Morris Katz’s Second Act
The 27-year-old strategist played a key role in the Graham Platner fiasco. He still thinks he knows what working-class voters want.
One summer day, Morris Katz entered our booth in a Brooklyn Heights diner, removed his cap, and put a Zyn pouch in his mouth. He set his iPhone, cracked on the back, face-down on the table and added a Hershey’s kiss to his espresso. The 27-year-old political strategist, Zohran Mamdani confidant, was prepared to speak. Katz thinks the Democratic Party is too close to billionaires and out of touch with working people's economic concerns.
He feels Democrats are too afraid to name the real culprits. "You can't tell people they're getting screwed without telling them who's doing the screwing," he said. Katz dislikes politicians who prefer small changes. He thinks the party should select outsiders who promise to overthrow a corrupt system. Katz is articulate, confident, and ready for podcasts.
He made his name on Mamdani's mayoral campaign and has been climbing the ranks since 2026. A major victory came when Katz's client, Graham Platner, won Maine's Senate primary. However, everything turned sour after Platner dropped out due to scandals. Katz faced ridicule, but he remains influential in Democratic politics heading into the midterms.
Fight Agency, the firm where Katz is a partner, supports progressive outsiders running for office. He seeks out candidates who can be credible populist messengers, regardless of their actual background. The ads Katz produces are bold, featuring candidates doing manual labor and promising to "build stuff" instead of talking about politics.
Katz emphasizes economic populism, believing that if Democrats embrace confrontational economic policies, cultural moderation will become unnecessary. His strategy has been successful in some blue areas, including New York City, where Claire Valdez, a former Columbia union worker and Katz ally, defeated the handpicked successor of a retiring incumbent.
However, Katz's candidates have struggled in purple states. Despite this, Katz remains a powerful force in Democratic politics, working for around 12 candidates and two super PACs, while informally aiding Abdul El-Sayed's Senate campaign in Michigan.
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