Richard Habersham

Richard Habersham (Democratic Party) ran for election to the U.S. House to represent New York's 13th Congressional District. He did not appear on the ballot for the Democratic primary on June 23, 2020.

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

Richard Habersham was born and raised in Harlem. His roots are deep: his father owned the Harlem jazz joint Count Basie's and his mother was a schoolteacher who had her own radio show on Harlem Community Radio. He attended Riverside Church Nursery School, the Horace Mann School in the Bronx, the Professional Children's School, LaGuardia High School of Performing Arts, and the Dwight School.

As a youngster, Richard appeared in the Broadway production of August Wilson's drama, Joe Turner's Come and Gone and played a principal character in Spike Lee's Do the Right Thing and The Long Walk Home with Whoopi Goldberg. He earned a scholarship to the University of Virginia where he graduated with a bachelor's degree in American History.

After college, Richard worked as a substitute teacher at PS 197/154/92 in Harlem where he experienced firsthand the degrading and painfully low-perf

During the time he was caring for his father, Richard established and ran a corporate diversity program for a New York headquartered leadership development firm, founded by his mentor John Wareham. Wareham is also creator of the Eagles Foundation and the Taking Wings self-development program for inmates and at-risk youth in the state prison system. As president of the Eagles Foundation, Richard's work in prisons defined his perspective about what really matters in life.

Richard currently lives in a Mitchell Lama co-op on Riverside Drive and sits on the board of the Classical Theater of

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

Affordable HousingEducationEnvironmental Justice

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

We are suffering from a gross lack of leadership in our community. We've got an accountability problem. As a Harlem native, I am acutely aware of the issues affecting this district, compounded by the absence of any vision offered by the incumbent I am fighting to unseat. As a progressive Democrat, I stand for affordable housing, better schools, quality job opportunities for residents, senior care funding, universal healthcare, and environmental justice. I am ready to bring a new voice to these issues in Congress.

googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display("div-gpt-ad-1548351761485-0"); });