Alan Michael Cohn is an American journalist who was the Democratic nominee in the 2022 U.S. House of Representatives election in

Florida's 15th congressional district Florida's 15th congressional district is an electoral district for the U.S. Congress and was reassigned in 2012, effective January 2013, to the northern parts of Hillsborough and Polk counties as well as the southernmost parts of Lake. See ...

Personal life and education

Cohn has two children with his wife, Patricia. Their son, Aaron, is a pitcher in the Oakland A's organization. Cohn graduated from

Hofstra University Hofstra University is a private university in Hempstead, New York. It is Long Island's largest private university. Hofstra originated in 1935 as an extension of New York University (NYU) under the name Nassau College – Hofstra Memorial of Ne ...

. While at Hofstra, Cohn worked for CBS News in New York. He considers fellow

Charles Osgood Charles Osgood Wood III (born January 8, 1933), known professionally as Charles Osgood, is an American radio and television commentator, writer and musician. Osgood is best known for being the host of ''CBS News Sunday Morning'', a role he held ...

to be his mentor.

Career

Cohn won the 2020 Democratic nomination for Congress in Florida's 15th congressional district and went on to raise over $2.3 million. He was named to the DCCC's "Red to Blue" program and was endorsed by President-Elect Joe Biden and former president Barack Obama. Cohn is the recipient of the 2007 George Foster Peabody Award, one of journalism's highest honors, for uncovering that defective parts were being installed on Black Hawk helicopters built by Stratford-based Sikorsky Aircraft. He was the anchor and managing editor of ABC7 at 7 on

WWSB WWSB (channel 40) is a television station licensed to Sarasota, Florida, United States, serving the Suncoast portion of the Tampa Bay market as an affiliate of ABC. Owned by Gray Television, WWSB maintains studios on 10th Street in the Rosema ...

in Sarasota, where he interviewed people including

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...

and

Jerry Springer Gerald Norman Springer (born February 13, 1944) is a British-American broadcaster, journalist, actor, producer, former lawyer, and politician. He hosted the tabloid talk show ''Jerry Springer'' between September 30, 1991 and July 26, 2018, an ...

. Cohn also worked for

WFTS-TV WFTS-TV (channel 28), branded as ABC Action News, is a television station licensed to Tampa, Florida, United States, serving the Tampa Bay area as an affiliate of ABC. It is owned by the E.W. Scripps Company alongside Bradenton-licensed Ion Tele ...

in Tampa

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

. Cohn won the

Peabody Award The George Foster Peabody Awards (or simply Peabody Awards or the Peabodys) program, named for the American businessman and philanthropist George Peabody, honor the most powerful, enlightening, and invigorating stories in television, radio, and ...

for a multi-year investigation of quality control issues at

Sikorsky Aircraft Sikorsky Aircraft is an American aircraft manufacturer based in Stratford, Connecticut. It was established by aviation pioneer Igor Sikorsky in 1923 and was among the first companies to manufacture helicopters for civilian and military use. Pre ...

. While at

WTNH WTNH (channel 8) is a television station licensed to New Haven, Connecticut, United States, serving the Hartford–New Haven market as an affiliate of ABC. It is owned by Nexstar Media Group alongside MyNetworkTV affiliate WCTX (channel 59), al ...

, Cohn uncovered a scandal involving DMV employees illegally selling driver's licenses, as well as security gaps in Metro North. Cohn has also worked for

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...

New England Cable News New England Cable News (NECN) is a regional 24-hour cable news television network owned and operated by NBCUniversal (as part of the NBCUniversal Owned Television Stations division, both ultimately owned by Comcast) serving the New England regi ...

(where he won an

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

for uncovering a convicted killer's attempt to become a

Boston Police The Boston Police Department (BPD), dating back to 1854, holds the primary responsibility for law enforcement and investigation within the city of Boston, Massachusetts. It is the oldest municipal police department in the United States. The ...

officer), the ''

Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...

'',

WTIC-TV WTIC-TV (channel 61) is a television station in Hartford, Connecticut, United States, serving the Hartford–New Haven market as an affiliate of the Fox network. It is owned by Tegna Inc. alongside Waterbury-licensed CW affiliate WCCT-TV ...

WGGB-TV WGGB-TV (channel 40) is a television station in Springfield, Massachusetts, United States, affiliated with ABC, Fox, and MyNetworkTV. It is owned by Gray Television alongside low-power CBS affiliate WSHM-LD (channel 3.7). Both stations shar ...

, and

WAMI-TV WAMI-DT (channel 69) is a television station licensed to Hollywood, Florida, United States, serving the Miami area with programming from the Spanish-language UniMás network. It is owned and operated by TelevisaUnivision alongside Univision outle ...

Miami, Florida Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

(where he won an Emmy Award for winning back benefits for a forgotten Vietnam veteran). Cohn ran in the 15th district in the 2020 election. In the Democratic primary election, Cohn defeated state representative Adam Hattersley and U.S. Marine Corps veteran Jesse Philippe, earning 41% of the vote. In the general election, Cohn faced Republican Scott Franklin, a Lakeland city commissioner who had previously defeated incumbent

Ross Spano Vincent Ross Spano (born July 16, 1966) is an American politician who served as the U.S. representative from . The district stretches from Lakeland to the northeastern suburbs of Tampa. A Republican, he was first elected to Congress in the 2018 ...

in the Republican primary. Ultimately, Franklin defeated Cohn, 55%-45%. In the 2022 election, Cohn won the Democratic primary for the newly redrawn 15th district, finishing first out of a five-candidate field with 33.1% of the vote. He went on to lose the general election for this district to Republican nominee

Laurel Lee Laurel Frances Lee (née Moore; born March 26, 1974) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the U.S. representatives for Florida's 15th congressional district since 2023. A member of the Republican Party, she was a judge on Florida's ...

by 17 percentage points.

References

External links

Cohn for Congress
campaign website * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cohn, Alan 1960s births 21st-century American journalists American television reporters and correspondents Candidates in the 2020 United States elections Candidates in the 2022 United States House of Representatives elections Florida Democrats Hofstra University alumni Living people Peabody Award winners Year of birth uncertain