Screenshot via JohnAvlon.com
Former CNN senior political analyst John Avlon made official on Wednesday his anticipated congressional campaign, announcing that he is running for NY-1, which encompasses eastern Long Island.
Avlon recently stepped down as CNN senior political analyst, leaving the network where he’s offered political commentary for more than a decade, often alongside his wife, GOP strategist and host of PBS’ Firing Line, Margaret Hoover.
Prior to that, he was editor-in-chief at The Daily Beast, widely credited with growing the site’s traffic and making a number of key hires, and chief speechwriter for then-NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani, including leading the team that wrote the eulogies for the police officers and firefighters who were killed during the September 11th terrorist attack on the World Trade Center.
Despite his past work for a Republican elected official, Avlon has advocated a more centrist political tone for years in both his television commentary and several books he’s written warning against the dangers of polarization and extremism. He’s running as a Democrat: his campaign announcement video, posted on X (formerly known as Twitter), included a link to the Democratic candidates’ fundraising platform ActBlue, and his Twitter banner image was changed to include his campaign logo declaring him “John Avlon: Democrat for Congress.”
In the just-under-one-minute video, Avlon kicks off with an declaration that he believes “the United States is the greatest democracy the world has ever known, but right now, our democracy is in danger.”
“This election is not a drill,” he says, urging viewers to “step up and get off the sidelines.”
“There’s just too much at stake, for the country and the community that I love,” he continues, saying that he’s running to “build the broadest possible coalition to defeat Donald Trump, defend our democracy, and win back the House from his MAGA minions who don’t even seem interested in solving problems anymore.”
“Democrats can’t afford to lose this fight,” he concludes.
New York’s first Congressional district has been in GOP hands since former Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-NY) defeated a Democratic incumbent to flip it red in 2014. Zeldin left Congress in 2022 to run for New York Governor and the seat was won by Rep. Nick LaLota (R-NY). Still, Democrats have some reasons for optimism they can flip the seat back blue due to the district voting for Joe Biden in 2020 after picking Trump in 2016 — plus Tom Suozzi handily defeating Republican Mazi Pilip in the NY-03 special election to replace expelled member George Santos.
Watch the video above.
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