Campaign Insiders is PoliticsNY’s latest Q&A series featuring candidates running for office in the 2026 New York primary election. This edition of Campaign Insiders features New York State Comptroller Candidate Raj Goyle. The NYS comptroller is New York’s chief fiscal officer and is responsible for protecting taxpayer funds, providing independent fiscal oversight on State, New York City and local finances, managing the NYS pension fund and more.
What are the top three issues for your campaign?
I am focused on tackling rising utility costs, transparency, and protecting our most vulnerable neighbors. I will use the $300 billion pension fund to tackle the utility affordability crisis by investing in renewable energy sources here in New York. Second, I will modernize the Comptroller’s office to root out junk fees, medical debt, and corporate waste. Finally, I will divest our state funds from companies like Palantir that enable ICE to harm the immigrant communities.
Why did you decide to run for office?
Current leadership has treated this office as a passive position while working-class New Yorkers struggle. I am the son of immigrant doctors who served a community that didn’t always welcome them. My mother, a U.S. citizen for 45 years, recently asked me if she could be denaturalized and deported. This is why I am running: to serve as a protector for our families against federal overreach and corporate greed.
What do you believe is the top issue facing voters and how do you plan to address it if elected?
Rising utility costs are plaguing New Yorkers and adding to the already existential cost-of-living crisis. I will protect New Yorkers by fighting to hold utility providers across the state accountable, using the full power of the Comptroller’s office to audit each utility provider’s rate hike request and the Public Service Commission (PSC). This will force providers to lower energy costs and ensure a swift, just transition to a 100% renewable energy future.
How does your background qualify you to hold office?
New York needs a Comptroller who understands both a balance sheet and the lived reality of families struggling with skyrocketing bills and housing instability. I am uniquely qualified, given my experience rooting out waste as a private sector CEO and standing up to power as an ACLU civil rights attorney. The chief fiscal officer should ensure our $300 billion pension fund reflects our values, not funding the deportation machine or fossil fuel expansion.
Why should voters choose you over your opponents?
Voters should choose me because I will use the Comptroller’s office to fight for justice, rather than allowing the $300 billion pension fund to fund war crimes and fossil fuels. My campaign broke the story that the pension fund doubled its investment in Palantir, and I am the only viable candidate in the race to call for a full divestment in all foreign bonds, including Israel bonds.
From now until early voting, Campaign Insiders will be featuring candidates from select democratic primary races across the City & State. Be sure to check back to hear from a wide range of candidates from assembly, senate, and congressional races as well as the NYS comptroller race!
Early voting in NYC is June 13th-21st and Election Day is June 23rd. Check out the PoliticsNY Election Primer to see who will be on your ballot and don’t forget to vote this June!
