Jonathan Rinaldi

Jonathan Rinaldi is running on the No Kings Party line for NY State Assembly District 28 after losing the Democratic primary to incumbent Andrew Hevesi.[1][2] He has run for several offices since 2023, including the City Council and this Assembly seat. He was arrested in June 2026 on fraud charges related to his 2025 City Council campaign; he is presumed innocent unless convicted.[2][3]

Rinaldi was born in New York, and Ballotpedia lists his profession as consultant. In a 2024 Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey, he described himself as having a background in architecture.[3] In 2023 he was the Republican-line candidate for New York City Council District 24, losing to incumbent James Gennaro with 23.4% of the vote.[3] In 2024 he ran for Assembly District 28 on the Republican, We the People and Truth lines, losing to Andrew Hevesi 58.6% to 41.1%. Ballotpedia also lists him as a Republican candidate for U.S. House in New York's 14th District in 2024 who withdrew before the primary.[3]

Rinaldi ran for City Council District 29 in 2025 as the Republican nominee, losing to incumbent Lynn Schulman with 27.3% of the vote.[3] In 2026, according to the Queens Daily Eagle, he switched from the Republican to the Democratic Party to challenge Hevesi and lost the June 23 Democratic primary; he remains on the November ballot on the No Kings Party line.[2][1] On June 24, 2026, he was arraigned on nearly 20 criminal counts that prosecutors said related to AI-generated campaign material in his 2025 City Council run. He told reporters he would not confirm or deny making the posts and that the case raised a First Amendment issue.[2]

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