๐Ÿ—ณ 2026 MIDTERM GENERAL ELECTION โ€” NOVEMBER 3, 2026

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JC
DEMOCRAT

John Cappello

New York House District 17 2026 ยท 2026

21
Policy Positions
46%
Avg Confidence
9
Issue Areas
Find Your Alignment โ†’

Policy Positions

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Economy

2 positions

Would you support raising the federal minimum wage to $17 per hour?

Support
Party InferenceNo direct statement or voting record found on a $17 federal minimum wage; position inferred from Democratic Party alignment and general progressive economic stances typical of NY-17 Democratic candidates. Fact-check this โ†’

Would you support imposing tariffs of 25% or more on imports from countries that do not meet US labor and environmental standards?

Support
Party InferenceNo direct statement or voting record found on tariffs tied to labor/environmental standards; position inferred from Democratic Party alignment and general progressive economic trade positions typical of NY-17 Democratic candidates. Fact-check this โ†’
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Education

1 position

Would you support canceling up to $50,000 in federal student loan debt per borrower?

Support
Party InferenceNo direct statement or voting record found for John Cappello on $50,000 student loan cancellation; position inferred from Democratic party alignment and general progressive policy orientation typical of NY-17 Democratic candidates. Fact-check this โ†’
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Environment

3 positions

Would you support legislation to reduce US carbon emissions by 50% by 2035?

Support
Party InferenceNo direct evidence found on this specific emissions target; position inferred from Democratic party affiliation and general progressive climate advocacy typical of NY-17 Democratic candidates. Fact-check this โ†’

Do you support legislation to reduce US carbon emissions by 50% from 2005 levels by 2035?

Support
Party InferenceNo direct evidence found on this specific emissions target; position inferred from Democratic party affiliation and general progressive climate stances typical of NY-17 candidates, with limited candidate-specific record available. Fact-check this โ†’

Do you support stopping the issuance of new federal permits for oil and gas drilling on public lands and offshore waters?

Support
Party InferenceNo direct statement or voting record found on this specific issue; position inferred from Cappello's Democratic affiliation and general progressive environmental profile as a candidate in NY-17, with limited candidate-specific evidence available. Fact-check this โ†’
โ–ฝ

Foreign Policy

3 positions

Would you support increasing the federal defense budget by more than 5% annually?

Oppose
Party InferenceNo direct evidence found for Cappello's position on defense budget increases; as a Democrat running in NY-17, party-based inference suggests opposition to large defense spending increases, though insufficient candidate-specific evidence warrants low confidence. Fact-check this โ†’

Would you support increasing the federal defense budget by more than 5% per year above the rate of inflation?

Oppose
Party InferenceNo direct evidence found on this specific defense budget question; position inferred from Democratic Party alignment and the general tendency of Democratic candidates to oppose large above-inflation defense budget increases, with low confidence due to lack of candidate-specific record. Fact-check this โ†’

Would you support maintaining or increasing current levels of US foreign assistance to allied and developing nations?

Support
Party InferenceNo direct evidence found on this specific issue for John Cappello; position inferred from Democratic party affiliation and general alignment with mainstream Democratic foreign policy support for foreign assistance, but with low confidence due to lack of candidate-specific record. Fact-check this โ†’
โ–ก

Gun Policy

3 positions

Would you support universal background checks for all firearm purchases in the US?

Support
Party InferenceNo direct statement or voting record found for John Cappello on universal background checks; position inferred from his Democratic Party affiliation and general alignment with mainstream Democratic gun safety positions in a competitive New York district. Fact-check this โ†’

Would you support requiring background checks for all firearm purchases in the US, including private sales and gun show transactions?

Support
Party InferenceNo direct evidence found for Cappello's specific position on universal background checks; position inferred from his Democratic Party affiliation and general progressive platform in NY-17, with confidence limited by lack of direct statements or voting record. Fact-check this โ†’

Would you support a federal ban on the manufacture and sale of semi-automatic rifles with detachable magazines to civilian buyers?

Support
Party InferenceCappello is a Democrat running in NY-17 who broadly supports gun safety measures including assault weapons restrictions, but no direct statement on a federal semi-automatic rifle ban with detachable magazines was found, so position is inferred from general platform and party alignment. Fact-check this โ†’
โ™ฅ

Healthcare

2 positions

Would you support expanding Medicare to cover all Americans regardless of age?

Support
Party InferenceNo direct evidence found for Cappello's position on Medicare for All; score inferred from Democratic party affiliation and general progressive leanings typical of NY-17 Democratic candidates, with limited public record available. Fact-check this โ†’

Would you support federal legislation requiring Medicare to negotiate prescription drug prices directly with pharmaceutical manufacturers?

Support
Party InferenceNo direct statements or voting record found for John Cappello on Medicare drug price negotiation; position inferred from Democratic Party affiliation and the broad Democratic consensus supporting the Inflation Reduction Act's drug negotiation provisions. Fact-check this โ†’
โ–ถ

Immigration

3 positions

Would you support a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants who have lived in the US for more than 5 years?

Support
Party InferenceNo direct statements or votes found on this specific policy; position inferred from Democratic Party affiliation and general progressive platform signals for a NY-17 candidate, with limited available record for this candidate. Fact-check this โ†’

Would you support a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants who have lived and worked continuously in the US for more than 5 years?

Support
Party InferenceNo direct evidence found on this specific policy; position inferred from Democratic Party affiliation and general progressive platform alignment for NY-17, a competitive suburban district where candidates typically support pathways to citizenship with some pragmatic framing. Fact-check this โ†’

Would you support significantly increasing federal funding for border security infrastructure and personnel at the US southern border?

Neutral
Party InferenceJohn Cappello is a Democratic challenger for NY-17 with limited available public record on specific immigration funding positions, requiring party-based inference as the primary signal. Fact-check this โ†’
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Taxes

3 positions

Would you support raising the top federal income tax rate to 50% for individual income exceeding $10 million per year?

Support
Party InferenceNo direct statement or voting record found on this specific tax threshold; position inferred from Democratic party alignment and general progressive fiscal policy stances typical of NY-17 Democratic candidates. Fact-check this โ†’

Would you support increasing the top marginal income tax rate to 50% for income over $10 million?

Support
Party InferenceNo direct evidence found on this specific policy; position inferred from Democratic Party affiliation and general progressive tax positions typical of NY-17 Democratic candidates, with low confidence due to lack of explicit statements. Fact-check this โ†’

Would you support raising the federal corporate income tax rate from 21% to 28%?

Support
Party InferenceNo direct statement from Cappello on the 28% corporate tax rate was found; position inferred from his Democratic party affiliation and the party's general alignment with Biden-era tax proposals, with low confidence due to limited public record for this candidate. Fact-check this โ†’
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Voting Rights

1 position

Would you support federal legislation requiring all states to automatically register eligible citizens to vote when they interact with government agencies?

Support
Party InferenceNo direct statement or voting record found on automatic voter registration specifically; position inferred from Democratic Party affiliation and general voting rights advocacy typical of NY-17 Democratic candidates. Fact-check this โ†’
Positions are AI-extracted from public sources and bias-audited by GroundedVote. Evidence types: Voting Record (highest confidence) โ†’ Party Inference (lowest). All data ยฉ 2025 The Founded Project LLC.