Reynoso pledges to ‘fight for’ Puerto Rico if elected to Congress in NY-7

The plan gives Reynoso a new way to argue that he is best positioned to carry forward Velázquez’s legacy in New York’s 7th Congressional District, a heavily Democratic Brooklyn-and-Queens seat with deep Puerto Rican political roots.

Reynoso is running in the Democratic primary against Queens Assembly Member Claire Valdez, who is backed by the Democratic Socialists of America and Mayor Zohran Mamdani, and Queens Council Member Julie Won. The winner would be heavily favored to succeed Velázquez, the first Puerto Rican woman elected to Congress and one of New York’s most influential progressive lawmakers.

Reynoso’s plan calls for reintroducing the Puerto Rico Self-Determination Act, setting a timeline to dissolve the federally imposed Fiscal Oversight and Management Board known as La Junta, permanently exempting Puerto Rico from the Jones Act, closing tax incentives formerly known as Act 22 and now consolidated under Act 60, scrutinizing LUMA Energy’s management of Puerto Rico’s transmission and distribution grid and preventing a looming drop in federal Medicaid support.

At Monday’s press conference, Reynoso described Puerto Rico policy as both a federal obligation and a local issue for a district shaped by generations of Puerto Rican organizing.

“We shouldn’t have to be Puerto Rican to help Puerto Rico,” said Reynoso, who is Dominican American. “The time for leaders outside of Puerto Rico, outside of being Puerto Rican, to stand up and fight for what is our moral and constitutional obligation is now.”

Reynoso also tied the platform to his own family’s history in South Williamsburg. He said his parents arrived in the neighborhood in the 1970s and benefited from English-language classes, workforce programs and youth programs built by Puerto Rican community leaders.

“My parents benefited from the hardships and the struggle of the Puerto Rican people,” he said. “They laid the foundation for me to be able to stand here.”

Velázquez, who has endorsed Reynoso, said members of Congress have a constitutional responsibility to engage with Puerto Rico’s status and governance and praised Reynoso for making the island’s political future a campaign priority.

“Antonio is the only candidate in this race who truly understands that addressing Puerto Rico policy is not optional,” Velázquez said, according to a transcript of the event. “It is both a moral obligation and a constitutional responsibility.”

Reynoso wants Puerto Rico’s people to decide island’s destiny

Reynoso says Puerto Ricans should determine the island’s future through a binding, transparent process led by Puerto Ricans, including island residents and members of the diaspora. His platform also calls for dissolving La Junta, which was created under the federal PROMESA law and has long been criticized by Puerto Rican advocates for austerity measures affecting schools, hospitals, labor protections and public services.

The platform also targets tax incentives and land speculation. Reynoso’s campaign says Congress should close loopholes used by wealthy mainland investors, increase transparency in land purchases, crack down on shell companies and strengthen community land trusts to combat displacement.

A December report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office found that recipients of Puerto Rico tax incentives were, on average, high-income and paid significantly less federal tax after moving to the island. The GAO also said the overall effect of the incentives on Puerto Rico’s economy is difficult to isolate and recommended stronger IRS oversight of taxpayers claiming federal tax exemptions.

Velázquez highlighted the same issue Monday, saying she was “especially supportive” of Reynoso’s commitment to closing Act 22 loopholes and confronting corporate land speculation. She said wealthy investors and vulture funds have used those loopholes to buy land, displace communities and threaten environmentally sensitive areas.

Reynoso’s plan also opposes the proposed Esencia development, which the campaign says threatens mangroves, wetlands, wildlife habitats, archaeological sites and coastal ecosystems. The platform says Reynoso would work with Puerto Rican lawmakers, environmental advocates and community groups to strengthen environmental protections and investigate the corporate structures behind such projects.