The outsider taking on a Kennedy—and the Democratic machine

In the richest district in America, an outsider is challenging dynasty, money, and Democratic orthodoxy.

Welcome back to The Red Letter.

In New York’s 12th District—the richest, most establishment seat in the country—a long-shot candidate is trying to blow up the script.

In my latest conversation, Democratic candidate Laura Dunn takes direct aim at her rivals: a Kennedy heir, a high-profile defector Republican, and candidates backed by billionaire money and PACs.

She calls them “compromised.” She calls herself “unbought, unbiased, unafraid.”

And she doesn’t hold back:

• Slams Jack Schlossberg as an establishment product with name recognition but no real-world experience

• Dismisses George Conway as an outsider to New York running on anti-Trump credentials alone

• Takes on Democratic leadership and says she’s been told “other people have been chosen ahead of me, I need to wait my turn.”

• She’s accusing the Democratic party of being too White, straight and male.

She’s also staking out positions that put her at odds with the party—from calling for impeachment to making the Epstein files a central issue.

“The candidates in this race have some kind of compromising factor about them,” Dunn told me on The Tara Palmeri Show.

“I alone am a people powered campaign and that makes me unbought.”

It’s a crowded race, and in a district like this, the winner of the primary is effectively headed to Congress. The question is whether voters want pedigree and power—or something very different.

Schlossberg and Conway did not return a request for comment.