Suraj Patel
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| Personal details | |
| Born | (1983-12-20) December 20, 1983 (age 40) Mississippi, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Education | Stanford University (BA) University of Cambridge (MPhil) New York University (JD) |
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Suraj Patel is an American lawyer, professor, and politician.[1] Patel is a member of the Democratic party,[2] and was a candidate for the newly-created 12th congressional district in Manhattan, New York City.[3][4] The district covers the northern end of Central Park southward to Union Square.[5]
Patel served in the 2008 Obama Presidential Campaign as an organizer, and later on the advance team for the White House from 2008 to 2016, working on Obama's 2012 reelection.[6][7] Patel is an adjunct professor at NYU Stern, lecturing on business ethics.[8]
Patel first ran unsuccessfully against incumbent Representative Carolyn Maloney in 2018, and again in 2020.[3][9][10][11]
Patel announced his candidacy for the 2022 US congressional elections on February 14, 2022.[12][13] He was endorsed by environmental lawyer Steven Donziger in May 2022, by former Democratic presidential and New York mayoral candidate Andrew Yang in June 2022,[14][15] and journalist Matthew Yglesias.[16] Running against Maloney and Jerrold Nadler in the redrawn 12th congressional district, Patel finished in third place with 19 percent of the vote.[17]
A 30-second campaign advertisement for Patel was required to remove at least one "sensitive" topic before it aired on the streaming service Hulu.[18][19] The original advertisement had included footage of the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, and references to climate change.[18][20][21]
Patel describes himself as a "practical and progressive" Democrat.[22] 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.[3] A self-described "YIMBY", Patel supports the theory of market urbanism that encourages large-scale infrastructure and zoning reforms to address high housing costs.[23] Patel has advocated for increased road safety standards and reforming street design.[24]
Patel is a proponent of “The Abundant Society” plan, a supply-side progressivism 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.[25][4]
Patel has previously advocated for increased competition from challengers in congressional primary races.[26][27] Patel supports congestion pricing.[28]
Patel was born in Mississippi to parents of Gujarati Indian origin, and grew up in Indianapolis.[29][30] He speaks English and Gujarati.[31] In 2022, Patel became engaged to Emily Bina, a producer at The Atlantic.[32]
