The democratic socialist and self-described unionist won the primary by 21 points in what was a citywide sweep for the slate of candidates endorsed by the Democratic Socialists of America. “I think there's just kind of mass dissatisfaction in the working class of New York City and around the country, too. “I think that there's a growing recognition that democratic socialists can govern.” “What's really important is that I'm not going to compromise on any of my politics,” Valdez said. “I think there's a lot of common ground there around basic infrastructure stuff, around raising the minimum wage.”