Why Adem Bunkeddeko Is Taking on the Democratic Establishment

30-year-old Adem Bunkeddeko is ready for a new generation of Democrats and is running for Congress in New York.

“Yeah, I’m taking on the Democratic establishment in my district because we just haven’t had a voice in a long time on a number of issues, whether it be criminal justice reform, immigration reform, affordable housing. Folks in our community have been suffering for a long time. And that’s long before Trump even comes on the scene,” he explained.
The son of Ugandan immigrants, Bunkeddeko graduated from Harvard Business School then returned to his hometown, Brooklyn, as a community organizer.

He is running in New York’s 9th Congressional District and isn’t taking PAC money. So far, he’s raised over $120K in small donations. He’s facing off against incumbent Democrat Yvette Clarke in a June 26 primary. He’s also running on a platform of criminal justice reform, immigration reform, and housing reform. The New York Times says he has an “aggressive” housing agenda in terms of how it would help low-and-middle-class families not just to rent property, but to own it.

“Having grown up in a one-bedroom apartment and seeing my parents be as happy, as joyful, although it was not the best apartment in the world. For a lot of folks in our city, that’s becoming more and more difficult to attain,” he explained.