Former journalist and TV reporter Mike Sacks announced Wednesday that he is making a bid for New York’s 17th Congressional District as a Democratic candidate in 2026.
Sacks — who previously worked as a political reporter and legal analyst for Fox 5 New York — announced his candidacy in a video posted on X, vowing to “un-fuck our country” if he wins the congressional race. The Democratic candidate, who also wrote for a variety of news outlets including the Huffington Post and The New York Times, pledged to “fight for New York” if he is elected.
“We can’t do the same old thing with the same old people,” Sacks said in his campaign kickoff video. “Stand up for something. Back it up. Really fight for the middle class. Protect our health care and our social security. In Congress, I’ll bring our bold ideas to save our democracy. We need to do this now, before it’s too late.”
Sacks’ campaign website states that he is running to “defend Medicaid, Medicare, and Social Security,” and “realign our politics to the people — not the billionaires.” He is a “lawyer-turned-television reporter” who spent 15 years in journalism as a correspondent for Scripps-owned news stations across the U.S., according to his campaign website.
Sacks’ campaign did not respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
The Congressional District is currently held by Republican New York Rep. Mike Lawler, who has held the battleground seat since 2023. Lawler won reelection in 2024, gaining 52.2% of the vote, while former Democratic New York Rep. Mondaire Jones secured only 45.9%.
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee published a target list on Tuesday of 35 Republican-held Congressional Districts they are hoping to flip in the 2026 midterms, which included Lawler’s seat.
“No matter who the national Democrats throw at him, Mike Lawler wins cycle after cycle because he always puts his constituents first,” National Republican Congressional Committee spokeswoman Maureen O’Toole told Politico on Wednesday.
Lawler has also floated the idea of making a gubernatorial bid to challenge Democratic New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, though stepping down from his House seat could make it an easier target for Democrats. Notably, President Donald Trump withdrew New York Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik’s nomination for United Nations Ambassador in March in an effort to ensure House Republicans maintain their slim majority in the house.
The Democratic Party and congressional Democrats have notably been wrestling with plummeting approval ratings in 2025. The party’s favorability ratings dropped to a new record low of 29% in March, according to a CNN poll conducted by SSRS released March 16.
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