No Labels abandoned its presidential primary bid last week after failing to recruit a centrist candidate to challenge President Joe Biden. Though it had been unable to recruit anyone, the group had already raised tens of millions of dollars — money that, despite its self-proclaimed centrism, ultimately would have gone toward trying to unseat a sitting Democratic president. The group has, for years, raised cash from Republican billionaires in service of its purportedly middle-of-the-road politics.
Now, one of No Labels’s founders is receiving Democratic support to take a congressional seat in New York. John Avlon, who helped found No Labels in 2010, is two months out from the Democratic primary in New York’s 1st Congressional District. Avlon’s website doesn’t list many specifics, and his media appearances have focused mostly on calls for “defending democracy.”
Aside from running against Donald Trump, Avlon’s stated purpose is to flip the district, which has spent nearly a decade in Republican hands, and help Democrats win the House back after losing the 2022 midterms. To do so, Avlon is turning to a Democrat who has received some blame for losing the House in the first place: On Friday, New York State Democratic Party Chair Jay Jacobs endorsed Avlon.
Democrats are still digging out from the damage done in the 2022 midterms. Progressive Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., at the time blamed Jacobs and called for his resignation, but Jacobs denied any responsibility for the losses that likely cost the party its majority in Congress.
Jacobs is, in some ways, a good match for Avlon’s campaign. The state party chair, who did not respond to a request for comment, has long clashed with party progressives and staunchly backed the state’s centrist and conservative Democrats. The approach roughly aligns with Avlon’s primary campaign, as well as his political positions in years as a media commentator and founder of No Labels, which he says he hasn’t been involved with since 2013.
“There is a reason why John has energized Democratic voters in Suffolk County and why he has by far the most local support from Democratic activists, elected officials, and organizations,” Avlon campaign manager Bryan Sokolowski said in a statement to The Intercept. “They want to take back NY-1 from MAGA extremist Republican Nick LaLota so that Democrats can flip the House and get to work protecting a woman’s right to an abortion, defending democracy and rebuilding the middle class.”
“There is a reason why John has energized Democratic voters in Suffolk County.”
Democrats vying for the Long Island seat, which encompasses parts of Southampton, East Hampton and Riverhead, have come close in recent cycles. Considered a swing seat, the district has a slight Republican bent, according to polls, and the largest share of independents in the state. Trump won the district in both the 2016 and 2020 presidential races.
Avlon, a former political operative and journalist, is hoping to appeal to the large share of independent voters in the district. He first registered as a Democrat in Sag Harbor in 2020. Prior to that, he was registered as “blank” and had not voted in a Democratic primary in New York.
The Republican in the race, first-term incumbent Rep. Nick LaLota, criticized Avlon for entering the district by purchasing a vacation home in the Hamptons in 2020 and making inroads with the district’s elite. LaLota took office last year after former Republican Rep. Lee Zeldin held the seat for eight years.
At least five Democrats are running in the June 25 primary, including Avlon and Nancy Goroff, a candidate in the 2020 race against Zeldin. Avlon may have an edge in name recognition, but Goroff is currently leading the primacy race has and has led fundraising with $610,000 so far, according to filings with the Federal Election Commission. EMILY’s List endorsed Goroff in March. Avlon’s campaign has not yet filed disclosures with the FEC but said he had raised more than $1.1 million so far.
Centrist Stalwart
Avlon is running as a centrist who can combat Trump’s influence in the district. Mainstream media have portrayed him as candidate who can help Democrats finally win the seat with little scrutiny of his policy positions.
The longtime advocate for centrism used to be a Republican operative, working as a policy adviser and speechwriter for Rudy Giuliani when he was mayor and then for his presidential run in the 2008 election. Avlon now dismisses his role with Giuliani by saying that, at the time, Giuliani was “sane” — a reference to the mayor’s ties to Trump, strong advocacy for election denial, and erratic behavior.
Today, Avlon’s campaign is focused on attacking Trump. His website says he’s running against “unhinged extremism and poisonous polarization,” including veiled warnings about Trump without mentioning him by name, but throughout his decadeslong career, Avlon has voiced more conservative opinions on issues from abortion to labor rights.
“Now is one of those times in our nation’s history when we’re all called to stand up for something bigger than ourselves,” his website reads. “We can’t afford to pretend that a presidential nominee who praises dictators and threatens democracy is normal. We need to confront lies with facts and darkness with light.”
When No Labels sought to mount its presidential run this year, Avalon said the effort was an “extraordinarily reckless risk.”
Avlon has said, without any specific policy proposals, that he supports federal investment in mitigating climate change, improving transportation, expanding the child tax credit, and reducing the cost of living for working families.
In previous comments, including several articles in the Daily Beast, Avlon has praised Republicans, including former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, and South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, for taking positions that range from confronting unions to restricting abortions.
In an interview that was recently removed from his campaign website, Avlon compared unions to the religious right.
He criticized opponents of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’s attacks on Disney over its to the state’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill.
Avlon previously suggested that there are “reasonable restrictions” on abortion access and that it was “an honorable goal” to reduce the number of abortions in the country, though “it should be a matter of persuasion, not legislation.” He also wrote that he didn’t believe that positions on abortion should be a litmus test for candidates. (Avlon’s campaign pointed to his keynote speech at a 2011 Planned Parenthood event as an example of his longtime support of abortion rights.)
Along with support from Jacobs, the Democratic state party chair, Avlon has also been endorsed by several state and local officials and regional Democratic groups.
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