Samara Barend District: New York district 29 Party: Democrat Age: 26 Type of seat: open (Rep. Amo Houghton, a Republican, retired in April) Primary: September 15 Website: www.samaraforcongress.com

Background:  If Barend wins, she will be the youngest woman ever elected to Congress.  She is currently a 2nd year Masters student at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government, but she also finds time to serve as the Executive Director of Minds of Steel, a non-profit that promotes the importance of exercise in treating mental illness, especially for children.  From 2000-2001, she served as Upstate Director for the New York Democratic State Committee.  In 2000, she worked in 56 New York counties as the Statewide Neighborhood Program Director for Hillary Clinton's Senate campaign.  Prior to joining the Clinton campaign, Barend served as Deputy New York State Field Director for Al Gore for President.  Since 1999, she has served as Communications Director for the New York Democratic Rural Conference. 

Barend is best known for designing a plan, at the age of 19, that successfully turned Route 17 in  New York into Interstate 86.  The highway covers over 400 miles of southern New York, and it is expected to generate over $3 million in development and 6000 new jobs.

The district:  New York's 29th district was recently redrawn, but it was last held by Republican Amo Houghton, Jr., who retired from the seat in April.  The district is geographically one of the largest districts in the state, covering much of the southern border with Pennsylvania, and reaching to the Rochester area.  The district gave Bush 54% in 2000, but almost 30% of the voters in her district are considered swing voters.