Shaniyat Chowdhury

This page was current at the end of the individual's last campaign covered by Ballotpedia. Please contact us with any updates.

Shaniyat Chowdhury

Democratic Party

Elections and appointments

Last election

June 23, 2020

Education

Bachelor's

John Jay College of Criminal Justice, 2017

Military

Years of service

2011 - 2017

Personal

Religion

Muslim

Profession

Bartender

Contact

Campaign website

Campaign Facebook

Campaign Twitter

Campaign Instagram

Shaniyat Chowdhury (Democratic Party) ran for election to the U.S. House to represent New York's 5th Congressional District. He lost in the Democratic primary on June 23, 2020.

Chowdhury completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2019. Click here to read the survey answers.

Biography

Shaniyat Chowdhury was born in Elmhurst, New York. He graduated from John Jay College of Criminal Justice in 2017. His career experience includes working as a bartender. He served in the United States Marine Corps from 2011 to 2017.

Elections

2020

See also: New York's 5th Congressional District election, 2020

New York's 5th Congressional District election, 2020 (June 23 Democratic primary)

General election

General election for U.S. House New York District 5

Incumbent Gregory W. Meeks won election in the general election for U.S. House New York District 5 on November 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Gregory W. Meeks (D)	99.3	229,125
		Other/Write-in votes	0.7	1,554

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 230,679
= 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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Jay Sanchez (L)
• Amit Lal (Independent)

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for U.S. House New York District 5

Incumbent Gregory W. Meeks defeated Shaniyat Chowdhury in the Democratic primary for U.S. House New York District 5 on June 23, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Gregory W. Meeks	75.6	50,044
		Shaniyat Chowdhury	24.1	15,951
		Other/Write-in votes	0.3	176

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 66,171
= 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.

Libertarian primary election

The Libertarian primary election was canceled. Jay Sanchez advanced from the Libertarian primary for U.S. House New York District 5.

Campaign themes

2019

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Shaniyat Chowdhury completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2019. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Chowdhury's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Expand all | Collapse all

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

I'm a first generation of Bangladeshi-American immigrants.

I'm a US Marine Corp veteran who lives South Jamaica Queens. As an activist and organizer, I fought for immigrant, housing, and environmental rights.

I graduated from John Jay College of Criminal Justice with a Bachelor of Science in Law and Society.

I worked in Albany as a Legislative Intern for Assemblywoman Latrice Walker in 2017. Then, went onto work on Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's campaign in 2018 as her staffer.

I also play semi-professional rugby league for the Brooklyn Kings and represented to play for the National USA and India teams.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

• I am someone who stays true to their virtues. Regardless of outcomes, I want to push the conversation for racial, social, economic, and environmental justice forward. I will do it and I will fight knowing I stayed true to myself.
• I will always put people before profits and console with grassroots organizers when decisions about legislations need to be made.
• I am accountable to the American people because I am not beholden to corporate interests. I will always be people powered.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

I am passionate about the housing crisis. We are seeing history repeat itself when big banks get too big and the housing market gets too small, leaving so many working families homeless. As someone who lost their home in the financial crisis, this is the number one issue facing NY5.

Foreign Affairs and Immigration. The borough of Queens if the most diverse place in the world. The rights of humanity should be respected. Coming from a family of immigrants, I understand the challenges and trauma immigrant families have gone through to survive in the US.

Criminal Justice Reform- I believe white supremacy is rooted in jailing and policing Black and brown people. It has caused generational harm further marginalizing communities of color from prosperity. I want to hold our government accountable for the injustices we have caused, repay, and address impacted communities to put them forward at the policy making table.

Is there a book, essay, film, or something else you would recommend to someone who wants to understand your political philosophy?

Democracy Matters by Cornell West

To Pimp a Butterfly by Kendrick Lamar

What legacy would you like to leave?

I want to be remembered for being a voice for the people who did not have a voice. I hope they will be able to find it to leave the way for the next generation of leaders. I want friends, neighbors, and strangers to come together and spread peace and love to one another. We owe it to ourselves to create a foundation for our future generations to live in the possible world. I am just a common man who wants nothing but peace and justice for all his people.

What is the first historical event that happened in your lifetime that you remember? How old were you at the time?

The aftermath of the September 11 2001 attacks. I come from a Muslim household. I was nine years old at the time, so I remember the feeling of numbness, shock, and fear running through the day. The day after, I started feeling the consequences from racism and Islamophobia. I got into fights because I was bullied for the way I looked and where my family was from. The emotional pain forced my family to move from one town to another because we did not feel safe anywhere. I questioned about my place in the US and what my purpose was in this world. It took my very long time to heal and find the change I wanted to be.

What was the last song that got stuck in your head?

Self Love by Dreamville

What do you perceive to be the United States’ greatest challenges as a nation over the next decade?

The greatest challenge is the saturation of corporate corruption in politics. It could prevent us from creating radical change that is necessary to save millions of Americans who do not have healthcare insurance, and reversing the detrimental damages of climate change. Until we challenge the healthcare industries and the fossil fuel industries, we may see further economic and social outcomes that will hurt working families.

What are your thoughts on term limits?

Term limits are good for the growth of democracy. Elected officials should never get too comfortable with their position. As time changes, so do policy making. Every decision that is made today will determine the outcome for the future of tomorrow. We need to always be grounded and see the world from fresh point of views.

Is there a particular representative, past or present, whom you want to model yourself after?

Nelson Mandela- I want to for the freedom of all people.

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

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External links

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Footnotes

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New York's current delegation to the United States Congress

Senators

Kirsten Gillibrand (D)

Chuck Schumer (D)

Representatives

District 1

Nicholas LaLota (R)

District 2

Andrew Garbarino (R)

District 3

Tom Suozzi (D)

District 4

Laura Gillen (D)

District 5

Gregory Meeks (D)

District 6

Grace Meng (D)

District 7

Nydia Velazquez (D)

District 8

Hakeem Jeffries (D)

District 9

Yvette Clarke (D)

District 10

Daniel Goldman (D)

District 11

Nicole Malliotakis (R)

District 12

Jerrold Nadler (D)

District 13

Adriano Espaillat (D)

District 14

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D)

District 15

Ritchie Torres (D)

District 16

George Latimer (D)

District 17

Michael Lawler (R)

District 18

Pat Ryan (D)

District 19

Josh Riley (D)

District 20

Paul Tonko (D)

District 21

Elise Stefanik (R)

District 22

John Mannion (D)

District 23

Nick Langworthy (R)

District 24

Claudia Tenney (R)

District 25

Joseph Morelle (D)

District 26

Tim Kennedy (D)

Democratic Party (21)

Republican Party (7)