AZ-01 Democratic nominee?
$225.5K
JUL 22, 2026Primary Election
Party selects its nominee.
Overview
Current rolePolitician
PartyDemocratic
Political ideologyModerate Democrat
Age50 years old (Aug 4, 1975)
GenderMale
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LocationArizona
BackgroundPolitician
EducationHarvard University (undergraduate)
Notable personal detailsAndrei Hugo Cherny is an American politician, attorney, and businessman who ran as a Democrat for Arizona’s 1st Congressional District in 2024. He previously served as chair of the Arizona Democratic Party (2011–2012) and was the Democratic nominee for Arizona State Treasurer in 2010. Earlier in his career, he worked as a speechwriter and political aide, later serving as an Arizona Assistant Attorney General and criminal prosecutor, and co-founding the policy journal Democracy: A Journal of Ideas.
SourcesShowHide
Positions
Economy & Taxes
Supports raising taxes on the very wealthy (including endorsing a wealth tax and lifting the Social Security payroll tax cap for high incomes) while cutting or restoring tax relief for middle-class families and expanding social programs such as Medicare and Social Security. Favors using progressive tax changes and public investment to fund expanded benefits and affordable-housing measures.
Immigration & Border
Supports both strengthened border security and comprehensive immigration reform, including a pathway to citizenship and an improved asylum system; frames the two as complementary solutions. Describes prosecuting cross-border smuggling and trafficking in past work as relevant experience for addressing border security.
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Abortion & Reproductive Rights
The candidate supports restoring and protecting abortion rights at the federal level, including sponsoring legislation to restore Roe v. Wade as federal law, and has taken actions to ensure employees could access abortion care when Roe was overturned. He frames reproductive rights as urgent healthcare and bodily-autonomy protections for Arizonans.
Climate & Energy
Supports aggressive clean-energy investment and policies to move finance and public investment away from fossil fuels while promoting Arizona as a leader in solar and clean energy job growth. Emphasizes climate action as an immediate crisis and highlights his work founding a sustainability-focused financial firm that avoided financing oil and gas projects. Endorsed by environmental and climate-focused groups and frames public investment (likening clean energy action to CHIPS-style federal investment) as a tool to grow the clean-energy economy in Arizona.
Public Safety & Guns
Andrei Cherny supports common-sense gun safety measures including bans on assault-style weapons, stronger enforcement of existing laws, universal background checks, and extreme-risk (red flag) laws. He has described gun violence prevention as a priority and has worked with gun safety organizations and business coalitions to push for stricter gun-safety policies.
News
Andrei Cherny is mentioned in the context of broader Democratic Party efforts ahead of the 2026 House cycle, as the DNC launches a new voter registration initiative. The program responds to a reported net loss of 2.1 million registered Democrats from 2020 to 2024 and will initially focus on Arizona and Nevada, targeting younger and working-class voters. The effort signals a shift toward more direct party-led registration work rather than relying primarily on nonpartisan groups.
Endorsements
Endorsers of Andrei Cherny for AZ-01 Democratic nominee?
Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego
Elected official
Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego endorsed Andrei Cherny.
Fundraising
Latest report: Cycle 20262024
2026
LatestCycle 2024
Cycle 2026
Source: FEC
New updates coming soon
We're monitoring and will update when new data impacts the race.
- Polls