New York’s 11th Congressional District covers all of Staten Island and parts of southwest Brooklyn, including Bay Ridge and sections of Gravesend. The seat is currently held by Nicole Malliotakis, a Republican who has represented the district since 2021 and is now seeking reelection.
Running on the Democratic ticket is Mike Decillis, who is making his third bid for the seat. He first entered the race in 2018 but dropped out because of fundraising challenges. He ran again in 2022, later withdrawing to give fellow Democrat Max Rose a stronger chance in the general election. Now, Decillis is back for another campaign.
A Staten Island native who has lived in Bay Ridge for the past 14 years, Decillis has a background that reflects many of the communities on both sides of the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge. He began his career as an EMS paramedic and served as a 9/11 first responder, treating New York City firefighters during the attacks. He later worked as a police officer for 10 years while attending New York Law School, eventually becoming a civil litigation attorney in the school’s civil enforcement unit. He later joined AmeriCorps and became a public school teacher in District 75.
Decillis later served as chief of staff for Assembly District 46 and as assistant counsel for the New York City Districting Commission. Along the way, he remained active in political organizing on both Staten Island and in Brooklyn.
Decillis says his campaign is focused primarily on the economy, education and protecting democracy — issues he believes are central to voters across the district.
BK Reader: Your platforms show you have education and economy. Let's start with economy, that's the big one for a lot of people.
Decillis: Before we talk about economy and anything else, we cannot do that if our Congress doesn't function, so my platform starts with enforceable guardrails legislated to make sure that Congress's rights under Article One are enforced, and that the executive, that there is a balance restored to the three branches of government as was intended, because right now our government is not functioning, and that's not hyperbole. We live under a constitution and the rule of law, and it needs to be enforced, not through norms and customs, but by actual enforceable legislation. So, once we restore democracy, then we can get to the economy, which is probably the other biggest thing.
Housing costs started to rise as a greater percentage of income again, mostly since the late 70s and 80s. So you see this beginning in the 70s of the separation, and then the 80s with the policies of Reagan completely just decimated unions, union participation, wages, health care, education, housing expenses, everything started to get more expensive, and we started to create the wealth inequality that is now ballooned every single time we've had a recession. We have it worse now, and it's getting even worse. We need to raise the corporate tax rate. We have to stop being threatened by the fact that corporations may not like that. There are billions of dollars in unpaid taxes, and because they cut the IRS staffing, they're not going after the people that actually owe money; they're just going after hard-working Americans
BKR: So, now education?
Decillis: That ladder of opportunity is gone. We underfund school. We don't prioritize education, because that's just a question of funding. We don't prioritize it, we don't view it as important. In order for these kids to survive, thrive, and actually get an education, they need to have stable housing, they need to be well fed, they need to have supplies, they need health care. If you value teachers in this society, you pay them more. The other part is that they've eliminated basically Department of Education. If I get in, we're going to try to reverse that immediately.
BKR: Sounds like healthcare is another one of your policies.
Decillis: Everybody needs healthcare. Healthcare is a right. Universal health care is cheaper than the alternative by every metric. It is significantly cheaper, like 25% cheaper overall, but it is cheaper to have health care and to be able for somebody to have access and pay for checkups, take care of chronic illnesses, have their prescriptions paid. All of these programs that are designed to help people and create some floor of security that actually makes it better economically for all of us.
BKR: Why should anyone in NY-11 vote for you?
Decillis: Because I believe in this district's potential, and I understand this district is more than the sum of allowed minority. I know that the district is diverse, and I know that not only is diversity our strength, but diversity is being actively suppressed. I know that everyone in the district deserves to have their voice heard in government, and that they are currently not. I believe, as a strong defender of human and civil rights, that I can be the guy in those rooms defending them and making sure that they're not just heard, but they're protected,
