In the race for a Congressional seat from Queens, a candidate endorsed by NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani and the Democratic Socialists of America is facing scrutiny for her financial ties. Despite her vocal criticism of billionaires and the artificial intelligence sector, it appears that Assemblywoman Claire Valdez has been quietly accepting contributions from these very sources.
Valdez, a Democratic state assemblywoman aiming to succeed the retiring Rep. Nydia Velázquez, received $7,000 in January from Silicon Valley billionaire and AI investor Tom Preston-Werner and his wife, Theresa, according to financial records. This revelation highlights a potential contradiction in her campaign rhetoric.
In addition, Valdez has secured at least $1,850 from employees affiliated with AI companies. Her campaign, which reported raising a total of $751,680 by the end of March, is also significantly bolstered by political action committees that benefit from substantial contributions from billionaires and AI investors, as disclosed by further records.
Throughout her campaign, the 36-year-old candidate has consistently pledged to combat the influence of the “billionaire class” and claimed to reject funds from the AI sector, insisting that her team rigorously vets contributions to ensure alignment with her values.
Valdez has frequently linked tech and AI billionaires to broader economic and environmental issues. On May 11, she expressed her views on social media, stating, “AI. Fossil fuels. Private utilities. The same oligarchs creating an affordability crisis are burning the planet. The solution must address both problems at once.”
“AI. Fossil fuels. Private utilities,” Valdez posted May 11 on X. “The same oligarchs creating an affordability crisis are burning the planet. The solution must address both problems at once.”
The donations aren’t sitting well with some of New York’s most seasoned Democratic operatives.
“Claire Valdez is a complete hypocrite,” said a top NYC Democratic consultant.
“One day, she bashes billionaires and Big Tech then turns around and pockets their campaign cash.
“One day she’s railing against super PACs and ‘dark money;’ the next she is eagerly accepting their support. Washington is drowning in politicians who say one thing and do another. For all her holier‑than‑thou progressive rhetoric, Claire is proving she’s just one more of them.”
Valdez’s hypocrisy extends well beyond billionaires and AI.
She’s repeatedly demanded US Immigration and Customs Enforcement be abolished and has promised on her campaign website to “end for-profit detention and deportation” by tearing up federal contracts with “surveillance contractors and the ecosystem of businesses who profit off the misery of immigrant detention.”
However, records show she’s received donations totaling $3,250 from employees who work for ICE vendors, including $1,000 from a researcher at Magnet Forensics, which has a $3 million contract to provide phone-hacking services for the agency’s investigations unit.
She’s also taken another $250 from Kyle Cushing, a San Diego-based software developer at General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, the defense contractor behind MQ9 Reaper and MQ1 Predator drones used in ICE border surveillance.
And Valdez’s executive dad works for a company fortifying the Texas border, The Post reported last month.
Larry Valdez, works for engineering firm Parkhill Smith & Cooper, which has been responsible for a myriad of Border Patrol projects in western Texas — including a $172,000 contract for the build-out of a massive border facility on 74 acres in Marfa in 2009.
Valdez previously claimed her father had no involvement in the projects cited by The Post.
Her spokesman, Andrew Epstein, insisted Friday that Valdez is running a grassroots campaign.
“More than 20,000 people have given an average of 50 bucks to Claire’s campaign,” he said. “That’s significantly more small dollar donors than both other candidates in this race combined — and it’s not even close. No real estate money. No corporate PACs. Just the occasional class traitor.”
Valdez is running in a crowded field in the June 23 Democratic primary to replace Velázquez in New York’s 7th Congressional District, which includes parts of Queens and Brooklyn. The district has been dubbed “Commie Corridor” for its huge concentration of DSA and other far-left voters.
While she has the backing of Mamdani, US Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and the DSA, Velázquez and the far-left Working Families Party are backing Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso.
