Rep. Josh Riley (D-19) is running to retain his seat in the House of Representatives after first being elected in 2024. 

Riley is a fifth-generation New Yorker raised in Endicott. Prior to his political career, he worked as a policy analyst at the Department of Labor, as general counsel to U.S. Sen. Al Franken on the Senate Judiciary Committee and as an attorney in private practice. 

Riley has made a point of opposing utility rate increases. He has introduced legislation that would ban foreign ownership of American utilities and would block utility CEOs from paying themselves bonuses while raising rates, and has intervened in a the ongoing rate case with rate increase from NYSEG and RG&E. 

“I’ve met with countless upstate New Yorkers who are doing everything right, but still falling behind because the utility monopolies keep raising their rates. And as these folks are cutting back on groceries and school clothes just to keep the lights on, they’re watching utility executives make more than ever. That’s completely backwards,” said Riley regarding the bill regulating raises for utility CEOs. 

Riley has also done work around rural issues, introducing legislation aiming to reform the H-2A visa program to better meet the needs of upstate dairy farmers and apple growers, and backing measures in the Farm Bill including expanded dairy nutrition programs, increased rural broadband investments and strengthened oversight and transparency on foreign purchases of U.S. farmland. 

“Our farmers are the heart and soul of upstate New York. They work harder than anybody on earth, and all they ask for is a fair shot. Today, we delivered,” said Riley, at the time of the Farm Bill’s passage in the House. “This Farm Bill strengthens family farms, protects American farmland, lowers costs, supports dairy, invests in rural communities, and gives our farmers more certainty in uncertain times.”