John Avlon is a native New Yorker and the grandson of immigrants. John spent most of his career as an author and journalist warning about the dangers of hyper partisanship and polarization of our democracy—while trying to offer solutions for ways to overcome those forces by strengthening the vital center. He is deeply patriotic and believes that the United States of America stands for something more than itself.
John’s most recent work as a journalist was as a CNN anchor and senior political analyst, where his Reality Check segments aired on the morning show and across the network. He joined CNN full-time after working as Editor-in-Chief and Managing Director of The Daily Beast for five years—during which time they won 17 awards for journalistic excellence and were blacklisted by the Trump campaign, which he considers a badge of honor. He has written four books—Independent Nation, Wingnuts, Washington’s Farewell and Lincoln & the Fight for Peace. Previously, he was a columnist and served as chief speechwriter to the Mayor of New York during the attacks of 9/11. He first became engaged with politics because he was inspired by Bill Clinton’s presidential campaigns and centrist Democrat “third way” approach to politics.
He lives in Sag Harbor, New York. His wife is Margaret Hoover, the host of Firing Line on PBS. They have two children, Jack and Toula.
Common Sense for the Common Good
John is a common-sense Democrat running to flip a swing seat from red to blue in Suffolk County, New York.
He believes that we need to build the broadest possible coalition to defend our democracy, defeat Donald Trump, and win back Congress from his MAGA minions, who aren’t even trying to solve problems anymore. When this hyper-partisan fever breaks, we need to restore faith that American government can work for Suffolk County families again by rebuilding the middle class, protecting reproductive freedom, combating climate change and defending our democracy. We need to reduce the cost of living and improve the quality of life.
John is running to:
- Strengthen American democracy for the 21st century: We need to heal our divides on a political, economic, and cultural level. That means election reform, combating disinformation and teaching civic education.
- Address the cost crisis and rebuilding the middle Class: Washington Republicans raised our taxes so they could fund billions more in tax breaks for corporations and the super-rich. They used the tax code as a partisan weapon by capping the State and Local Tax Deduction, which targeted blue states. Long Island families have depended on the SALT deduction for decades. But Washington Republicans are never going to restore it because their party is just too invested in the partisan red-state/blue-state divide. But Democrats can and will restore the SALT deductions if we if we take back Congress. John will also fight to increase the Child Tax Credit to help working families and move more kids out of poverty.
- Reproductive Freedom: The decision to have an abortion should be between a woman, her doctor, and her God – not the government. But women today are growing up with fewer rights than their mothers had. Trump’s Supreme Court appointees took away the constitutional right to reproductive freedom after 50 years of Roe v Wade – and they lied to the American people about their determination to do it. Nick LaLota cheered the repeal of Roe and said he wants states to go further. Now, Donald Trump is saying that women should have their pregnancies tracked while states a further restricting this right and the Republican Speaker support a national abortion ban. We need a Democratic Congress to protect reproductive freedom.