Antonio Reynoso

Mentors

Two mentors shaped Reynoso's career above all others.

Diana Reyna, the City Council member he worked for and eventually succeeded, was his entry point into elected politics. Reynoso rose from constituent services to become her chief of staff, and she chose him as her preferred successor when she was term-limited out in 2013. He has called her "the best retail politician I've ever met in my life" 1.

Nydia Velázquez, the long-serving congresswoman whose seat he is seeking in 2026, has been a defining mentor and political patron. Reynoso met her while co-founding the New Kings Democrats, and he has described her as a "hero and friend" 2. Velázquez personally mentored him over the years and endorsed him to succeed her, telling reporters she had assumed a protege she had mentored would win the seat easily 3.

The New Kings Democrats and Brooklyn reform politics

Reynoso co-founded the New Kings Democrats, a group of progressives who sought to reform the entrenched Brooklyn Democratic Party machine 4. This reform lineage connects him to a generation of Brooklyn progressives and helps explain his defeat of the old-guard figure Vito Lopez in his first council race. The reform-versus-machine dynamic has been a throughline of his political identity.

Allies and endorsers

Reynoso's 2026 congressional campaign assembled a broad coalition of establishment-progressive and labor support, illustrating the network he has built over more than a decade in office. His endorsers have included:

Rep. Nydia Velázquez, the retiring incumbent, and his mentor 2.

New York Attorney General Letitia James, who called him the most experienced candidate in the race 5.

Rep. Jerrold Nadler and Rep. Pat Ryan 6.

Public Advocate Jumaane Williams and Queens Borough President Donovan Richards 7.

Progressive City Council members, including Sandy Nurse, Crystal Hudson, and Lincoln Restler 7.

The Working Families Party, whose affiliated unions and advocacy groups pushed for his endorsement 8.

Major labor unions, including 1199SEIU, 32BJ SEIU, District Council 37, RWDSU, CWA District 1, and the Hotel and Gaming Trades Council 9.

Advocacy organizations, including Make the Road Action, New York Communities for Change, and Citizen Action of New York 6,7.

The labor support in particular has been notable: 1199SEIU's endorsement was described as a blow to his DSA-backed opponent, and Reynoso assembled significant union backing that his rivals largely could not match 9.

Rivals in the 2026 primary

The NY-7 Democratic primary pits Reynoso against two main opponents:

Claire Valdez, a Queens Assembly Member and former union organizer, is his principal rival. She is backed by the Democratic Socialists of America, Mayor Zohran Mamdani, Sen. Bernie Sanders, and the United Auto Workers 10,11. The contest between Reynoso and Valdez has been widely framed as a test of the institutional Working Families Party left against the ascendant DSA left.

Julie Won, a Queens Council Member, entered the race as a late third candidate in February 2026 and has competed strongly in fundraising despite lacking major institutional endorsements 12.

The complicated relationship with Zohran Mamdani

The most consequential and unusual relationship in Reynoso's current politics is with Mayor Zohran Mamdani. Although both are progressives, Mamdani endorsed Reynoso's opponent, Claire Valdez, a fellow democratic socialist, in the NY-7 primary 11. Mamdani's involvement went beyond a standard endorsement, including appearing with Valdez, joining a fundraising appeal, and lending her close political advisers 6.

The split reflects a broader divide on New York's left between the institutional progressive wing and the DSA wing, and it placed Reynoso in the position of being a progressive who lacked the endorsement of the city's most prominent progressive mayor. Reynoso has handled the dynamic by disputing the proxy-war framing and emphasizing his governing experience, while avoiding direct attacks on the popular mayor 13.

The Velazquez-Mamdani tension

Reynoso's mentor, Velazquez, has been more openly critical of Mamdani's primary interventions. She publicly warned that his decision to endorse in the NY-7 race risked fracturing the coalition he needs to govern, and she placed herself at odds with Mamdani in several races, backing candidates the mayor opposed 3,14. This positioned Reynoso, through his mentor, on one side of an emerging rivalry within New York progressivism, even as he personally sought to stay above the fray.

Family

Reynoso's family is not a political dynasty. His parents were Dominican immigrants who worked outside politics, and he was raised with two sisters in a poor household in Williamsburg 15. He lives with his wife, Iliana Gomez, and their two sons. His family story functions as a political narrative rather than a political network: his origins, not family connections, are the foundation he cites for his career.

The shape of his network

Reynoso's relationships map onto the institutional-progressive wing of New York Democratic politics: a reform-Brooklyn lineage through Reyna and the New Kings Democrats, a patron relationship with Velazquez, deep labor backing, and broad establishment-progressive endorsements. The defining feature of his 2026 network is what it lacks: the support of the DSA and Mamdani, who lined up behind his opponent. The result is a coalition that is broad, labor-heavy, and experience-focused, set against a rival coalition that is movement-driven and mayor-backed, a contrast that has come to define the most-watched congressional primary in the city.