Meet the candidates battling to win New York's 7th Congressional District

It's a battle for the territory, representing neighborhoods like Bushwick, Williamsburg, downtown Brooklyn, and Bed-Stuy, just to name a few. Mamdani-endorsed Democratic candidate and current Assemblywoman Claire Valdes says her primary win energized her cause. It was incredibly exciting, certainly seeing the margin was really thrilling, and really for us it meant that there was a mandate to fight for the things that we campaigned on, like abolishing ICE, winning Medicare for All. She's running against independent candidate Priscilla Ghaznavi, A daughter of immigrants who lives in Brooklyn, she says growing up in Washington, D.C., made politics a fixture in her life, something she carries with her every day. The people that asked me to run were actually my neighbors from such a diverse community. Priscilla, this is what happened to me. Who do I talk to? Or can you help me write a letter? These are all things that I had been doing in the last 27 years, and I never asked somebody, hey, what party do you belong to or what affiliation you are? I just did it because they were my neighbors. Also on the ballot, Republican candidate Melvin Rivera. Born and raised in Bushwick, Brooklyn, Rivera says the race is personal. But he says experiencing things like homelessness made him want to be the change. Because nobody's coming to save us. You know, I really didn't want to run. I have no intention or ambition to be in politics. But the truth is that these seats are being occupied by DSA members who do not know the community. But one issue on all of their campaigns? Housing. But how to get there is the point of difference. If you live in a rent-stabilized, rent-controlled Section 8 NYCHA unit, you should have the opportunity to purchase and build generational wealth through home equity. Affordable housing and a pathway to home ownership, there are programs that exist, and I believe these programs that exist aren't necessarily always accessible, or people aren't necessarily aware of it. So fighting for secure and dignified public housing, funding NYCHA are high priorities. Early voting is open and election day is on November 3rd. In Brooklyn, Julia Burns, News 12.