SOUTH GLENS FALLS — In the front yard of a suburban home outside Glens Falls, Dylan Hewitt made it official. He’s running for Congress.

On Wednesday, Hewitt, 33, announced he is formally seeking the Democratic Party’s nomination to represent northern New York in Congress. He’s the second Democrat to announce a campaign for the seat, setting up a primary race for next summer.

Joined by his parents, partner and a small group of his neighbors, Hewitt said he’s getting in the race to represent the average upstate resident and to push back on a decade-plus of what he defined as self-promotional leadership from sitting Congresswoman Elise Stefanik.

“Elise Stefanik has turned her back on us,” he said. “She has used us as a stepping stone to hand billions of dollars to billionaires and her donors while we are the ones who are left behind.”

Hewitt criticized Stefanik for her recent votes, especially to pass the ‘One Big Beautiful Bill’ that enacted the Republican agenda and made cuts to benefits like Medicaid in exchange for permanent tax cuts.

Analysis indicates those Medicaid cuts will hurt rural New Yorkers especially hard, putting regional hospitals on the path to financial insolvency and cutting back on available resources for the lowest earners.

“Our health care costs are rising and the price of everything is getting more expensive because of reckless tariffs,” Hewitt said. “I think we can do better.”

Hewitt promoted a broadly progressive platform; a living wage for all workers, paid family leave, a strong child tax credit and universal child care. He supports a healthcare guarantee as well.

“We need to reverse Medicaid cuts, expand Medicare and make sure that mental health treatment is covered, that the folks at Fort Drum get the care that they need,” Hewitt said.

He’s running in a primary against fellow Democrat Blake Gendebien, a St. Lawrence County dairy farmer who was handpicked by the local party leadership to run in an anticipated special election that never happened. Gendebien has raised millions of dollars and has been formally campaigning since February. Hewitt also floated a candidacy for that special election, but returned most of the money he fundraised in that effort.

When asked how he’ll stand out against Gendebien, who pitches a more centrist message, Hewitt said he’d be more transparent.

“I’ll tell you who I voted for,” he said, noting that Gendebien has still not definitively answered questions on who he supported in the 2024 Presidential race.

“I voted for Kamala Harris,” Hewitt said.

Hewitt said he would support Genedebien if he wins the primary, saying that it was important for Democrats to retake the House next year.

Hewitt formerly worked in the Biden White House as a deputy assistant trade representative — he said he supported Harris because he believed in her pitch to voters.

“I believe in an America that takes care of its own, that we give our kids a fair shot at success, that we don’t close our hospitals, that folks don’t have to drive two hours to be seen by the doctor,” he said. “I voted for someone that I believed was going to take care of working families, stand up to the powerful and hold the powerful accountable.”

But Hewitt said he’s not an establishment Democrat — he doesn’t fit the mold that the party has been using to find candidates in this district for the last decade.

“I am a new generation of leadership, I am 33, I have called this place home my entire life,” he said. “I was raised by a public elementary school principal and a social worker, who taught me to show up. My family is rooted in this district, we have called it home for seven generations, and I am ready to have a serious conversation about what it means to take on big power and hold it accountable.”

Hewitt’s announcement on Wednesday was met with an immediate response from Congresswoman Stefanik’s team. While she’s been floating a run for Governor, Stefanik has maintained the foundations of a campaign for NY-21. No other Republicans have yet formally moved to run for her seat.

Stefanik advisor Alex DeGrasse said in a statement that this primary challenge shows Gendebien’s weakness.

“Ultimately we were correct stating that Gendebien would inevitably face a serious primary because he is incredibly toxic to voters,” DeGrasse said.

“Now he will officially face a Democrat primary from a far left former Biden and Hillary Clinton official because even far left Democrat voters agree that Gendebien is a disaster electorally and they are hoping to swap out their candidates desperately,” DeGrasse continued.

Without noting whether Stefanik will be on the ballot again, DeGrasse predicted that either Gendebien or Hewitt won’t win the general election in the heavily Republican district.