Bronx Times

Former Wall Street executive Marty Dolan campaigns for second time to challenge AOC

For the second time, retired Wall Street insurance executive Marty Dolan is campaigning to challenge Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to represent NY-14, which includes parts of the Bronx and Queens. Dolan, running as a “new progressivist” Democrat, told the Bronx Times that his Congressional primary bid is built around bold policies that give young people a good start toward becoming taxpaying adults — and reward their parents for bringing them up wisely.  The far left, specifically the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) party, saw a major boost with Zohran Mamdani’s mayoral win, and the local chapter recently re-endorsed Ocasio-Cortez. Despite this reinvigoration, Dolan said he sees growing movement toward centrist candidates like him, who believe that the far left “has seen its peak.” New Yorkers need an “inspiring common sense candidate" instead, he said.  Dolan’s platform involves overhauling much of the current policy menu, including the tax system, while leaving more specific concerns to city and state government. He said the left has incorrectly embraced a style of governance that says, “‘We’re gonna have a revolution, and everyone’s gonna think the way we think.’ It’s never gonna happen,” Dolan said. ‘Policies, not protests’  Dolan, who is funding his own campaign, previously ran in 2024 against Ocasio-Cortez, who ultimately sailed to victory with more than 80% of the vote. He also recently ran for NYC public advocate as a member of the Unity Party, which he founded. In that primary, Dolan received 90,000 first-choice votes, or 9.4%, and, unburdened by the need to raise money, spent much time listening to people on the ground and developing his strategy for New York City and the country as a whole.  In talking policy, Dolan often invokes the country’s founding fathers who created the “phenomenal architecture” of the Constitution, which he said represents teamwork and compromise above all.  Coming from a family with nine siblings and 20 first cousins, Dolan said he understands the benefits and limitations of collaboration. “You won’t always get what you want. That doesn’t mean you burn the place down,” he said.  Dolan said today's lawmakers at the federal level should think bigger and simpler. He criticized Democrats like Ocasio-Cortez for “asking for too many little programs and not enough big ones” and looking out for too many “niche needs” — an example being the rights of transgender people.  As a Congress member, policies for one’s own district should be expansive and able to be replicated, even in other cities, Dolan said.  His foundational idea is that the federal government should “create a framework for young people and families to grow” — specifically, to “grow great 25-year-olds” who support themselves without relying on government handouts.  Dolan said supporting young people from age 10 to 25 is most crucial for getting them started strong. Without that support, they struggle to get good-paying jobs and end up “kinda draining resources,” sometimes for decades, he said.  In his view, government must create the optimal conditions for young people to become future earners. “You can’t really grow a plant. It grows — but you can create the environment where it has the best chance to grow,” he said.   One of Dolan’s big ideas is to eliminate income taxes for young workers. Most people earn little from jobs in their teens and early 20s, then increase earnings in older adulthood, then earn less again as seniors. But Dolan believes the current tax system takes too much money too soon, leaving young adults with limited resources at exactly the wrong time. Instead, he proposes “Fast Start” accounts, which would give young earners their tax deductions back at age 26, up to $25,000.  In addition, parents would receive a 10% rebate on their kids’ lifetime taxes, creating an “investor” mindset towards raising productive, taxpaying residents, he said.  Dolan said this mindset can also be applied to housing, even for NYCHA tenants.  Currently, NYCHA residents end up trapped in a cycle in which they can’t earn too much income without getting kicked out, he said. Instead, Dolan proposes giving families the option to stay in their NYCHA unit; take $40,000-$50,000 in cash to move out, creating a home for someone else; or, if they have an apartment worth $150,000, for example, to take an $80,000 mortgage, giving them a $70,000 equity stake.  These kinds of policies would bring everyone “on the team” where they are contributing, not taking, he said.  To Dolan, the concept of raising productive individuals who contribute to society is common among nearly all cultures and backgrounds. But he believes that New York has too many safety nets in place.  “You can’t go around the corn fields holding up all the corn,” he said.  He also makes it clear that these policies must help Americans before immigrants. Though his own father was an immigrant from Argentina, the true responsibility of the U.S. government is to provide for American people first, Dolan said.  Towards immigrants, “I understand there’s a sympathetic feeling, but it’s not our purpose,” he said. “It’s clear that our resources and energy have been diverted on helping grown people or adults or kids from other countries.” ‘The perfect opponent’  Dolan said his campaign appeals to those who believe that lefty Democrats — and liberal cities overall — have gotten out of control. He believes he is actually “farther to the left of many progressives — and they criticize me because I got a short haircut and a button-down shirt.” Dolan said while he may not have Ocasio-Cortez’s star power, his ideas would make a generational difference in New Yorkers’ lives.  “My campaign’s gonna be, I have $25,000 for your kid, and a free apartment for you,” he said. “There’s nothing more important than that.”  As for taking on Ocasio-Cortez — who is surrounded by speculation about a potential 2028 presidential bid — Dolan said she is the “perfect opponent.” Her campaign did not respond to request for comment.  In Congress, Ocasio-Cortez has “done jack for New York City, the Bronx and Queens — whereas 10 years from now, I’ll be there saying I’ve put 20 million bucks into the pockets of kids who are 25-year-olds in the Bronx,” Dolan said. “That’s the same as Johnny Appleseed planting seeds.”  Dolan said Ocasio-Cortez is an exciting leader and “a magician with crowds, but her policies are nonexistent.” “There is a wide opening for a candidate like me,” he said. “It’s just waiting to happen.” Reach Emily Swanson at eswanson@schnepsmedia.com or (646) 717-0015. 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