Gonzalo Duran is the Republican candidate vying for Congressional District 15, the seat currently held by Democratic U.S. Rep. Ritchie Torres.
Currently, Duran serves as vice chairman of the Bronx County Conservative Party but, regardless of that position, Duran considers himself a moderate politician who leans right because of his interest in fiscal responsibility.
Duran is a combat veteran. He served in the Iraq war as a Marine sergeant and returned home to a difficult life. For the first three months of his return to the States, he was homeless, without a job and lacking vital resources from Veterans Affairs.
Although he managed to get back on his feet, Duran said that three-month period opened his eyes to the demographic of veterans who were not only homeless but also students committed to going to school.
In 2014, Duran founded Devil Dog USA Incorporated, a nonprofit dedicated to assisting veterans with reintegration into the community.
This year, his organization is celebrating 10 years of service and dedication to veterans. Among other services, Devil Dog holds monthly mental-health conversations, inviting men to enter a welcoming space where they can connect and discuss strategies to tackle their well being.
Duran also hosts a talk show, Vet Talk, in which he sits down with other community leaders, advocates and veterans to chat about the issues Bronx community members face and the solutions they are looking for.
He also supports the work of organizations like the Guardian Angels, a worldwide nonprofit dedicated to unarmed crime prevention for neighborhoods. Duran’s support for crime prevention extends to personal protection and training private citizens how to protect themselves.
Personal responsibility also figures into Duran’s views of current politicians.
“We have a lack of integrity, transparency and accountability,” Duran said of the people running for and in office.
Duran cites the case of the 70 New York City Housing Authority employees who were arrested in February of this year. The mix of current and former employees were charged with varying cases of bribery that were all linked to what the housing authority referred to as micro-contracts.
These micro-contracts were given out to a select group of contractors so they could perform repairs while the overall growing list of tenant-initiated repair requests was left nearly untouched. The employees were accused by prosecutors of accepting bribes in exchange for the micro-contracts to the favored contractactors.
Duran said he thinks a problem like this should never have happened and it should have been spotted sooner.
As a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, Duran said he hopes to make a few changes, starting with the insider trading occurring within Congress.
This refers to the 2012 Stock Act, which prohibits senators and state representatives from acting on information they learn to trade on the stock market. Despite the passing of the law, reports from as recent as earlier this month, discuss dealings of lawmakers that go largely unnoticed and unpunished.
In an analysis published by the Campaign Legal Center in 2020, lawmakers of both major parties were found to be buying and selling stock during the pandemic while they received private information about it and the transactions proved to be lucrative.
If elected, Duran said his first course of action will be joining the House Committee on Veterans Affairs and the House Armed Services Committee.
The Veterans Affairs Committee helps oversee the Department of Veterans Affairs, including recommendations on legislation, reviewing existing laws pertaining to veterans’ benefits, the life insurance issued to members of the armed forces, compensation of veterans, veteran education, veteran hospital and medical care and the reintegration of service members into civilian life.
The Armed Services Committee assists in the annual defense authorization bill, the annual national defense budget and strategizing the country’s approach to the global war on terrorism as well as jurisdiction over laws, programs and agencies in relation to the armed forces.
Duran said part of his campaign for Congress is he has real-world experience, as a constituent, as a veteran, working for governmental office and on the ground helping community members through his nonprofit.
“Instead of being somebody just talking about a change, I am doing it,” he said.