutes that almost torpedoed the Knicks’ historic comeback.

The candidates were also asked to grade the performance of Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who has endorsed Valdez. She gave him an A, while Reynoso and Won gave Hizzoner an A-minus.

The trio are battling to succeed Rep. Nydia Velazquez, who has endorsed Reynoso. She is retiring after more than three decades representing different versions of the heavily Latino district that snakes through progressive neighborhoods in northern Brooklyn and western Queens.

The only real spark at the debate came when the candidates sparred over the issue of outside campaign funding.

Reynoso and Won slammed Valdez for encouraging backing from outside super PACs, while the self-described democratic socialist boasted that she has more grassroots donors.