Name: Mikhail Kudrov
State: New York
District: NY-7
Region: Northeast/New England
Party: Democrat
Mikhail Kudrov was born on August 26, 1949 in New York City, New York. His parents, Dmitri and Ania fled the Soviet Union in 1946, making their way to New York. Mikhail met his wife, Anastasia Sidorova, in 1967, and they were married in 1971. Over the next several years Mikhail worked two jobs to make ends meet. He worked as a painter during the day, and drove taxi's at night. In 1973, Mikhail and Anastasia were blessed with their first child, Aleksandr Kudrov. In 1974, Mikhail was able to begin attending night classes thanks to money he and his wife had saved. He spent the next several years attending law school. In 1975, his family was blessed with another child, Natalya Ania Kudrova. Mikhail passed the New York Bar in 1980, and went to work for the local district attorney's office. In 1981, Mikhail was involved in a car accident in upper New York, which left him partially paralyzed from the waist down. While he is able to maintain some physical mobility as long as he uses aids, often times he uses a wheelchair or electric scooter to get around due to the slowness when he walks. In 1982, Mikhail and his family moved to East Hills, New York. He was elected Mayor of East Hills in 1984. In 1988, he ran for the New York State Senate, beating out his opponent 53% to 47%. He was approached by the Democratic Party to run for New York's 7th Congressional District in 1990, replacing Gary Ackerman. He won, beating out his Republican opponent 54% to 46%.
In 1992, he ran in the Democratic Primary to become the first Governor of the Northeast losing to Sidney Land (D-PA).