Dodge Landesman, 18, Runs for New York City Council

As we've been blogging progressive youth politics, it seems that we've heard more stories about young candidates running for mayoral and city council seats across the country. Chalk up another, but this time it's for a New York City Council seat.

Dodge Landesman, an eighteen year old Democrat running in a primary election for the Second District seat on New York's City Council, labels himself as "pro-growth" and "anti-bailout." Landesman's campaign seems to take a page or two from President Obama's 2008 presidential campaign, as Landesman continually calls for a "participatory campaign" in which constituents mold his positions on various issues and other youth get involved in politics, specifically local politics. Landesman's three big issues are education, marriage equality, and community service. Landesman calls for a more efficient education system, in which "good teachers" are rewarded, noting that education is an issue that has largely fallen off City Council's priority list. Landesman promises to propose legislation in New York City that allows everyone the right to marry should he be elected. Finally, Landesman plans to offer tax cuts to those volunteering in their communities, hoping to foster a generational culture of service within the city.

Landesman's campaign has reached out to Facebook, creating a group called "Dodge Landesman for City Council in 2009." Dodge is also on Twitter; he can be followed @Dodge_Landesman. The Landesman campaign is working on developing a full website, but in the meantime, a temporary one has been constructed at http://www.dodgeforcitycouncil.org.

Landesman's opponent is City Councilmember Rosie Mendez. Her official page on the city council site can be viewed here.

Kudos to Dodge for getting things off the ground. We'll be checking in down the road to see how the campaign is going.