Eli Northrup

Eli Northrup is a public defender who has worked for more than a decade in Bronx criminal court and is Policy Director for the Criminal Defense Practice at the Bronx Defenders, where he has led legislative campaigns in Albany. He has not held elected office. He finished second in the 2024 Democratic primary for Assembly District 69, then won the June 2026 primary for the open seat, and describes his platform as defending progressive values, advancing affordability and fighting for working families.[1][2][3][4][5]

Northrup was born in Washington, D.C.[2] He earned a B.A. in psychology from Cornell University in 2007 and a J.D. from New York University School of Law in 2011; Ballotpedia also lists Georgetown University Law Center (2015), where his survey says he was a clinical fellow.[2] According to his Ballotpedia survey, he clerked for federal judges on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit and the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, and in law school he worked with the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, the Neighborhood Defender Service of Harlem and the Legal Aid Society.[2]

Northrup has worked for more than a decade as a public defender in criminal court and is Policy Director for the Criminal Defense Practice at the Bronx Defenders, where he says he leads a team of advocates working on criminal legal system policy.[2][5] He says he worked with legislators in Albany on measures including cannabis legalization, making police records more transparent and reducing the Rikers Island population, and helped launch the Bronx Cannabis Hub, which assists people affected by past drug-law enforcement in obtaining cannabis licenses.[2] City & State described him in 2023 as a public defender who had advocated in Albany for cannabis legalization and bail reform, and his campaign platform says he was a founding member and architect of the Communities Not Cages campaign to change New York's sentencing laws.[6][3]

Northrup announced a run for Assembly District 69 in November 2023 after Assemblymember Danny O'Donnell said he would not seek reelection.[6] He finished second to Micah Lasher in the June 2024 Democratic primary, 34.4% to 52.6%, ran on the Working Families Party line, and withdrew from the November 2024 general election.[2] After Lasher filed to run for Congress, Northrup announced a second campaign for the seat in October 2025, and in the June 23, 2026 Democratic primary he defeated Stephanie Ruskay, 60.3% to 39.4%; he also holds the Working Families Party line.[4][2]

Researched from the cited sources on 2026-10-21.