Meet Karen Ortiz, an Independent Candidate Running to Represent the UWS in Congress 

By Scott Etkin

Last year, Karen Ortiz sent an email that took her life on a new trajectory. 

She had been working as an administrative judge at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s (EEOC) New York District Office when the Trump administration directed the agency to pause its discrimination investigations involving transgender people.

Ortiz objected and sent an email (cc’d to 1,000 colleagues) to the EEOC’s acting chairwoman, saying the chairwoman should step down for complying with the order. The email leaked on Reddit, the story made headlines, and Ortiz was fired months later. 

In a conversation with West Side Rag, Ortiz said she had no idea the situation would unfold the way it did. Now in a run for New York’s District 12 congressional seat – her first attempt at an elected office – Ortiz uses her opposition to President Trump as the centerpiece of her campaign: “I actually lived in two of the former Trump buildings on [the UWS’s] Riverside Boulevard,” she said. “And now I kind of live in his head rent-free.”

Born in Manhattan, Ortiz has personal connections to the Upper West Side, having graduated from Columbia College and Fordham Law School. Ortiz’s legal career began with the NYC Parks Department and includes time as a judge for the Taxi and Limousine Commission, as well as doing disability litigation on behalf of the Social Security Administration. “I love government service,” she said. “It’s a big part of who I am.”

While opposing Trump is a priority in her campaign, her decision to run for Congress was also influenced by the challenges she faced helping her stepfather, a Vietnam veteran, navigate the healthcare system. 

Ortiz described herself as a lifelong Democrat and said she thinks it’s “wonderful” that so many candidates have “stepped up” to run for the seat. But she feels it is important to provide an alternative choice to the two major parties. In this interview with the Rag, which has been lightly edited for length and clarity, Ortiz spoke about running as an Independent and offered her views on some key issues. 

WSR: Can you talk about the reasoning behind your decision to run as an Independent? 

Ortiz: I want voters to give Independents a chance. I want them to think outside of the two-party system, because the two parties have really acted horribly in concert with each other. I mean, think about some of the votes that have happened. Every single Democratic senator voted to confirm Marco Rubio, which blew my mind. I was like, ‘Why are we voting to confirm any of these nominees who are woefully unqualified?’ 

I hope that voters will look at all of the candidates, no matter what their affiliation – Republican, Green Party, Democrat, Independent. I think also when you run as part of a party, there’s an assumption that you will toe the line, and I will not toe the line for anybody.

WSR: I understand you’ve lost confidence in both major parties, but is there anyone in the federal government who you feel like would be an ally for you, or someone you respect who you’d want to work with? 

Ortiz: [Rep.] Summer Lee [Democrat from Pennsylvania]. [Rep.] Ro Khanna [Democrat from California]. 

I mean, there’s nobody perfect. I wouldn’t be perfect, but I definitely think they inform themselves and they don’t shout down their opposition, and I think that’s really important because you’re going to have to work with people with all different ideologies. They are actually living proof that you can keep your oath to the Constitution. Senator [Chris] Van Hollen [Democrat from Maryland] has been a good example as well.

WSR: If elected, what would be the first bill you would want to sponsor?

Ortiz: Before that, I would introduce articles of impeachment. I’m part of a coalition of candidates running across the country who have vowed to introduce articles of impeachment on day one. If [Trump’s] not gone, and any of his leftovers are still there – I’m talking about Trump’s cabinet –  they need to be impeached as well. They have all broken their oath to the Constitution. It might seem obvious, but I feel like we have to state the obvious, and I have to keep stating the obvious, or people will just take it for granted, and this behavior will continue.

As far as legislation, I would like to clean up a lot of the disability litigation. I did disability litigation for about eight years, and I think there are a lot of smallish tweaks we can make in the [regulations] to make it easier and more straightforward for people to get disability [assistance] that they’re entitled to.

And I think we need a huge immigration overhaul. I support not only abolishing ICE [Immigration and Customs Enforcement], but also getting rid of DHS [Department of Homeland Security]. We had a system in place beforehand that worked fairly well, but I think we could put more money into hiring more immigration judges to do it right and make sure that people aren’t lingering, waiting for their immigration process.

I actually went through the immigration process with my first husband, who is still a good friend, and it was really difficult, and I was an attorney. ICE and DHS need to go, and we need to replace [them] with an agency that’s committed to humanely giving people due process in the immigration process.

WSR: How would you balance the work of a House member in Washington versus working on local issues that Upper West Siders are concerned about?

Ortiz: I would try to spend as much time in the district as possible. I just came from DC, and DC is its own world, its own bubble. I actually just prefer being on the streets of New York anyway.

I think beyond town halls, having dedicated slots of time where people can sign up ahead of time to meet with me one-on-one, or for community groups to come in and meet. That would be what I would be wanting to do with the bulk of my time in the district. I’ve lived all over the district, but you can’t know every issue and I would want to hear from seniors, people raising families, younger folks. 

I also thought about maybe putting together a children’s council. I want to hear from children, because I’m in the second half of my life, right? I could have kept my head down and kept working and probably been okay, but I’m doing this for the next generations, not for me, and I want to hear about what children have to say. 

WSR: You’re a Columbia alum – what’s your perspective on the school’s dealings with Trump and the protests there? 

Ortiz: I do think that this [presidential] administration put Columbia in a terrible position, but I also think Columbia’s leadership was crap. I’ve criticized [Columbia University Acting President] Claire Shipman and the board publicly, so that’s nothing new.

I think they weren’t letting the students lead. And I think the students should have led. And I think when the encampment was happening, by bringing the NYPD on campus, that just made it worse.

When I was at Columbia, there was a protest like every day – for real, for real. And there was still a lot of tension between different student groups. So it’s not anything new for the school. But I just think it was exacerbated by Trump’s own desire to extract money out of the school and to use it as an example. I do think that the leadership was terrible, and they could have handled it way differently and met with students and not be afraid to hear what they have to say. 

WSR: A lighter question: What are some of your favorite spots on the Upper West Side?

Ortiz: I love Central Park. My second marriage was at Strawberry Fields. And despite that marriage not lasting, I love that part of the park – anywhere where creatives converge. I do love [Mediterranean restaurant] Bodrum also. I’m a big foodie. I love wandering into the Housing Works on the Upper West Side, they seem to have the best goodies.

WSR: Final question: Let’s say you’re handing out pamphlets on the street and only have 30 seconds to speak with a voter, what’s your message?

Ortiz: What I say is, ‘get to know me.’ Go to my website, check out my platform, but also get to know all of the candidates, because you have a choice, and this year in particular, you have a very robust choice, so embrace that. Embrace learning about all of us. 

I really care about all New Yorkers. I don’t necessarily want to be liked. I want to be respected. So what I’m trying to do is earn your respect and hope that you can think outside of the two-party system and give an Independent a chance.

You can learn more about Ortiz’s campaign – HERE. 

Read more about candidates for the District 12 congressional seat: 

• Meet the UES Candidate Running to Represent Both the UES and UWS in Congress
• A WSR Conversation With Candidate Nina Schwalbe in the Race to Represent the UWS in Congress
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