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Adam Bojak
From Ballotpedia
This page was current at the end of the individual's last campaign covered by Ballotpedia. Please contact us with any updates.
Adam Bojak (Democratic Party) ran for election to the New York State Assembly to represent District 149. He lost in the Democratic primary on June 23, 2020.
Bojak completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. Click here to read the survey answers.
Biography
Adam Bojak received a bachelor's degree from the Rochester Institute of Technology in 2005 and a J.D. from the University of Buffalo SUNY School of Law in 2012. His professional experience includes being an attorney.[1]
Elections
2020
See also: New York State Assembly elections, 2020
General election
General election for New York State Assembly District 149
Jonathan Rivera defeated Joseph Totaro in the general election for New York State Assembly District 149 on November 3, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Jonathan Rivera (D / Working Families Party / Independence Party) | 65.8 | 38,585 |
| Joseph Totaro (R) | 34.0 | 19,911 | ||
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.2 | 111 | ||
| Total votes: 58,607 | |||
 = 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. | ||||
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for New York State Assembly District 149
Jonathan Rivera defeated Adam Bojak and Robert Quintana in the Democratic primary for New York State Assembly District 149 on June 23, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Jonathan Rivera | 52.9 | 8,066 |
 | Adam Bojak | 30.4 | 4,638 | |
 | Robert Quintana | 15.9 | 2,432 | |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.8 | 118 | ||
| Total votes: 15,254 | |||
| = 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. | ||||
Republican primary election
The Republican primary election was canceled. Joseph Totaro advanced from the Republican primary for New York State Assembly District 149.
Independence Party primary election
The Independence Party primary election was canceled. Jonathan Rivera advanced from the Independence Party primary for New York State Assembly District 149.
Serve America Movement Party primary election
The Serve America Movement Party primary election was canceled. Jonathan Rivera advanced from the Serve America Movement Party primary for New York State Assembly District 149.
Working Families Party primary election
The Working Families Party primary election was canceled. Jonathan Rivera advanced from the Working Families Party primary for New York State Assembly District 149.
Endorsements
To view Bojak's endorsements in the 2020 election, please click here.
Campaign themes
2020
Video for Ballotpedia
| Video submitted to Ballotpedia Released May 12, 2020 |
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Adam Bojak completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Bojak's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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Adam Bojak is a tenants' rights attorney who has spent years working with Buffalo residents in order to help them fight back against their bad landlords and ensure they know their rights; he has also helped homeowners facing the loss of their houses due to bank foreclosure. Through working with so many similarly-situated people, Adam has seen firsthand how the politics and policies of austerity - pushed by both Republicans and Democrats over the past four decades - affect everyday people. He understands how the system is set up to benefit a select few at the top, while leaving the rest to struggle in apathy and despair. He is ready to go to Albany to fight for the rights of the people at the bottom who have been without a political voice for too long.
Adam grew up in East Aurora. His father worked at the William Street Buffalo Post Office for over 30 years before retirement, and his mother spent almost two decades as an administrative assistant in the Hamburg school district; his blue collar parents worked hard to provide him with the opportunity to go to college, and then to law school. He moved back into the City of Buffalo ten years ago and was a homeowner in South Buffalo before getting married to a public school teacher and settling on the upper West Side. He is active in the community and works closely with local non-profits to promote safe housing and tenant advocacy and provide free legal services for all renters who need help.
- We believe that every single person, regardless of who they are, deserves a safe and stable home.
- We must demand our schools are funded fully and properly, not only what is already owed to them, but increase that funding in the future to ensure every child gets the education they deserve.
- We believe that, in one of the richest states in the richest country in the history of humankind, rampant wealth inequality is simply unacceptable.
I am very passionate about housing. I have worked closely with tenants during disputes with their landlords for years, and I have seen the worst that Western New York has to offer as far as living conditions. NO ONE should be forced to live in an unsafe, unhealthy home only because they cannot afford to move anywhere else.
I am also very invested in overhauling our tax code so that those with billions of dollars stop getting a free ride. There is absolutely no reason that the working class should be forced to tighten our belts over and over and over again, while the people in power continue to turn their backs on us in order to avoid angering their rich donors.
I am also very invested in overhauling our tax code so that those with billions of dollars stop getting a free ride. There is absolutely no reason that the working class should be forced to tighten our belts over and over and over again, while the people in power continue to turn their backs on us in order to avoid angering their rich donors.
I look up to my parents. My father worked for over 30 years at the Buffalo post office, and when I was a kid, he worked the overnight shift for years. My mother worked part time jobs for a while until my sister and I got older, at which point she worked for our local school district (East Aurora) before eventually moving to Hamburg middle school full time. The two of them made sacrifices and worked incredibly hard so that my sister and I were able to live a stable and happy life.
I want to be known, and I want my campaign to be known, as a force for the people of New York. I want to be remembered for lowering the bar to entry for our political system, for making it easier for more people of lesser means to run for office - and win. I want my political enemies to worry about me, and I want my political allies to be fearless in their convictions because I am at their side.
I vaguely remember the fall of the Berlin Wall - I would have been 8 years old at the time. I remember it being quite momentous and historic, but having absolutely no idea why it was so special, of course.
I worked as part-time as a do-anything/gopher type for a local art gallery and its eccentric owner. I worked there for about 5-6 months, until I realized that I need something more solid and regular - some of the jobs I was doing around the shop, and her home, were quite strange.
Stephen King's "The Stand" is my favorite novel. It's an incredible study of humanity and how it reacts, en masse, to a worldwide pandemic of epic proportions. It tells the story of what happens after the entire world grinds to a screeching halt, and how people gather together and democratically rebuild society. On top of all that, there is the ultimate, unending battle between good and evil that is waged throughout it all.
No, I don't believe experience in government is a prerequisite to be a good legislator. If a person is elected right out of their neighborhood, still fresh from living and struggling daily with the circumstances facing ordinary, everyday people, they will likely have an easier time carrying the needs of the community into state legislation. As for politics: I almost think having experience in that is a hindrance, because for many, politics is nothing but a game to strike self-serving deals. I do not aim to be a politician - I aim to be a REPRESENTATIVE.
Yes, having those relationships with other legislators is very important to passing important legislation. If they write you off and have no dialogue with you, then you have no way to speak to them about what you're trying to do and present your case to win them over to the cause. Being elected as the most progressive member of the legislation does not mean anything if nobody will work with you to get anything accomplished.
Right now, I am an enormous fan of Yuh-Line Niou in the Assembly and Julia Salazar in the Senate. They are both amazing, strong, fierce advocates for not only their constituents, but New Yorkers across the state. They introduce legislation that will have universally positive impacts, and are not afraid to stand up to the statewide party machine.
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
2020 Elections
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on May 12, 2020
Current members of the New York State Assembly
Leadership
Speaker of the House:Carl Heastie
Representatives
District 1
Thomas Schiavoni (D)
District 2
Jodi Giglio (R)
District 3
Joseph DeStefano (R)
District 4
Rebecca Kassay (D)
District 5
Doug Smith (R)
District 6
Philip Ramos (D)
District 7
Jarett Gandolfo (R)
District 8
District 9
Michael Durso (R)
District 10
Steve Stern (D)
District 11
Kwani O'Pharrow (D)
District 12
Keith Brown (R)
District 13
Charles Lavine (D)
District 14
David McDonough (R)
District 15
Jake Blumencranz (R)
District 16
Daniel Norber (R)
District 17
John Mikulin (R)
District 18
Noah Burroughs (D)
District 19
Edward Ra (R)
District 20
Eric Brown (R)
District 21
Judy Griffin (D)
District 22
District 23
Stacey Amato (D)
District 24
David Weprin (D)
District 25
Nily Rozic (D)
District 26
District 27
Sam Berger (D)
District 28
Andrew Hevesi (D)
District 29
Alicia Hyndman (D)
District 30
Steven Raga (D)
District 31
Khaleel Anderson (D)
District 32
Vivian Cook (D)
District 33
Clyde Vanel (D)
District 34
District 35
Larinda Hooks (D)
District 36
Zohran Mamdani (D)
District 37
Claire Valdez (D)
District 38
Jenifer Rajkumar (D)
District 39
Catalina Cruz (D)
District 40
Ron Kim (D)
District 41
Kalman Yeger (D)
District 42
District 43
Brian Cunningham (D)
District 44
Robert Carroll (D)
District 45
Michael Novakhov (R)
District 46
District 47
William Colton (D)
District 48
District 49
Lester Chang (R)
District 50
Emily Gallagher (D)
District 51
Marcela Mitaynes (D)
District 52
Jo Simon (D)
District 53
Maritza Davila (D)
District 54
Erik Dilan (D)
District 55
Latrice Walker (D)
District 56
Stefani Zinerman (D)
District 57
District 58
District 59
Jaime Williams (D)
District 60
Nikki Lucas (D)
District 61
Charles Fall (D)
District 62
Michael Reilly (R)
District 63
Samuel Pirozzolo (R)
District 64
District 65
Grace Lee (D)
District 66
Deborah Glick (D)
District 67
Linda Rosenthal (D)
District 68
Eddie Gibbs (D)
District 69
Micah Lasher (D)
District 70
Jordan Wright (D)
District 71
Alfred Taylor (D)
District 72
District 73
Alex Bores (D)
District 74
Harvey Epstein (D)
District 75
Tony Simone (D)
District 76
District 77
Landon Dais (D)
District 78
George Alvarez (D)
District 79
Chantel Jackson (D)
District 80
John Zaccaro (D)
District 81
Jeffrey Dinowitz (D)
District 82
District 83
Carl Heastie (D)
District 84
Amanda Septimo (D)
District 85
Emerita Torres (D)
District 86
Yudelka Tapia (D)
District 87
Karines Reyes (D)
District 88
Amy Paulin (D)
District 89
J. Pretlow (D)
District 90
Nader Sayegh (D)
District 91
Steven Otis (D)
District 92
Maryjane Shimsky (D)
District 93
Chris Burdick (D)
District 94
Matthew Slater (R)
District 95
Dana Levenberg (D)
District 96
Patrick Carroll (D)
District 97
Aron Wieder (D)
District 98
Karl Brabenec (R)
District 99
District 100
Paula Kay (D)
District 101
Brian Maher (R)
District 102
District 103
District 104
District 105
Anil Beephan (R)
District 106
Didi Barrett (D)
District 107
Scott Bendett (R)
District 108
John McDonald (D)
District 109
Gabriella Romero (D)
District 110
Phil Steck (D)
District 111
District 112
Mary Walsh (R)
District 113
Carrie Woerner (D)
District 114
Matthew Simpson (R)
District 115
Vacant
District 116
Scott Gray (R)
District 117
District 118
Robert Smullen (R)
District 119
District 120
William Barclay (R)
District 121
Joe Angelino (R)
District 122
Brian Miller (R)
District 123
Donna Lupardo (D)
District 124
District 125
Anna Kelles (D)
District 126
John Lemondes (R)
District 127
Al Stirpe (D)
District 128
Pamela Hunter (D)
District 129
District 130
Brian Manktelow (R)
District 131
Jeff Gallahan (R)
District 132
Philip Palmesano (R)
District 133
Andrea Bailey (R)
District 134
Josh Jensen (R)
District 135
District 136
Sarah Clark (D)
District 137
Demond Meeks (D)
District 138
Harry Bronson (D)
District 139
Stephen Hawley (R)
District 140
William Conrad (D)
District 141
District 142
Patrick Burke (D)
District 143
District 144
Paul Bologna (R)
District 145
Angelo Morinello (R)
District 146
Karen McMahon (D)
District 147
David DiPietro (R)
District 148
Joe Sempolinski (R)
District 149
Jonathan Rivera (D)
District 150
Andrew Molitor (R)
Democratic Party (102)
Republican Party (47)
Vacancies (1)
