Campaign Insiders is PoliticsNY’s latest Q&A series featuring candidates running for office in the 2026 New York primary election. The final edition of Campaign Insiders for the 2026 primary election features Ryder Kessler who is running to represent New York’s 66th Assembly District. The 66th Assembly District is located in Manhattan and includes Greenwich Village, Tribeca, SoHo, NoHo, and parts of Battery Park City and the Meatpacking District.
What are the top three issues for your campaign?
First is lowering costs. I’ll fight to reduce rents, strengthen tenant protections, and protect stabilized housing. Simultaneously, I’ll champion universal healthcare and childcare. Second is democracy. We must stand up to authoritarianism, defending the freedoms of all marginalized communities, getting ICE off our streets, and expanding enfranchisement. Third is street safety. New Yorkers deserve to commute without dodging speeding cars, tripping over trash, waiting endlessly for a bus, or suffering the ravages of climate change.
Why did you decide to run for office?
When my parents moved here in 1980, Lower Manhattan was affordable and accessible. It represented freedom: to be where you wanted to be and live how you wanted to live. Today, the neighborhoods where I played as a kid are at risk of becoming a playground for the ultra-rich, while our fundamental freedoms are under attack. We must take drastic action today to preserve New York for working people today and the next generation tomorrow.
What do you believe is the top issue facing voters and how do you plan to address it if elected?
Housing affordability. We can lower rents by building more homes of all types, especially deeply affordable housing. We can lower the costs of creating new homes – while protecting the solvency of rent stabilized housing – by cracking down on insurance companies, reforming property taxes, and subsidizing co-op greening. Additionally, we must keep people in their homes as we drive costs down by strengthening tenant protections and expanding initiatives like the Housing Access Voucher Program.
How does your background qualify you to hold office?
I started my career founding a company that raised millions for service workers and nonprofits. After 2016, I entered politics to fight back against Trump, specializing in voter protection. Since then, I’ve built a nonprofit that’s brought together nearly 5,000 New Yorkers to deliver real wins on housing, transit, and climate, and started our district’s Hands Off chapter. In Albany, I’ll keep lowering our costs and protecting our democracy.
Why should voters choose you over your opponents?
My campaign is unapologetically progressive. In this moment of crisis from skyrocketing costs and the authoritarian federal government, we need bolder leadership – not politics as usual. I’ve spent years on the front lines of the fight for our democracy nationwide and for lower costs in our communities. I’m proud to be endorsed by a broad coalition including the Working Families Party, Stonewall Democrats, unions like 32BJ and HTC, and elected leaders like Comptroller Mark Levine.
Campaign Insiders for the 2026 primary election has come to an end. Since May, we have featured a number candidates from select democratic primary races across the City & State. You can view all of the Q&As with more than 30 candidates here.
Early voting in NYC starts tomorrow, June 13th, and ends on June 21st. Election Day is June 23rd. Check out the PoliticsNY Election Primer to see who will be on your ballot and make your plan to vote today!
