Kurt VanWuyckhuyseKurt VanWuyckhuyse

Running on a “People Over Profit” platform and rejecting corporate PAC and special-interest money, Kurt supports living wages, stronger unions, housing stability, the New York Health Act, and greater investment in mental health and addiction treatment.

Kurt VanWuyckhuyse is an outsider candidate taking on incumbent Assembly member Josh Jensen, who first won election to this red Rochester-area district in 2020. The district chose Donald Trump over Kamala Harris by almost 10 points in 2024, and Jensen has decisively outraised VanWuyckhuyse, who nonetheless has received a good share of public matching funds (available from the state for candidates who receive small contributions from in-district donors). Overall, we find VanWuyckhuyse to be a compelling and thoughtful candidate—the kind of insurgent who has put himself in a strong position to ride a blue wave into the legislature. VanWuyckhuyse has lived in the Rochester area for his entire life, where he is now the general manager of his family’s auto shop. He points to his identity as a renter as connecting him to the everyday experiences of Monroe County residents challenged by the affordability crisis. He combines savvy policy analysis with populist arguments.

A labor-backed progressive fighting for workers’ rights and economic fairness in Western New York. This is how we build real progressive power: block by block, district by district, seat by seat. When we organize, we win. ✊ May14 Love0 []