Biography
David Siffert is a civil rights attorney and NYU Law adjunct professor who was legal director of the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project before running for office. Born and raised in Manhattan, Siffert says they have helped write more than 100 bills for the state legislature through that work and their teaching. Siffert is the Democratic nominee for this open seat and is running on housing affordability, AI regulation, and protecting immigrants and civil rights.[1][2][3]
Siffert was born and raised in Manhattan's Morningside Heights and attended Horace Mann School from kindergarten. According to Siffert's answers to Tribeca Citizen, they have lived in the district for nearly 20 years, since moving there to attend law school.[1][2] Siffert earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Chicago in 2006 and a law degree from NYU School of Law in 2009.[1][2]
Siffert works as a civil rights attorney and was Legal Director of the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project, a privacy advocacy group, leaving that role to run for office.[1][2][3] Siffert says that at the project they led the group's state legislative agenda, drafting bills and building coalitions, and that they negotiated with the NYPD on New York City Council legislation expanding the department's disclosure of surveillance technology.[1][3] Siffert is also an adjunct professor of clinical law at NYU School of Law and the founding executive director of NYU Law's State Government Initiative, and teaches a State Legislative Externship that pairs law students with sitting legislators to draft bills.[1][2]
Siffert won the June 23, 2026 Democratic primary for the seat long held by Deborah Glick, who is not seeking re-election, with 27.4% of the vote in a six-candidate field.[4][2] Siffert describes themself as non-binary (Tribeca Citizen reports they use they/them pronouns) and says they would be the first openly non-binary person elected to government office in New York State; they are raising a toddler in Assembly District 66.[1][2]
- 1.David Siffert · Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey · 2026-09-25 Candidate's own words
- 2.The Candidates 2026: David Siffert for Assembly District 66 · Tribeca Citizen · 2026-05-11 News report
- 3.Campaign Insiders: A Q&A with AD-66 Candidate David Siffert · PoliticsNY · 2026-05-27 News report
- 4.New York State Assembly District 66 · Ballotpedia · 2026-09-25 Reference
Researched from the cited sources on 2026-10-21.