As the 2026 midterm elections draw closer, a second candidate for the Democratic Party’s nomination to challenge Representative Nick LaLota in New York’s First Congressional District has emerged.
Lukas Ventouras, who is 24 and attending St. John’s University School of Law, has declared his candidacy, joining Chris Gallant in seeking the Democrats’ nod to face Mr. LaLota, who is serving his second term in the House of Representatives.
“As a first-generation American, I’m deeply grateful for the opportunities this country gave my family, who fled fascism and political violence in 1940s Greece,” it says on Mr. Ventouras’s campaign biography.
The New York University graduate founded and served as the inaugural president of the school’s chapter of Students Demand Action, a gun safety advocacy group. At St. John’s, he leads the American Constitution Society, a progressive legal organization.
He worked in the Flushing, Queens, office of Representative Grace Meng of the Sixth District, he told The Star, as well as on campaigns by Dave Calone for Suffolk County executive, in 2023, and Josh Lafazan, who sought the Democrats’ nomination in the Third District. He also served as a volunteer on Gov. Kathy Hochul’s 2022 campaign, in which she defeated Lee Zeldin, Mr. LaLota’s predecessor in the First District.
Mr. Ventouras said he supports banning congressional insider trading and ending the influence of Wall Street, billionaire donors, and political action committees known as super PACs. He also supports the protection and expansion of Social Security and Medicare, paid family leave, affordable child care, and a stronger child tax credit. He is opposed to an increase in the retirement age, and said he wants to lower the cost of college.
Of Mr. LaLota, “I don’t think he is doing anything right,” he said. “Anything good he purports to do is very much masked by his cronyism, his complete deference to the national Republican Party.” Mr. LaLota’s vote for the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” he predicted, “will prove to be, in the long run, disastrous for Suffolk County. When push comes to shove, his interests are whatever [President] Trump’s are. . . . He’s neglected the people of Suffolk County.”
Suffolk, he said, “is a fantastic place with fantastic people, but they deserve someone who is going to represent them to the best of their ability.” Mr. LaLota, he charged, is “far too concerned with private fund-raisers with donors, and too unconcerned with hosting a town hall and hearing what the problems and struggles are with everyday Suffolk County residents.” A spokeswoman for Mr. LaLota did not reply to a text message on Tuesday seeking information about the congressman’s next town hall meeting.
“I think his tenure has been mired in mediocrity, empty promises.”
Mr. Ventouras said he is studying law “because I care about the Constitution.” He is concerned about the president’s push to see state legislatures gerrymander their states’ congressional districts and Mr. Trump’s statements about eliminating voting by mail.
“If you care about the American experience, as I do, American democracy has proven, in the case of my family, to be lifesaving. At 12, my grandfather saw many of his siblings shot and killed by rebel forces in the countryside of Greece. To be able to come here and become a successful old man who can retire in Florida, have a grandson in law school, another doing engineering at American University, that’s because of the American experience.”
Mr. Ventouras said he has met with Mr. Gallant, who recently announced his candidacy for the Democratic Party’s nomination. He will back the Democratic nominee, whomever that is, he said. “What’s more important than anything is that we kick LaLota out and retake the House,” he said. “My main goal is making sure CD-1 has a Democrat. I hope it’s me, but at the end of the day we need to work together so that come January 2027, we have a Democrat in office.”
Born in Hicksville, he has lived in the First District since around age 3, he said. He now lives in Northport.
