Suraj Patel is an American lawyer, professor, and politician. Patel is a member of the

Democratic party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

, and was a candidate for the newly-created 12th congressional district in Manhattan, New York City. The district covers the northern end of Central Park southward to Union Square. Patel served in the

2008 Obama Presidential Campaign The 2008 presidential campaign of Barack Obama began on February 10, 2007, when Barack Obama, then junior United States senator from Illinois, announced his candidacy for President of the United States in Springfield, Illinois. After winning a ma ...

as an organizer, and later on the advance team for the White House from 2008 to 2016, working on Obama's 2012 reelection. Patel is an adjunct professor at NYU Stern, lecturing on business ethics.

Electoral history

Patel first ran unsuccessfully against incumbent Representative Carolyn Maloney in 2018, and again in 2020. Patel announced his candidacy for the 2022 US congressional elections on February 14, 2022. He was endorsed by environmental lawyer

Steven Donziger Steven R. Donziger (born September 14, 1961) is an American attorney known for his legal battles with Chevron, particularly '' Aguinda v. Texaco, Inc.'' and other cases in which he represented over 30,000 farmers and indigenous people who suffer ...

in May 2022, by former Democratic presidential and New York mayoral candidate Andrew Yang in June 2022, and journalist Matthew Yglesias. Running against Maloney and Jerrold Nadler in the redrawn 12th congressional district, Patel finished in third place with 19 percent of the vote. A 30-second campaign advertisement for Patel was required to remove at least one "sensitive" topic before it aired on the streaming service

Hulu Hulu () is an American subscription streaming service majority-owned by The Walt Disney Company, with Comcast's NBCUniversal holding a minority stake. It was launched on October 29, 2007 and it offers a library of films and television serie ...

. The original advertisement had included footage of the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, and references to climate change.

Political positions

Patel describes himself as a "practical and progressive" Democrat. His platform for the 2022 US congressional election has included a technocratic focus on reducing housing and transit regulation, along with support for rezoning initiatives. A self-described " YIMBY", Patel supports the theory of

market urbanism The YIMBY movement (short for "yes, in my back yard") is a pro-housing movement in contrast and opposition to the NIMBY ("''not'' in my back yard") phenomenon. The YIMBY position supports increasing the supply of housing within cities where hous ...

that encourages large-scale infrastructure and zoning reforms to address high housing costs. Patel has advocated for increased road safety standards and reforming street design. Patel is a proponent of “The Abundant Society” plan, a

supply-side progressivism In United States public policy, supply-side progressivism is a political ideology that emphasizes increasing the supply of essential goods and services, such as housing, healthcare, and higher education, in order to make them more abundant and aff ...

policy targeted at reducing inflation through a combination of tariff reductions, suspending the Jones Act and Foreign Dredge Act, and expanding domestic manufacturing through passing federal spending bills like the COMPETES Act. Patel has previously advocated for increased competition from challengers in congressional primary races. Patel supports congestion pricing.

Personal life

Patel was born in Mississippi to parents of

Gujarati Gujarati may refer to: * something of, from, or related to Gujarat, a state of India * Gujarati people, the major ethnic group of Gujarat * Gujarati language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by them * Gujarati languages, the Western Indo-Aryan sub- ...

Indian origin, and grew up in Indianapolis. He speaks English and Gujarati. In 2022, Patel became engaged to Emily Bina, a producer at '' The Atlantic''.

Selected works

* ''Delayed Justice: A Case Study of Texaco and the Republic of Ecuador's Operations, Harms, and Possible Redress in the Ecuadorian Amazon'' Tulane Environmental Law Journal, 2012 * ''The Pandemic Shows Why the U.S. Must Invest in Public Research'' Scientific American, 2020

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Patel, Suraj 21st-century American politicians Asian-American people in New York (state) politics American people of Gujarati descent American politicians of Indian descent Candidates in the 2022 United States House of Representatives elections New York University faculty Stanford University alumni New York University alumni People associated with the University of Cambridge New York (state) Democrats Living people 1983 births