Andrei Cherny
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Andrei Cherny (Democratic Party) ran for election to the U.S. House to represent Arizona's 1st Congressional District. He lost in the Democratic primary on July 30, 2024.
Biography
Andrei Cherny served in the U.S. Navy Reserves from 2003 to 2011 as an intelligence officer. Cherny earned a bachelor's degree from Harvard University in 1997 and a law degree from the University of California, Berkeley in 2003. His career experience includes working as CEO of Aspiration banking, as an assistant attorney general, and as an entrepreneur. Cherny has previously served as chair of the Arizona Democratic Party.[1]
Elections
2024
See also: Arizona's 1st Congressional District election, 2024
Arizona's 1st Congressional District election, 2024 (July 30 Democratic primary)
Arizona's 1st Congressional District election, 2024 (July 30 Republican primary)
General election
General election for U.S. House Arizona District 1
Incumbent David Schweikert defeated Amish Shah in the general election for U.S. House Arizona District 1 on November 5, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | David Schweikert (R) | 52.0 | 218,292 |
 | Amish Shah (D) | 48.0 | 201,562 | |
| Total votes: 419,854 | |||
 = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Sarah Wharton (Independent)
- Bryce Beckstrom (Independent)
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for U.S. House Arizona District 1
The following candidates ran in the Democratic primary for U.S. House Arizona District 1 on July 30, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Amish Shah | 23.5 | 17,214 |
 | Andrei Cherny | 21.3 | 15,596 | |
 | Marlene Galán-Woods | 21.2 | 15,490 | |
 | Conor O'Callaghan | 18.5 | 13,539 | |
 | Andrew Horne | 12.3 | 8,991 | |
 | Kurt Kroemer | 3.2 | 2,356 | |
| Total votes: 73,186 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Cody Newman (D)
- Melissa Lamore (D)
- John Williamson (D)
- Robert Glasgow (D)
Republican primary election
Republican primary for U.S. House Arizona District 1
Incumbent David Schweikert defeated Kimberly George and Robert Backie in the Republican primary for U.S. House Arizona District 1 on July 30, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | David Schweikert | 62.7 | 62,811 |
 | Kimberly George | 27.5 | 27,587 | |
 | Robert Backie | 9.8 | 9,854 | |
| Total votes: 100,252 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Paul Burton (R)
- Reina Patocs (R)
Libertarian primary election
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Michelle Martin (L)
Endorsements
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2012
Cherny ran in the 2012 election for the U.S. House to represent Arizona's 9th District. He was defeated by Kyrsten Sinema in the Democratic primary on August 28, 2012.[2][3]
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
|---|---|---|
 Kyrsten Sinema |
40.8% | 15,536 |
| David Schapira | 30% | 11,419 |
| Andrei Cherny | 29.3% | 11,146 |
| Total Votes | 38,101 | |
Endorsements
Cherny was endorsed by former president Bill Clinton in his primary battle against David Schapira and Kyrsten Sinema.[4]
Campaign themes
2024
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Andrei Cherny did not complete Ballotpedia's 2024 Candidate Connection survey.
Campaign website
Cherny’s campaign website stated the following:
| “ |
DEFENDING REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS The very first bill Andrei will sponsor when he is sworn in to Congress will be legislation to make Roe v. Wade, once again, the law of the land. With the Arizona Supreme Court restoring the extreme 1864 near-total abortion ban into law, we must act urgently to ensure every Arizonan has the healthcare rights and freedoms of prior generations. Andrei’s grandparents were all Holocaust survivors and his parents grew up under communism so he knows how precious our freedoms are – and he won’t stand by while his wife and daughter, and so many millions of others, lose the right to make decisions about their own bodies. David Schweikert has a very different view. He has supported legislation to impose a national ban on abortion with no exceptions and to effectively end IVF fertility treatments, and he’s opposed legislation to guarantee a right to contraception. Action: Andrei’s not new to the fight for women’s reproductive rights. And he hasn’t just talked about it, he’s actually done something. When Roe v. Wade was struck down by the Supreme Court, Andrei made sure that every employee of his company had access to abortion by covering travel costs and medical care if the woman lived in a state where abortion is banned. Republicans have been clear for decades about their intention to ban abortion – and Andrei has fought them every step of the way. He worked with Bill Clinton and Barack Obama to fight to protect abortion rights.
Andrei knows that our economy doesn’t grow from the top down but from the middle out. A strong middle class, with money in its pocket to buy the things they need, will drive our economy. Unfortunately, for too much of the past decades, Republicans like David Schweikert have passed giveaways to big corporations and billionaires while giving the middle class the shaft. Today, too many people are living paycheck to paycheck, just barely getting by, one broken arm or flat tire away from seeing everything fall apart. While Arizonans have struggled with high costs at the gas pump and in the grocery store, David Schweikert repeatedly voted against cracking down on price gouging corporations, putting the profits of his corporate industry donors first, at the expense of Arizonans’ pocketbooks. And David Schweikert voted for the biggest tax cut for the super-rich in our history and the largest tax increase on the middle class ever – blowing a hole in our debt and pushing people just getting by over the edge of the cliff. Schweikert’s middle class tax increase raised taxes on Arizona families by an average of about $3,000 a year. Andrei will work for a tax code that values and rewards work not wealth. That means raising taxes on billionaires and cutting taxes for the middle class by restoring the family tax credit. And Andrei will work to make sure we stand up to big corporations that abuse their power to prey on consumers or avoid competition. Andrei will work to make paid family and medical leave and quality child care available to every parent – so that people can go to work while still caring for their parents and children and loved ones. It’s not enough to talk about “family values.” Andrei will work to make sure our government actually values our families. Andrei will work to invest more in schools and skills, making sure we give everyone the education they need to succeed and thrive. That means funding and improving our public schools and ensuring their budget isn’t drained by misguided, unaccountable voucher programs. And we need to make it possible for everyone to be able to afford to continue education after high school whether it is at a four year college, community college, or skills training programs or apprenticeships. Andrei will work for health care reform that lowers costs for all Americans. He has been a champion for the Affordable Care Act and lowering prescription drugs and he will continue that work in Congress. He will work to combat abuses in the health insurance system, lower prescription drug prices, fight price gouging, and stop surprise medical billing, and cap out-of-pocket expenses for seniors. He’ll fight to pass a public option that will give every Arizonan access to an affordable and high quality health insurance plan, while lowering costs for everyone through better competition and greater choice. Action: Andrei is the son of a Teamster and a teacher and grew up watching his immigrant parents work so hard but struggle to make ends meet. Because of public schools and Pell Grants, and working his way through Harvard holding down three jobs, he has lived the American Dream. And he has devoted his life to make sure opportunity is there for everyone. Andrei started a company that helped millions of Americans avoid hundreds of millions of dollars in unfair bank fees. And Andrei walked the walk: when COVID hit, he cut his own pay to save more employees’ jobs and raised his company’s minimum wage to $25 an hour. He knew it wasn’t just good for his employees but it would make his company better. That year, they were one of Inc Magazine’s fastest growing companies in America and one of Newsweek’s “Most Loved Workplaces.” As Arizona Assistant Attorney General, Andrei prosecuted fraudsters preying on older Arizonans and families of military service members deployed overseas. Working in the Clinton White House, Andrei saw that fiscal responsibility and a growing economy go hand in hand. Working across party lines, they balanced the budget while providing health care to millions of children. Andrei worked with Elizabeth Warren to launch the fight for a consumer watchdog agency to stop mortgage brokers and credit card companies from preying on working families. The forces of reform faced off against the largest army of Wall Street lobbyists ever assembled – and won. President Barack Obama signed the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau into law. So far, it has provided over $17.5 billion in relief for American consumers.
From water issues to record-setting heat to wildfires, Arizona is at ground zero of the climate crisis. Unless we take action, Arizona’s quality of life will shrivel up. But Arizona can also be ground zero for a climate response that spurs economic opportunities for our people. Andrei has worked for years to make Arizona ‘The Solar State.’ We should be to clean energy jobs what Detroit is to cars or Silicon Valley is to computers. Whether it is solar or wind or electric batteries, Arizona has the talent and technology and terrain to generate thousands of high-paying clean energy jobs. With his experience as a climate entrepreneur, Andrei will lead on bringing public investment to unleash economic growth. Andrei believes we should take the successful CHIPS Act as a foundation for action on clean energy. This bipartisan legislation, supported by President Biden and former Republican Governor Doug Ducey – but opposed by David Schweikert, has already brought an enormous amount of opportunity to Arizonans. We also must continue to pursue all avenues of protecting and expanding our water supply. Schweikert voted against the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law that is bringing extensive upgrades to Arizona’s water infrastructure, including the Salt River Project. That’s the wrong choice for Arizona. Andrei will fight for an “all of the above” approach to solving our water crisis and urgent investments in research and development to bring next generation technologies into action sooner, not partisan politics as usual that block bipartisan solutions. Action: Andrei has spent decades fighting the climate crisis. He worked with then-Vice President Al Gore in the 1990s to try to sound the alarm against climate change. Andrei spent most of the past decade starting and building a company from scratch that has moved billions of dollars away from being used to finance oil and gas drilling and exploration. Andrei’s company also created one of the largest private sector reforestation efforts in the world – planting over 100 million trees in Phoenix, across America, and around the world. Those trees will suck enough carbon out of the atmosphere to be the equivalent of taking millions of cars off the road.
Arizonans know that immigration is our greatest strength, but they also know there is a crisis at our border. As the son of refugees from communism, Andrei believes we should welcome legal immigrants with open arms while restoring the rule of law at the border. As a former Arizona border prosecutor, Andrei will fight to make our border secure and stable, while working to stop the flow of fentanyl and illegal drugs – bringing resources and reform to deal with an unprecedented flood of migrants. That means more Border Patrol agents, inspection equipment to root out fentanyl smuggling, and immigration judges and fixing our asylum policy to end “catch and release.” David Schweikert has been in Washington for more than a decade yet has accomplished nothing to fix our broken immigration system and secure the border for goodr. He has opposed comprehensive immigration reform and fairness for the Dreamers. He voted to cut Border Patrol agents and refused to support the bipartisan deal on border reform because Donald Trump told him not to – even though the Border Patrol itself said it was what it needed most.. Action: As Arizona Assistant Attorney General, Andrei prosecuted the smuggling rings bringing people, drugs, and guns across our border. He prosecuted one of the largest smuggling operations in Arizona history and helped put their leaders behind bars.
It is past time to take action to end the growing epidemic of gun violence in America and hold the NRA accountable. As a former Navy officer, Andrei knows that weapons of war do not belong in our neighborhoods. Andrei knows first hand the devastating effects of gun violence.Andrei grew up in a neighborhood deeply affected by gun violence. On January 6, 2011, Andrei was driving to Tucson to meet with Congresswoman Gabby Giffords who had recently persuaded him to run for Chair of the Arizona Democratic Party. Andrei’s wife, Stephanie and their two children were across the street at the time of the shooting. We must keep Americans safe from gun violence while honoring law-abiding gun owners’ Second Amendment rights. The gun homicide rate in the U.S. is 26 times higher than that of other countries but Donald Trump and David Schweikert are in the pocket of the NRA, blocking common sense gun control legislation. David Schweikert is funded by the gun lobby and the NRA, having received over $75,000 throughout his tenure in Congress. Schweikert voted to block consideration of bills to close gun safety loopholes, and voted seventeen times against consideration of the “no fly, no buy” bill, which would prevent people on the terrorist watch list from being able to buy guns. In Congress Andrei will work to:
Action: Throughout Andrei’s career he has not just spoken out but led as a strong public advocate for gun violence prevention and gun safety legislation. As the Chair of the Arizona Democratic Party, Andrei led the charge against Governor Jan Brewer’s actions to allow guns in bars and in workplaces. Andrei joined with CEOs for Gun Safety to call on the U.S. Congress to take action on addressing gun violence. But he didn’t just use his voice, he took action. Andrei spent the past 10 years building a company to help people divest their dollars from gun manufacturers/the NRA. He helped millions of people divest billions of dollars that otherwise might be used by Big Banks to finance firearm companies. Andrei and his company were targeted with an organized boycott by pro-gun groups because of his leadership. And when Walmart employees walked off the job in order to protest the company selling guns, Andrei and his company stepped in to pay them for their shifts.
Donald Trump and David Schweikert conspired to overturn the election on January 6th, but the threat to our democracy is bigger than either of these men. We need to not just protect and preserve our democracy, but strengthen it and reform it, so that democracy starts working for our people once again. Some say “Washington is broken,” but the truth is that it works great for the wealthy and well-connected, but too often it has stopped working for the middle class. That’s why Andrei doesn’t accept contributions from corporate PACs and why he has worked for decades to improve our democracy. That’s a sharp contrast to David Schweikert – one of only five people in history to be unanimously censured by both parties for his ethics violations. In Congress, Andrei will work to:
Action: As Arizona Assistant Attorney General, Andrei was charged with prosecuting public corruption and going after those who abused their power. Andrei took on Wall Street banks and big oil companies by helping millions of people be able to move billions of dollars away from being used to finance their drilling and pipeline projects.
Social Security is a sacred trust that must be defended – and that’s what Andrei will do in Congress. David Schweikert has a different approach. Hevoted to cut benefits, raise the retirement age, and privatize Social Security. Hevoted to destroy Medicare as we know it and to force seniors to pay more for their care. Schweikert opposed allowing Medicare to negotiate lower prescription costs with the drug companies, capping insulin costs at $35 per month for seniors, and capping seniors’ out of pocket prescription costs. In Congress, Andrei will protect Social Security for the long term by lifting the Social Security tax cap for the highest incomes, ensuring the wealthy pay their fair share. And he’ll work to expand Medicare and save seniors money by expanding the ability to negotiate for lower prescription prices to more drugs and covering hearing, dental, and vision care for seniors. Action: Andrei has a 25 year record of defending Social Security. In the 1990s, he worked with then-President Clinton and other Democratic leaders to advance a plan to use the budget surplus of the time to create a guaranteed Social Security benefit that could never be taken away. He wrote Barack Obama’s policy plan, Change We Can Believe In, which offered a better approach than his Republican opponent’s drive to privatize Social Security. Andrei helped Democrats defeat the effort of President George W. Bush and a Republican-controlled Congress to privatize Social Security. As former Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid’s chief of staff said,
America must build again. We need a new wave of innovation to power the growth of the 21st century – new electric grids to handle the clean energy and digital economies, new housing so that people can afford their rents and mortgages, new options for higher education, and faster availability of medical cures and treatments. Whether it is in solar energy or digital assets or artificial intelligence, the jobs and opportunities of the future will be created, and the rules will be written, somewhere – it’s up to us to decide if we want that to happen in places overseas or right here in America. Without Congressional action, it will be the values of governments of places like China and Russia that will shape the future and we can’t allow that to happen. Andrei will work to help entrepreneurs do the work that they do best: create new jobs, new companies, and new industries. As an entrepreneur himself, Andrei built a company that created thousands of jobs and helped millions of people have access to fairer banking and investment accounts. He saw that we need clear and updated rules of the road for this new era of digital financial services and assets so that we can expand economic opportunity, update our financial system for the 21st century, and ensure regulatory agencies protect people from catastrophe instead of protecting big corporations from competition. Action: Andrei spent most of the past decade building an innovative digital banking company to offer accounts without the usual big bank fees and to give everyday Americans the ability to have affordable access to investments so they could create assets and wealth. His company partnered with others to start the work on a digital blockchain to track carbon removal projects around the world.
Andrei and his wife Stephanie have lived and raised their two children in Phoenix for the past two decades. But today, too many Arizonans are being battered by rising housing costs. In order to maintain our high quality of life, we must fix our broken housing market. In the past 10 years, the average new home price has increased by 2.5 times in our area and rents are up 68% in the Phoenix metro area. That starts with boosting housing supply to bring more homes and apartments onto the market at affordable rates. Arizona is ranked the 4th most undersupplied housing market in America. Andrei will work to boost funding for housing construction, and work with local communities to help them navigate the zoning and regulatory changes needed to surge housing capacity. We also need to make it easier for first time homebuyers to afford homes. Our region has a severe shortage of starter homes that work best for young families and those looking to move from renting to owning. Andrei will push for an expanded first time homebuyers tax credit that can make the homebuying process more affordable and help them weather higher mortgage rates. Action: As Arizona Assistant Attorney General, Andrei went after those committing mortgage fraud, lining their pockets while driving up prices for everyone else. And he prosecuted fraudsters who preyed on older Arizonans struggling to keep up with their home payments. [5] |
” |
| —Andrei Cherny’s campaign website (2024)[6] | ||
2012
Cherny's campaign website listed the following issues:[7]
- Build on Healthcare Reform
- Excerpt: "Struggling middle class families need relief from ever rising costs and we need a health care system that works for patients. President Obama's Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act was a good start, but there is still more work to do."
- A Real Record of Protecting Social Security
- Excerpt: "Since his days working for President Clinton, Andrei has described Social Security as a “sacred trust between the American people and their government.” And he’s the only candidate in this race who has successfully beaten back right-wing attempts to privatize it."
- Make Arizona the 'Solar State'
- Excerpt: "Andrei will work to make Arizona the ‘Solar State’ – what Silicon Valley is to computers or Motor City was to cars. Congress can do much of this without spending new money, but instead changing its priorities and making a commitment to build a clean energy future."
- Hold Wall Street Accountable
- Excerpt: "The problem isn’t that Washington's not working – it’s that Washington's not working for us. Special interests buy high-powered lobbyists to get their way. They use their campaign contributions to gain special leverage, and get members of Congress to slip in special loopholes."
- Build a New Economy
- Excerpt: "We need more than a return to the status quo of a lost decade and a generation of diminished expectations, when flipping houses and shorting stocks took the place of innovation and effort, two-income couples maxed out their credit cards and took out second mortgages just so their families could tread water, and the nation piled enormous deficits on top of already monster debts with nothing to show for it."
Campaign finance summary
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See also
2024 Elections
External links
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Candidate U.S. House Arizona District 1 |
Personal |
Footnotes
- ↑ LinkedIn, "Andrei Cherny," accessed June 26, 2024
- ↑ Arizona Secretary of State, "Official primary candidate list," August 28, 2012
- ↑ Associated Press, "Primary results," August 28, 2012
- ↑ Campaign website, President Clinton: My decision
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Andrei for Arizona, “Issues,” accessed June 27, 2024
- ↑ Campaign website, Priorities
