Experience and Qualifications
Senior aide to Rep. Nadler, Director of State Leg. Affairs for Mayor Bloomberg, Chief of Staff to the NYS Attorney General, Policy Director to Gov. Hochul
Community Involvement
Congregation Rodeph Sholom, Everytown for Gun Safety, Riverside Park Conservancy
Education
NYU & Stuyvesant HS
Campaign Instagram
@micahlasher
Campaign YouTube
My top priority in Congress will be to lead the way on a cohesive, powerful resistance to the destructive Trump administration. I have done this in the Assembly by leading on mid-decade redistricting and passing bills to protect our immigrant communities from ICE. In Congress, I will continue to fight for New Yorkers with the urgency the moment demands. I have written extensively about what this will take in my own Project 2026 (micahlasher.com/project2026).
I will also prioritize the cost of living crisis by championing dramatic investments in housing construction, a significant increase in the federal minimum wage, and Medicare for All.
Finally, I will protect and defend our most vulnerable neighbors and communities by fighting to codify reproductive rights, strengthen gun laws, preserve our environment, and abolish ICE.
I believe that corporations today — particularly in the aftermath of Citizens United — exercise too much power over our political system. That is why I have introduced legislation, together with Sen. Kristen Gonzalez, to end Citizens United by prohibiting corporations from spending money on elections in New York, using a novel legal theory in an effort to overcome the legal obstacles to progress. I strongly support the public financing of elections for Congressional campaigns, and believe we must pursue every available avenue to reduce the influence of big money in politics.
60 years of civil rights progress are being erased one ruling at a time. The Supreme Court’s decision on Louisiana's voting map is the latest step in dismantling the Voting Rights Act and disenfranchising Black Americans. Congress needs to use every legislative tool it has to fight back against this attack on our democracy, including by passing the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act and clarifying the legal standard for plaintiffs to prove racial discrimination in how election districts are drawn.
I have a long record of work addressing climate change. While working for the City, I helped pass legislation to move NYC away from dirty home heating oil. As Chief of Staff to the State Attorney General, I helped launch landmark investigations into Peabody Coal and Exxon Mobil for lying about climate change. As Policy Director for Governor Hochul, I helped pass the All Electric Buildings Act. And as a member of the State Assembly, I introduced and passed legislation to unlock wind and solar power projects across the State. In Congress, I will push for the U.S. to rejoin — and begin again to lead — international efforts to fight climate change, starting with the Paris Climate Accord. I will strongly advocate for reinvesting in the energy transition, and, particularly here in New York, in climate-resilient infrastructure. And I will champion legislation to quickly and dramatically curb carbon emissions.
So much of Donald Trump’s foreign policy seems like something from a dark novel. I believe it’s long past time for Congress to reassert its power over foreign policy, one explicitly granted by the Constitution. I will fight to restore the United States’ role as a serious leader on the international stage, advancing democracy, human rights, and collaboration to resolve shared global challenges, and for a foreign policy rooted in diplomacy and the rule of law.
Experience and Qualifications
For twenty years, I have worked to make government, markets, and institutions serve the people who depend on them. My career began on the front lines of public service in New York City: juvenile detention centers, jails, senior centers, legal aid programs, and crisis counseling. I helped families navigate schools, health care, housing, immigration, the courts, and work. That experience shaped everything that followed. I have served as an external advisor to two presidential administrations, developed regulatory and policy frameworks used by federal agencies, and advised state legislatures. I built new protections for workers and consumers, and I lead national working groups that prepare labor and public safety organizations for the changes ahead. I have advised everyone from community groups to corporate CEOs and boards, built two national initiatives, and written a book on the future of work. I bring integrity, competence, and a record of getting things done.
Community Involvement
Upper West Side resident and New York City public school parent. Member of Sutton Place Synagogue and D3 Mañana Otro Día
Education
Ph.D., Comparative Politics, CUNY Graduate Center, specializing in emerging technologies in East Asia and Latin America M.Phil., International and Global Affairs, CUNY Graduate Center; M.P.A., Public Administration, Marist College; B.A., IR
Campaign Endorsements
N/A
Campaign Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/wilneidanegron/
Campaign YouTube
Cost of living and quality of life. We never built care infrastructure for life's most fragile stages: early childhood and old age. I'll pass a refundable Family Care Credit for child and elder care, home-based Medicare care, and a fully refundable Child Tax Credit, which cut child poverty nearly in half in 2021.
Corruption and hollowed-out institutions. I'll ban congressional stock trading, force dark money disclosure, protect inspectors general, and restore independent federal data.
An economy rebuilt by AI. We must prepare people for the jobs of the industries we're building: tuition-free community college retraining, AI literacy in schools, and training tax credits tied to living wages. Workers get a say in how AI is used on the job.
The federal government's job is to make sure elections answer to voters, not to whoever spends the most. Congress sets contribution limits, requires disclosure, and funds the FEC to enforce the rules. Since Citizens United in 2010, billions in outside money have flooded our elections, much of it from donors voters never see, while an FEC too often deadlocked lets violations slide.
Money buys access, and access buys outcomes. That is why I'm running as an independent. I take no corporate PAC money and reject dark money and Super PAC support, so I answer only to the people of NY-12.
In Congress, I'll fight to force disclosure of dark money, give the FEC real enforcement power, ban stock trading by members of Congress, and require federal contractors to disclose their lobbying ties. These are not partisan ideas. Most Republicans and Democrats agree that government should belong to the people, not the highest bidder. I'm running to restore government by and for the people.
In Callais, the Court struck down Louisiana's second majority-Black district and ruled that the Voting Rights Act is violated only when a state intentionally draws maps to give voters less opportunity because of their race. That standard is nearly impossible to prove, and it lets states defend diluting Black voters' power as ordinary partisan map-drawing.
I believe it was wrongly decided. In 1982, Congress amended the VRA so maps would be judged by their effects, not by what lawmakers admit. Voters should pick their representatives, not the other way around, and that is true whichever party draws the lines.
Congress wrote Section 2, and Congress can restore it. In 2006 the Senate reauthorized the VRA 98-0. I'll work across the aisle to restore an effects-based standard, pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, and ban partisan gerrymandering nationwide through independent redistricting commissions. Government by and for the people starts with maps drawn for the people.
Climate change is already a cost-of-living and safety crisis. Hurricane Sandy did $19 billion in damage to New York City. Heat waves hit seniors in older buildings hardest. Families pay for disasters through higher insurance and utility bills.
The national government should treat climate resilience as infrastructure, the way FDR treated rural electrification. I will push to fund flood protection, cooling, and grid upgrades in vulnerable neighborhoods; rebuild American manufacturing of batteries and clean energy components; and train workers for green construction jobs that pay a living wage.
AI data centers are driving up electricity demand, so tech companies should pay their fair share for new power, not pass it to households.
Faster permitting for transmission lines has support in both parties. I'll start there, and keep cooperating with other nations on climate, because no country can solve this alone.
America built these institutions because they make us safer and cost less than going it alone. NATO has invoked its mutual defense clause only once: to defend the United States after 9/11. We should keep our commitments, and expect allies to pay their fair share.
The UN is imperfect, but it is where the world coordinates on pandemics, nuclear risk, climate, and now AI. When America walks away, our rivals fill the seat. We should pay our dues and lead reform from inside.
On the ICC, the U.S. is not a member, but we have backed its work when it served justice, including its investigation of Russian war crimes in Ukraine. We should not sanction the court's judges and staff. Human rights mean one standard, applied to allies and adversaries alike, or they mean nothing.
Congress also has a job here. No war without a vote of Congress, no arms transfers without real review, and no treaty broken without a debate. Leadership abroad starts with accountability at home.
Experience and Qualifications
25+ years as an attorney and judge: U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (Administrative Judge), MTA New York City Transit (Legal Director), Social Security Administration (Assistant Regional Counsel), NYC Taxi & Limousine Commission/Office of Administrative Trials & Hearings (Administrative Law Judge), NYC Parks Department (Attorney)
Community Involvement
Global Sumud U.S. Delegate; Pets Are Wonderful Support (PAWS) NY - volunteer dog walker and pet care provider; public housing advocate; trans rights advocate
Education
Columbia University, B.A.; Fordham Law School, J.D.
Campaign Endorsements
NYPAN (New York Progressive Action Network); Courage for Democracy PAC; Track AIPAC; Greta Berlin (co-founder of the Free Gaza Movement); Moath Hamzeh ("Mo Hamz") (Palestinian-American activist)
Campaign Instagram
@ko4congress
The most important challenges are (1) rooting out the deep corruption in our government, (2) ending forever wars, and (3) stopping the attacks on immigrants.
1) Trump and his cabinet continue to break their oaths to the Constitution and weaponize federal agencies against the rest of us. Trump and his cabinet must go. Impeachment is the answer to stopping increasing authoritarianism. I vow to introduce Articles of Impeachment and call for a vote on Day One.
2) We must stop the genocide of Palestinians. I support an arms embargo on Israel and ending all aid to any entity/nation engaged in the killing of human beings. In addition, the Pentagon must pass an audit before any funds are allocated.
3) ICE cannot be rehabilitated. I support abolishing ICE, defunding DHS, and prosecuting all actors complicit in the kidnapping and trafficking of human beings, regardless of their immigration status. I support immigration reform rooted in due process and amnesty for undocumented human beings.
The Supreme Court's decision in Citizens' United v. FEC has allowed super PACs to have outsized influence on political campaigns. The Supreme Court got this decision wrong by conflating free speech with political expenditures. Undoing the harm will take a bold effort. I support a constitutional amendment to overturn the Citizens United ruling and limiting total expenditures by and on behalf of a candidate (e.g., House races capped at $250k and Senate races capped at $750k). Congressional races should not cost millions of dollars. I also support amending the Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA) to include monthly reporting on campaign donations from PACs and super PACS. This would bring to light large campaign donations faster than the current reporting schedule. With this measure, the public would know sooner which PACs and super PACs are spending on which races. This would serve as somewhat of a deterrent to exorbitant spending until a constitutional amendment is passed.
The Supreme Court's decision in Louisiana v. Callais has effectively opened the floodgates to gerrymandering, thus diluting Black and minority voting power. The Supreme Court got this case wrong, too, and I support overturning the decision through strategic litigation but that is a long game. More immediately, I support "uncapping" the House. Currently, each member of the House represents approximately 761,000 people. Uncapping the house would lead to better representation, smaller districts less vulnerable to gerrymandering, and better constituent services. To accomplish this, I support the repeal of the Permanent Apportionment Act of 1929 before the 2030 census. There is a growing number of candidates who support uncapping the House using the framework put forth by the Project No Cap coalition. With aggressive public education about the coalition and its aims, I believe we can achieve this before the 2030 census commences.
The U.S. Military is the world's biggest polluter. Combat emissions, massive fuel consumption, burning infrastructure and subsequent reconstruction release millions of tons of carbon into the atmosphere. Simply put, modern warfare leads to climate change. We must reduce our military footprint and stop waging and abetting wars globally.
In addition, the development of AI and its consumer uses (searches, summaries, ChatGPT, e.g.) deeply affects our environment. AI companies in the U.S. rely on fossil fuel-powered electricity for its data centers. According to experts, we’re seeing a rapid and catastrophic amount of energy misuse and carbon release as a result. One solution is to reduce reliance on and extraction of fossil fuels for AI and in general. This can be achieved through establishing federal energy efficiency standards for data centers with a true enforcement mechanism. I also support the expansion of solar energy and prohibiting drilling in national wildlife refuges.
As a world leader, the US must support structures of justice and participate on equal footing with all other nations. With respect to NATO, the new Congress must take a long, hard look at whether the NATO alliance truly supports security for Americans or whether it has outlasted its usefulness. The UN can be improved but the US should relinquish its veto power in the Security Council and submit to the rulings of the ICC. With respect to the ICC, its legitimacy has been undermined by the Assembly of States Parties (ASP), who voted to remove ICC Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan from his elected office once Mr. Khan had applied for arrest warrants for Israeli officials Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant. I agree with the International Association of Democratic Lawyers (IADL) that the decision to remove Mr. Khan must be subject to independent review by a panel of international judges. Moreover, the United States must ratify the Rome Statute so our country can become a member state of the ICC.
Experience and Qualifications
Federal Reserve Board of Governors, Washington, D.C.; European Central Bank, Frankfurt, Germany; Bank of Israel, Jerusalem, Israel; Bank for International Settlements, Basel, Switzerland; Cravath, Swaine & Moore, New York City.
Community Involvement
Founder & Director, Camp USA (United Student-Leaders of America); Board of Trustees, Harvard Club of New York City; Board of Directors, Harvard Law School Association of New York City; Member and Frequent Speaker, American Bar Association; Member, Supreme Court of the United States Bar; Member, New York, Massachusetts, Washington, D.C., and Ohio Bars; Member, SAG-AFTRA (Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television & Radio Artists)
Education
MIT (Bachelor of Science, Economics), Harvard Law School (JD)
Campaign Endorsements
Former New York Governor George Pataki, Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, Former U.S. Ambassador & U.S. Senator (MA) Scott Brown, Former U.S. Senator (TX) and Presidential candidate Phil Gramm, Former Governor (OH) Bob Taft, Governor (OH) Mike DeWine, Actress Tovah Feldshuh, Former Congressman (NY) Peter King, Attorney Alan Dershowitz, Former U.S. Senator (MI) and U.S. Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham, New York Gubernatorial Candidate Bruce Blakeman, New York City Public School Alliance, United Jewish Teachers, New York GOP, Manhattan GOP, Dominican American Republican Club, among others
Campaign Instagram
@therealcarolineshinkle
Campaign YouTube
1) Cost of Living – I will eliminate the federal income tax on W-2 wages up to $150,000 (financed by shutting down medical insurance fraud); balance the federal budget; curb Washington spending to drive down inflation and create the conditions for the Fed to lower the cost of money. This will yield massive economic growth, help address the national debt, and preserve the U.S. dollar as the global reserve currency.
2) Education Reform - I will reform the quality and affordability of our education system by making the interest on student loan payments fully tax deductible with no income caps. We must prioritize student outcomes, deploy best practices and use tech/innovation to individualize student instruction.
3) Healthcare - I will propose upfront hospital price transparency, increased insurer competition, eliminate healthcare insurance fraud, deploy international price structure benchmarks applied to major medical procedures, and pass the Access to Breast Cancer Diagnosis Act).
Its role should be to ensure an honest process and a level playing field. In this race, I am being outspent, more than 150 to 1, as all of my campaign contributions are from private supporters. To my knowledge, as of this writing, not a dollar of superpac funding has been spent on my behalf. My opponent has benefitted from multiple private interest superpacs that represent approx. 85-90% of expenditures supporting his candidacy. This money appears to have already distorted the NY-12 primary outcome. It may distort the general election outcome. This just makes my job more challenging. However, I believe in my common sense agenda and my mission, and at the end of the day, the power of my ideas and independent thinking should triumph. Although, with this level of dramatic corporate superpac expenditures on my opponent's behalf, one must wonder who my opponent is actually representing. He also is still on the state payroll while campaigning for this office, arguably corrupt in itself.
It is my opinion that the Supreme Court ruled properly while revealing the politicization of the court itself. It should have been a 9-0 decision. Redistricting should not be a partisan exercise nor should it disenfranchise its constituents. Partisan gerrymandering has been occurring for many decades. The recent California referendum is another example of the principles of our constitutional republic being violated. Without accurately reflective and representative districts, we cannot have a republic by and for the people.
We should use our influence in the UN to ensure clean coal technology is deployed where it is needed. If we are truly serious about addressing global climate change, we can curb 75% of greenhouse gas emissions immediately: if we shut down the 25 dirtiest coal power generation plants globally, we will instantly cure 75% of global emissions. The problem is, half of these plants are located in Africa and the other half are in the People's Republic of China. No amount of money spent domestically on green technology will effectively address this issue. We need to focus on addressing the root of the problem and eliminate the sources of the dirtiest emissions from where they are generated.
If we are going to host and finance these organizations, they should serve as extensions of our foreign policy objectives and reflect the strategic interests of the United States. They should project the values that our founding fathers built into our constitutional framework. At no point should the sovereignty of the U.S. ever be subject to an international organization. In addition, the UN Security Council rules should be updated so that all permanent members must have leaders that are democratically elected and with a functioning free market economy. Those that do not comply should be immediately removed as permanent members. This is a reason why the UN has been historically ineffective.
We should support our allies and lead from a position of strength on the world stage. Our mission should be to first ensure domestic security and prosperity, allowing for our strategic involvement elsewhere, as long as consistent with the promotion of the values upon which our country was founded.
