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Alex Yudelson
From Ballotpedia
This page was current at the end of the individual's last campaign covered by Ballotpedia. Please contact us with any updates.
Alex Yudelson (Democratic Party) ran for election to the New York State Assembly to represent District 138. He lost in the Democratic primary on June 23, 2020.
Yudelson completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. Click here to read the survey answers.
Biography
Yudelson was born in Rochester, New York. He earned his bachelor's degree from George Washington University in 2014. He studied for one year at the University of Oxford. His career experience includes serving as the chief of staff for the city of Rochester and as a policy advisor to President Barack Obama (D) at the White House.[1]
Elections
2020
See also: New York State Assembly elections, 2020
General election
General election for New York State Assembly District 138
Incumbent Harry Bronson defeated Peter Vazquez in the general election for New York State Assembly District 138 on November 3, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Harry Bronson (D / Working Families Party / Independence Party) | 65.2 | 37,351 |
| Peter Vazquez (R / Conservative Party / L) | 34.8 | 19,917 | ||
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.1 | 33 | ||
| Total votes: 57,301 | |||
 = 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 138
Incumbent Harry Bronson defeated Alex Yudelson in the Democratic primary for New York State Assembly District 138 on June 23, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Harry Bronson | 57.3 | 7,525 |
 | Alex Yudelson | 42.7 | 5,602 | |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.1 | 7 | ||
| Total votes: 13,134 | |||
| = 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. Peter Vazquez advanced from the Republican primary for New York State Assembly District 138.
Conservative Party primary election
The Conservative Party primary election was canceled. Peter Vazquez advanced from the Conservative Party primary for New York State Assembly District 138.
Independence Party primary election
The Independence Party primary election was canceled. Incumbent Harry Bronson advanced from the Independence Party primary for New York State Assembly District 138.
Libertarian primary election
The Libertarian primary election was canceled. Peter Vazquez advanced from the Libertarian primary for New York State Assembly District 138.
Working Families Party primary election
The Working Families Party primary election was canceled. Incumbent Harry Bronson advanced from the Working Families Party primary for New York State Assembly District 138.
Campaign themes
2020
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Alex Yudelson completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Yudelson's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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Alex Yudelson is a former policy advisor to President Barack Obama and current Chief of Staff for the City of Rochester who is running for the 138th New York State Assembly District. He was born and raised in the district, graduating from Rush-Henrietta public schools in 2010. He attended college at George Washington University and the University of Oxford. At the White House, he worked for President Obama's senior advisor Valerie Jarrett, where he worked on key policy initiatives including criminal justice reform, clean energy, and the It's On Us campaign to end sexual assault on college campuses.
- Alex is running to fight for Rochester's fair share from Albany.
- Alex wants to limit the power of special interests by not taking campaign donations from PACs or corporations.
- Alex wants to implement a "total reset" of the Rochester City School District so that we can finally start putting the interests of our kids ahead of the desires of adults.
Alex believes strongly in the value of a quality public education. Having grown up in Rush-Henrietta public schools, he knew that just down the road, kids in the Rochester City School District did not receive the same quality education. He believes that many of the issues facing our community: poverty, health care, and education, can be linked to the issue of money in politics. That is why he is not taking campaign donations from PACs or corporations and wants to implement strong democratic and campaign finance reforms. Alex also believes that Rochester does not get its fair share from Albany, and that legislators are too focused on downstate and special interests.
My grandmother was one of the first women to hold a senior level position in the City of Rochester over 50 years ago. She was a trailblazer and set the stage for some of my family to become involved in public service. She was feisty, spoke truth to power, and never wavered from her principles. And I'd be remiss if I didn't mention President Obama, whose example I saw up close and personal in the White House. He was principled, composed, and passionate - three of the most important values in a leader.
A Theory of Justice, by John Rawls
I believe that the old debate between pragmatism and idealism is a false one. I think elected officials should be idealist and want to create the absolute best world possible for their constituents, while also being experienced enough to make incremental progress when necessary.
Over my life I've shown an ability to work together with all types of people - city/suburban, Republican/Democratic, and I try to approach politics from a position of understanding that everyone took a different path to get there, and that cookie-cutter solutions don't always work in local politics. I feel very strongly about my values, and also feel that I've developed an acumen for policy analysis to help ensure that policies are actually impacting residents in an equitable way.
Legislators exist to serve their constituents. Beyond setting statewide policy, helping residents with every day issues - unemployment, social services, etc. - is the key responsibility of a legislator. Responsiveness is of the utmost importance.
I'd like to help force a conversation about our public school system in order to re-orient it toward the kids it's meant to serve, rather than the adults it's been serving for decades. I'd like to help unite our party, build bridges between the city and suburbs, and make important democratic reforms to make Albany cleaner.
I think the first historical event I remember was the Columbine school shooting (1999). I was 7 years old at the time, and it is just absolutely shameful to see the lack of progress we have made over the past 20 years.
I was first a summer camp counselor for five summers in our local recreation program. It was an affordable camp and so it attracted a diverse range of kids of all backgrounds and educational achievements. It was one of my first experiences seeing the value of a quality public education in leveling the playing field. After college, my first full time job was working at the White House as a Policy Advisor to President Barack Obama, working on key priorities like criminal justice reform, affordable health care, and the It's On Us campaign to end sexual assault on college campuses.
To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee. Atticus Finch is the model hero - I think of his example almost daily.
Since there are more State Assembly districts than State Senate districts, Assemblymembers represent fewer constituents and thus can be closer to the residents. That's important when taking constituent feedback to Albany and helps inform policy decisions.
I think it's essential that state legislators have some level of interaction or experience with government in the past. One of my guiding philosophies is that things are only good to the extent that they are practical. So understanding how government works is essential to understanding the types of change you can effect, without losing your values and idealism.
The COVID-19 pandemic has laid to bare the issues with our workforce and economy, which were being propped up on a very unstable foundation. We already knew that we had to have serious conversations about the future of work before the pandemic, but after it will become even more important. The pandemic also showed why tying health insurance to employment is a dangerous system. Reform of that system - and ensuring that everyone has access to COVID testing and treatment - is going to be critical in the years to come.
The state legislature must serve as a check on the Governor, provide oversight to state agencies, have a larger say in crafting the budget, and help guide state policy to work for legislators' own districts. Rochester is very different from New York City, even though both areas have similar macroeconomic problems. And statewide solutions must account for the differences in regions. The legislature should not cede major powers to the Governor, even though our current Governor is a good one, as it sets a bad precedent for future administrations.
It's critical to build relationships with other legislators. I believe in the power of building consensus. And while it's important for each legislator for advocate for their own district, I also believe that the fate of our districts are intertwined and a strong New York will lead to a stronger Rochester.
Education and Local Governments. Both are critical issues for Rochester, and our city school district and local governments are going to need support as we emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Senator Ted Kennedy (D-MA). Universal health care was the cause of his career, and early on he saw in Barack Obama an ability to build consensus around ambitious policies.
The stories that impact me the most are the stories from the children of the Rochester City School District, who do not have a voice in their own education. For far too long, our elected leaders have put the interests of adults over the needs of children. That must end.
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 11, 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)
