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Nydia Velázquez
Nydia Margarita Velázquez Serrano (/ˈnɪdiə/ NID-ee-ə, Spanish: [ˈniðja βeˈlaskes]; born March 28, 1953) is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for New York's 7th congressional district since 2013. A member of the Democratic Party, she previously represented New York's 12th congressional district from 1993 to 2013, prior to redistricting. She chaired the Congressional Hispanic Caucus from 2009 to 2011. Velázquez is the first Puerto Rican woman to serve in Congress.
On November 20, 2025, Velázquez announced she would not run for re-election in 2026.
Velázquez was born in Limones in the municipality of Yabucoa, Puerto Rico, on March 28, 1953. She grew up in a small house on the Río Limones with eight other siblings. Her mother was Carmen Luisa Serrano Medina, and her father, Benito Velázquez Rodríguez, was a low-income worker in the sugarcane fields who became a self-taught political activist and the founder of a local political party; he was also listed as "Black" on the 1940 U.S. census. Political conversations at the Velázquez dinner table focused on workers' rights.
Velázquez attended public schools and skipped three grades as a child. She became the first person in her family to graduate from high school. At age 16, she became a student at University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras. In 1974, she received a B.A. degree in political science, magna cum laude, and became a teacher. In college, Velázquez supported Puerto Rican independence; by the time she ran for Congress in 1992, Velázquez no longer addressed the issue, saying that it must be left up to the Puerto Rican people. In the 2024 gubernatorial elections of Puerto Rico, Velázquez was among many prominent figures including representative Alexandria Ocasio Cortez who endorsed Juan Dalmau Ramírez of the Puerto Rican Independence Party (PIP) for the governorship as part of the Alianza de País.
In 1976, Velázquez received an M.A. degree in political science from New York University. She served as an instructor of political science at the University of Puerto Rico at Humacao from 1976 to 1981. After returning to New York City, Velázquez was an adjunct professor of Puerto Rican studies at Hunter College from 1981 to 1983.
In 1983, Velázquez was special assistant to Representative Edolphus Towns, a Democrat representing New York's 10th congressional district in Brooklyn.
In 1984, Howard Golden (then the Brooklyn Borough president and chairman of the Brooklyn Democratic Party) named Velázquez to fill a vacant seat on the New York City Council, making her the first Hispanic woman to serve on the council. Velázquez ran for election to the council in 1986, but lost to a challenger.
From May 1986 to July 1989, Velázquez was national director of the Puerto Rico Department of Labor and Human Resources' Migration Division Office. In 1989 the governor of Puerto Rico named her the director of the Department of Puerto Rican Community Affairs in the United States. In this role, according to a 1992 The New York Times profile, "Velazquez solidified her reputation that night as a street-smart and politically savvy woman who understood the value of solidarity and loyalty to other politicians, community leaders and organized labor."
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Nydia Velázquez
Nydia Margarita Velázquez Serrano (/ˈnɪdiə/ NID-ee-ə, Spanish: [ˈniðja βeˈlaskes]; born March 28, 1953) is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for New York's 7th congressional district since 2013. A member of the Democratic Party, she previously represented New York's 12th congressional district from 1993 to 2013, prior to redistricting. She chaired the Congressional Hispanic Caucus from 2009 to 2011. Velázquez is the first Puerto Rican woman to serve in Congress.
On November 20, 2025, Velázquez announced she would not run for re-election in 2026.
Velázquez was born in Limones in the municipality of Yabucoa, Puerto Rico, on March 28, 1953. She grew up in a small house on the Río Limones with eight other siblings. Her mother was Carmen Luisa Serrano Medina, and her father, Benito Velázquez Rodríguez, was a low-income worker in the sugarcane fields who became a self-taught political activist and the founder of a local political party; he was also listed as "Black" on the 1940 U.S. census. Political conversations at the Velázquez dinner table focused on workers' rights.
Velázquez attended public schools and skipped three grades as a child. She became the first person in her family to graduate from high school. At age 16, she became a student at University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras. In 1974, she received a B.A. degree in political science, magna cum laude, and became a teacher. In college, Velázquez supported Puerto Rican independence; by the time she ran for Congress in 1992, Velázquez no longer addressed the issue, saying that it must be left up to the Puerto Rican people. In the 2024 gubernatorial elections of Puerto Rico, Velázquez was among many prominent figures including representative Alexandria Ocasio Cortez who endorsed Juan Dalmau Ramírez of the Puerto Rican Independence Party (PIP) for the governorship as part of the Alianza de País.
In 1976, Velázquez received an M.A. degree in political science from New York University. She served as an instructor of political science at the University of Puerto Rico at Humacao from 1976 to 1981. After returning to New York City, Velázquez was an adjunct professor of Puerto Rican studies at Hunter College from 1981 to 1983.
In 1983, Velázquez was special assistant to Representative Edolphus Towns, a Democrat representing New York's 10th congressional district in Brooklyn.
In 1984, Howard Golden (then the Brooklyn Borough president and chairman of the Brooklyn Democratic Party) named Velázquez to fill a vacant seat on the New York City Council, making her the first Hispanic woman to serve on the council. Velázquez ran for election to the council in 1986, but lost to a challenger.
From May 1986 to July 1989, Velázquez was national director of the Puerto Rico Department of Labor and Human Resources' Migration Division Office. In 1989 the governor of Puerto Rico named her the director of the Department of Puerto Rican Community Affairs in the United States. In this role, according to a 1992 The New York Times profile, "Velazquez solidified her reputation that night as a street-smart and politically savvy woman who understood the value of solidarity and loyalty to other politicians, community leaders and organized labor."