John Avlon
John Avlon (Democratic Party) is running for election to the U.S. House to represent New York's 1st Congressional District. He is on the ballot in the general election on November 5, 2024. He advanced from the Democratic primary on June 25, 2024.
Avlon completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. Click here to read the survey answers.
John Avlon is an American political commentator and activist. He is one of the founders of the No Labels political party and movement.
Biography
Avlon received a bachelor's degree from Yale University and an M.B.A. from Columbia Business School.[1] Avlon is a former anchor and commentator for CNN. Before working for CNN, Avlon was the editor-in-chief for The Daily Beast.[1] He was a speechwriter for former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani (R).[1]
Elections
2024
See also: New York's 1st Congressional District election, 2024
New York's 1st Congressional District election, 2024 (June 25 Democratic primary)
New York's 1st Congressional District election, 2024 (June 25 Republican primary)
General election
The candidate list in this election may not be complete.
General election for U.S. House New York District 1
Incumbent Nicholas J. LaLota, John Avlon, Patrick Denman, Ryan Kalata, and Jarrett Matthews Adorno are running in the general election for U.S. House New York District 1 on November 5, 2024.
Candidate | ||
 | Nicholas J. LaLota (R / Conservative Party) | |
 | John Avlon (D)  | |
 | Patrick Denman (Independent) | |
 | Ryan Kalata (Independent) | |
| Jarrett Matthews Adorno (Independent) | |
| ||||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- George Devolder-Santos (Independent)
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for U.S. House New York District 1
John Avlon defeated Nancy Goroff in the Democratic primary for U.S. House New York District 1 on June 25, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | John Avlon | 70.4 | 15,799 |
 | Nancy Goroff | 29.6 | 6,656 | |
| Total votes: 22,455 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Kyle Hill (D)
- James Gaughran (D)
- Andy DeCecco (D)
- Craig Herskowitz (D)
- Saint Jermaine Endeley (D)
Republican primary election
The Republican primary election was canceled. Incumbent Nicholas J. LaLota advanced from the Republican primary for U.S. House New York District 1.
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
Conservative Party primary election
The Conservative Party primary election was canceled. Incumbent Nicholas J. LaLota advanced from the Conservative Party primary for U.S. House New York District 1.
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Daniel Foti (Conservative Party)
Endorsements
Avlon received the following endorsements. To send us additional endorsements, click here.
- U.S. Rep. Daniel Goldman (D)
- U.S. Rep. Gregory W. Meeks (D)
- U.S. Rep. Tom Suozzi (D)
- State Rep. Fred Thiele (D)
Campaign themes
2024
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
John Avlon completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Avlon's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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I'm a native New Yorker, the grandson of immigrants and the father of two young kids. I’ve worked most of my career as a journalist and author, recently as a CNN anchor and senior political analyst, where my Reality Check segments aired on the morning show and across the network. I joined CNN fulltime after working as Editor-in-Chief and Managing Director of The Daily Beast for five years – during which time we won 17 awards for journalistic excellence and were blacklisted by the Trump campaign, which I consider a badge of honor. I’ve written four books – Independent Nation, Wingnuts, Washington’s Farewell and Lincoln & the Fight for Peace. Previously, I was a columnist and served as chief speechwriter to the Mayor of New York during the attacks of 9/11. I first became engaged with politics because I was inspired by Bill Clinton’s presidential campaigns and his centrist Democrat “third way” approach to politics. My wife is Margaret Hoover, the host of Firing Line on PBS. I live in Sag Harbor, New York. I decided to get in the arena and run for office when I realized that Trump was going to be renominated by Republicans after his attempt to overturn an election on the back of a lie that led to an attack on our capitol. I believe that now is the time for our generation to step up and defend our democracy – and I didn’t want to look back and tell my children that I could have done more when it mattered most. That’s why I’m running for Congress.
- I am a common-sense Democrat running to flip a swing seat from red to blue in Suffolk County, New York. In 2024, we need to build the broadest possible coalition to defend our democracy, defeat Donald Trump, and win back Congress from his MAGA minions, who aren’t even trying to solve problems anymore. When this hyper-partisan fever breaks, we need to restore faith that American government can work for Suffolk County families again by rebuilding the middle class, protecting reproductive freedom, combating climate change and defending our democracy. We need to reduce the cost of living and improve the quality of life.
- Addressing the cost crisis and rebuilding the middle Class: Washington Republicans raised our taxes so they could fund billions more in tax breaks for corporations and the super-rich. They used the tax code as a partisan weapon by capping the State and Local Tax Deduction, which targeted blue states. Long Island families have depended on the SALT deduction for decades. But Washington Republicans are never going to restore it because their party is just too invested in the partisan red-state/blue-state divide. But Democrats can and will restore the SALT deductions if we if we take back Congress. I’ll also fight to increase the Child Tax Credit to help working families and move more kids out of poverty.
- Reproductive Freedom: The decision to have an abortion should be between a woman, her doctor, and her God – not the government. But women today are growing up with fewer rights than their mothers had. Trump’s Supreme Court appointees took away the constitutional right to reproductive freedom after 50 years of Roe v Wade – and they lied to the American people about their determination to do it. Nick LaLota cheered the repeal of Roe and said he wants states to go further. Now, Donald Trump is saying that women should have their pregnancies tracked while states a further restricting this right and the Republican Speaker support a national abortion ban. We need a Democratic Congress to protect reproductive freedom.
I've spent most of my career as an author and journalist warning about the dangers of hyper partisanship and polarization of our democracy – while trying to offer solutions for ways to overcome those forces by strengthening the vital center. As the grandson of immigrants, I'm deeply patriotic. I believe the United States of America stands for something more than itself. Therefore, I believe that we need to strengthen American democracy for the 21st century. We need to heal our divides on a political, economic, and cultural level. That means election reform, combating disinformation, teaching civic education, and rebuilding the middle class.
I've written books about George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. I've always admired Theodore Roosevelt. Other political heroes include Senator Robert F Kennedy, Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan and Senator John McCain. Margaret Chase Smith deserves eternal admiration for the way she stood up to Senator Joe McCarthy. Bill Clinton awakened my love of politics as I was inspired by his Third Way vision of “opportunity responsibility and community” - concepts that still apply today. I wrote my college thesis on Vaclav Havel. Barack Obama was certainly an inspirational and generationally resonant leader and among contemporary elected officials I have great admiration for Senator Angus King of Maine because of his commitment to common sense problem solving, his principled independence and his ability to use humor to build bridges between people.
My books “Washington’s Farewell” and “Lincoln & the Fight for Peace” provide the best way to understand my political philosophy. In addition, I’d recommend reading the essay I co-wrote for TIME magazine called “The Unum Test.”
In our polarized times, putting love of country over party is most important principle for an elected official.
The ability to build teams, solve problems and communicate clearly. I'd like to thank that I can balance moderation with moral courage and model kindness as a character trait consistent with effective leadership. Also, we need more journalists and presidential historians in politics.
Character. A commitment to putting country over party. The ability to communicate clearly and advance a fact-based debate that aims to persuade. The ability to solve problems and think long term.
I'd like to be remembered as a good man and an effective leader who helped elevate our debates, heal our divides, practiced the politics of the golden rule, and strengthened the vital center.
I remember dimly being aware of the Iran hostage crisis during the Carter administration and the assassination attempt against President Reagan. I distinctly remember the Challenger explosion and finding myself deputized to go tell classes in my school what happened.
It’s almost impossible to name just one but Legends of the Fall by Jim Harrison is the closest because of its sweep and precision. The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt by Edmund Morris. The Power of Myth by Joseph Campbell. The Last Lion by William Manchester. And Deadline Artists, an anthology of America’s Greatest Newspaper Columns that I edited with my friends Errol Louis and Jesse Angelo.
The mythical vision of Lincoln
Stick That In Your Country Song by Eric Church. But I love music and listen to it constantly. That's just the last song that got stuck in my head. My favorite band is U2. Soul is the most underrated genre. Lately, I've been listening to a lot of the Clash’s London Calling, Drive-by-Truckers and Steve Earle on the campaign trail.
Everything worthwhile is a struggle on some level - except love for your children.
It is the people's house—a citizen-led legislature that has the potential to represent the full diversity of America and embody our best civic debates. Obviously, this has not been true in recent years. However, I believe we need to throw our shoulder to the wheel and improve the quality of representation and debate. We need strong advocates for our best ideals and for policy solutions that address our problems. Of course, the House is also tasked with the power of the purse—it begin the process to make decisions on budgets, taxes and spending. And these are levers that can help us continue to evolve into a more perfect union.
It helps as a gauge of interest and experience. But it's not necessary. A patriotic love of our country, a willingness to work in good faith with fellow citizens to solve problems and understanding of American history is more than sufficient.
I believe the defining struggle of our times is between democracy and autocracy - at home as well as abroad. We need to strengthen the guardrails around our democracy at home through election reforms, algorithm reforms and instilling a culture that teaches the responsibilities as well as rights of being a citizen in a self-governing society. We need to take seriously the responsibility of uniting our country and healing our divides. This is not just a political and cultural effort, but also economic. We must rebuild the middle class. It is no coincidence that the middle of our economy has been hollowed out while the middle of our politics has been hollowed out. We also need to stand with our liberal democratic allies against the spread of autocracy. We need to strengthen American democracy for the 21st Century.
I support term limits – because democracy depends on citizens stepping up and serving for a time rather than trying to permanently hold onto power. But I believe that terms in the House should be around six terms (or 12 years) and in the Senate three terms (or 18 years). There is some virtue in experience and seniority – but most importantly, if limits on terms become to restrained, our country would effectively be run by unelected and unaccountable staff and lobbyists.
That James Madison made quite an impact. Robert Smalls is an under-appreciated American hero. Barbara Jordan embodied moral authority and love of country.
I've been inspired by the profound patriotism I’ve seen from Democrats in Suffolk County. I've also been deeply affected by families struggling to stay in Suffolk County because of the high cost of living. But one conversation stands out to me in particular: I was knocking on doors in Smithtown and spoke to an FBI agent - a registered independent—who expressed real frustration at the fact House Republicans were cutting the budget for the FBI, DOJ and ATF. “That’s going to hurt,” he said. “Talk about defunding the police.”
This seems like a bad idea.
Absolutely. The US constitution was founded on constructive compromise. We must reason together using a common set of facts, defining common ground and then building on it to solve our common problems. It requires not demonizing people we disagree with. It requires a deep belief that there's always more than unites us than divides us as Americans. It requires putting country over party.
I believe liberal capitalist democracy has been a positive force in the world. But that means government has an interest in incentivizing behavior that benefits the common good and maintains a healthy and strong middle class without falling into the trap of excessive debt that has derailed so many civilizations in the past. This is a balance - but we must invest in order to grow and we must show that the American dream is alive and well - and that means a strong and vibrant middle class with equal opportunity and social mobility. Specifically, I'm committed to restoring the full State and Local Tax Deduction and expanding the Child Tax Credit - both of which would help address the affordability crisis and rebuild the middle class here on Long Island.
House Oversight is essential to seeing that ethics are being upheld and that programs are implemented according to congressional intent. But oversight should not be weaponized and used to hobble an Administration by turning government into a warfare of partisan interests.
- New York State United Teachers Union
- East Hampton Democratic Committee
- Southampton Democratic Committee
- Shelter Island Democratic Committee
- Southold Democratic Committee
- Riverhead Democratic Committee
- Hunting Democratic Committee
- Jay Jacobs, NYS Democratic Committee Chair
- NYS Assemblyman Fried Thiele
- NYS Assemblyman Steve Stern
- Rebecca Sanin, Suffolk County Legislator
- Ann Welker, Suffolk County Legislator
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- Transportation & Infrastructure, specifically the Water Resources and Environment Subcommittee
- Ways & Means
- House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence
- Homeland Security
- Energy & Commerce
Democracy is government of, by, and for the people. It is therefore essential that citizens have faith that their government is honest and led by representatives who are not ethically or financially compromised. Transparency and accountability are essential to a well-functioning democracy. Sunlight is the best disinfectant.
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
See also
2024 Elections
External links
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Candidate U.S. House New York District 1 |
Personal |
Footnotes
