Eight months ago, when Jerry Nadler announced his retirement, I was frustrated with New York politics — but I waited to see what November would bring. While I have policy disagreements with Mayor Mamdani, his victory represented something genuinely refreshing: a real challenge to the New York political machine. Watching it unfold, I was inspired to run as an outsider for New York's 12th Congressional District. I looked at the field and saw no candidate with the lived experience of a small business owner, and no one bringing deep transit and environmental expertise to the conversation. There was a real opening for someone with my background to step in and make a difference in our dysfunctional government.

I cherished every moment of meeting voters — at events, in their homes, on the street. Nothing gives me greater joy than working through real-world solutions to the challenges we all face in Donald Trump's America. I knew entrenched political interests would try to stand in my way. What I did not anticipate was how far they would be willing to go to keep me off the ballot.

How is an entrepreneur running an EV rental company in the South Bronx such a threat that Micah Lasher would direct firepower at me that would be far better spent fighting Donald Trump? People associated with the Lasher campaign harassed my family, friends, and neighbors. I was left off invitations to forums and events where Lasher was attending — and then gaslit when I raised it, told the omissions were simply a mistake. We were told in no uncertain terms that the SOLE reason they wanted me off the ballot was that I shared the same name of “Micah”. There were other candidates who are on the ballot for New York’s 12th Congressional District who probably would not be if someone had challenged their petitions, but I was the only person who had their petitions challenged.

But what I saw at the Board of Elections over the past few weeks was truly shocking. The BOE first issued a report on April 24 confirming we had hundreds more signatures than required to qualify for the ballot. Then, at the end of the day on a Friday, May 1, a second newly assigned clerk released a new report claiming we were just over 100 signatures short. There was no indication this report was needed, no advance notice it was being prepared, and — because of the timing — no way for us to respond until Monday, May 4.

When we arrived at the BOE Monday, May 4, it took hours for them to even produce the documents we needed to understand the change, called Line by Lines. The most glaring issue: a registered Democrat who had collected signatures for our campaign — and for other Democratic candidates across New York City — had recently moved, and the BOE declared she was not a registered voter, when in fact she was. Our petitions were the only ones challenged and invalidated on this basis, despite her work being credited toward other Democrats now on the ballot around New York City. Had her petitions not been thrown out, we would have cleared the threshold with room to spare.

At a formal hearing on Tuesday, May 5, the BOE refused to consider our evidence — a sworn affidavit, driver's license, voter registration card, and lease agreement, all confirming her valid address and registration. They told us to take it to court. In a twist of circular logic, the court had already ruled against us earlier in the day, on the grounds that the BOE was unlikely to put me on the ballot due to insufficient signatures. What is all the more shocking about this situation, the petitioner whose signatures were invalidated gathered signatures for members of the State Assembly, State Senate and other offices, all of whom had the petitions from this petitioner validated by the same Board of Elections. It defies logic that the petitioner would not have been valid for my campaign but was seen as valid for multiple other candidates running for public office this year.

Anyone who knows the signature-gathering process in New York knows how grueling and expensive it is. I put my heart and soul into this campaign, but it has become painfully clear that the Democratic machine does not want me on the ballot. In light of that, and the tens of thousands in legal costs required to keep fighting, I am suspending my campaign for New York's 12th Congressional District.

I will keep fighting Donald Trump's dangerous agenda by supporting Democrats throughout New York and across the country. I will continue working to advance mobility in New York City, electrify more of our transit, reduce pollution, and expand recycling efforts in every neighborhood. And I will take on a personal effort to advance peace in the Middle East by raising the profiles and work of the remarkable Palestinian and Israeli women activists pushing back against political systems built to suppress their voices for generations. I believe lasting peace will only come when women are at the table — ready to force it upon the men who have dominated the region's politics for far too long.

I want to thank my supporters, donors and the other amazing candidates I met through this process. The relationships forged here will last a lifetime, and for that I am truly grateful.