Write-In Candidacy

Democratic Primary

Running as a Democrat Until the June 30, 2026

End of the Primary Season

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If you are a Democrat, please consider casting a vote for me in the June 23, 2026 Democratic Primary by writing-in, TONY MACULA.  If I win the Democratic Primary, I will accept the Democratic ballot line. However, beginning July 1, 2026 and through the general election season, I will run and campaign as an unaffiliated independent candidate for change.

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If elected, I will focus only on the issues of importance to the constituents of this district and not party allegiance as I will have none.  My campaign is rooted in the belief that political discourse can be constructive. I aim to foster collaboration and to help bridge divides through practicality and compromise.

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Becoming Unaffiliated and Stepping Back

from Democratic Party

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I am running as a registered Democrat in the Democratic primary election throughout the primary season which ends on June 30, 2026.  After that I am running as an unaffiliated independent in the general election season which begins July 1, 2026.  

 

I have voted as a registered Democrat for the last 48 years. Twice, I was nominated by the Democratic Party in Geneseo, NY as a candidate for local office.

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I also worked for Democratic Congressman Jim McDermott as a 2015 American Association for the Advancement of Science, Congressional Science & Engineering Fellow. In that role, I worked in the areas of science, education, health, career & technical training, and international trade policies.  I organized briefings and drafted two bills in Congress:

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H.R.5436 - Protecting America's Health Measures Act

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H.R. 5069 Cybersecurity Systems and Risks Reporting Act

 

More recently, I led the drafting of Genesee Valley Indivisible's Petition Statement on President Trump's 2025 Federal Budget Bill.

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However, I filed the required forms to changed my party registration from Democrat to unaffiliated independent on March 3, 2026. This change takes affect on June 30, 2026.

I stepping back from the Democratic party for primarily three reasons:

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• The sidelining of many economic fairness and fiscal responsibility issues that unite everyday Americans

• The party's reluctance to compromise and its increasing use of ultra-partisan rhetoric that just continues to divide us.

• The focus on cultural issues, identity politics, and litmus tests that continue to separate us.

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I think Democratic Party has forgotten that practicality is needed in a government that works better for the everyday melting pot of people who have the single and unifying identity of being American.

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DEBATE EXCLUSION 

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Hoping that the organizers would be inclusively open to presenting a moderate candidate and a more diverse range of positions and viewpoints to the voters of this district, I requested inclusion in each of their six Democratic Primary debates. I am the only registered Democrat who is actively campaigning for the Democratic Primary nomination to make such requests. No organizers extended an invitation to me.

 

The upshot is that the voters of this district have seen only two Democratic candidates in these debates instead of three. I think the two invited candidates, Alissa Ellman and Diana Kastenbaum, are to the left of the electorate in the NY 24th Congressional District. I am more in the center.