Josh Riley
Josh Riley has deep roots in Upstate New York and proven experience in Washington. He is running for Congress to give working families a Square Deal.
Josh Riley was born and raised in a working-class neighborhood in Endicott, New York. The four generations that came before him worked in the local factories, making shoes and boots at the Endicott-Johnson Shoe Company and circuit boards in the IBM factories.
Those were good, blue-collar jobs that offered workers a Square Deal: if you work hard, play by the rules, and treat others with decency, then you can share in the rewards of your labor. You could access healthcare services when you needed them. You’d have a roof over your head. You could retire with dignity. You could earn a place in the Middle Class even if you did not have a college degree–so long as you had a strong work ethic.
But that Deal has not been available to all, and for so many others, it has been broken. Upstate New York’s economy was decimated as plants closed down and good manufacturing jobs were shipped overseas.
Through adversity, though, Josh saw people pull together and push through. Upstate New Yorkers are nothing if not resilient. And it’s the work ethic and values that Josh learned growing up in Upstate New York that have guided his career.
With student loans, savings from his newspaper route, and part-time work, Josh graduated with high honors from the College of William & Mary and Harvard Law School. At Josh’s law school graduation, then-Dean Elena Kagan presented Josh with the Dean’s Award for Community Leadership in recognition of Josh’s track record in public service.
Josh got his start in public service as a Staff Assistant in Congressman Maurice Hinchey’s office, where Josh learned the importance of constituent services in the day-to-day lives of everyday folks. Early in his career, Josh had a fellowship on U.S. Senator Ted Kennedy’s Labor & Pensions Committee staff where Josh worked on legislation to raise the minimum wage and fought back against big corporations that tried to weaken the Family & Medical Leave Act.
Josh served as a Policy Analyst at the U.S. Department of Labor where he focused on strengthening safety nets–like the unemployment insurance and trade adjustment assistance programs–for communities that lost jobs through no fault of their own. After Hurricane Katrina, Josh went to New Orleans to volunteer in a legal aid clinic assisting workers who lost their jobs because of the storm.
After graduating from law school, Josh moved to South Florida to work with the American Academy of Pediatrics on a landmark civil rights lawsuit representing kids from low-income families who were having difficulty accessing the healthcare services they needed. The Public Interest Law Center presented Josh and his team with the Thaddeus Stevens Award in recognition of their work on that case.
Josh then served as a law clerk for Judge Kim Wardlaw on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in California where Josh handled cases involving complex questions of constitutional law.
Following his clerkship, Josh returned to Washington to serve as General Counsel to U.S. Senator Al Franken on the Senate Judiciary Committee. Despite partisan gridlock and division in Congress, Josh successfully ushered two bills through the legislative process from introduction to the President’s desk, where they were signed into law. One of those bills created new rights for survivors of domestic violence to protect them from homelessness. The other bill provided new funding for addiction treatment and mental health programs. As an attorney in the Senate, Josh also worked to restore the Voting Rights Act after it was gutted by the U.S. Supreme Court. He led the fight against cable company mergers that would have resulted in higher prices, worse service, and fewer choices for consumers. And Josh organized investigations into corporate misconduct that exploited workers, consumers, servicemembers, and seniors.
As an attorney in private legal practice, Josh has filed briefs in the U.S. Supreme Court arguing for stronger campaign finance laws and better healthcare for all, and he filed briefs in the lower courts arguing for ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment and improved access to benefits for veterans. He also supported legal challenges opposing the Trump Administration’s discriminatory immigration policies, filing U.S. Supreme Court arguments to support Dreamers and oppose the Muslim Ban. Josh has been recognized nationally for his legal practice, including having been named in 2020 by Law360 as one of the nation’s three “Rising Stars” for technology and innovation issues and having been named in 2018 and 2019 to 40–under-40 lists for attorneys in Washington, D.C.
Now, Josh is running for Congress to deliver results for Upstate New York neighborhoods like the one he grew up in. He is offering a bold and optimistic vision for the region’s future because he is proud of our past: whenever the world has faced big challenges, Upstate New York has risen to meet them, and Josh knows we can do it again.
Josh is running a grassroots campaign, refusing corporate PAC money.
Josh and his wife Monica live in Ithaca with their 2 year-old son.