Alex Bores
DemocratCandidate for U.S. House, NY-12
New York State Assembly District 73
Scored using a combination of official legislative actions and, where no relevant state legislative record exists, clearly labeled congressional-platform rhetoric.Composite A — Doctrinal
5.5/10Weighted average by doctrinal multiplier
Composite B — Pragmatic
6.0/10Weighted by actionability for this office
Gap (B − A)
+0.51Gap +0.51 — Pragmatic score exceeds doctrinal alignment: this politician moves issues they are positioned to move.
Issue Overview
Summary
Bores fits extremely well with CST in terms of the prudential body, with labor, environment, housing, health care, criminal justice, immigration, and foreign aid each scoring a 4 or higher, demonstrating a track record that includes respect for workers, care of creation, housing opportunities, health care access, criminal justice, migrant respect, and global solidarity. But he is diametrically opposed to the two intrinsic life issues that have records (abortion and euthanasia), which this framework prioritizes, giving them more weight than any other issue. The two additional intrinsic life issues (torture and capital punishment) could not be scored due to the lack of a record. Hence, Alex Bores is a candidate who falls squarely in the middle of the 0-to-10 spectrum on both the composites due to his strong CST-oriented social justice record being negated by opposition to intrinsic life norms.
Interpretive Decisions
Three decisions shaped this scoring:
No-record rule.
Where Bores had no Tier 1–3 action but platform rhetoric existed, that rhetoric was scored as Tier 4. Where neither existed, the issue was dropped entirely. This applies to Torture and Capital Punishment.
Office for actionability.
Composite B uses the U.S. Representative actionability column, the office Bores is running for.
Federal issues re-opened.
Issues marked no-jurisdiction or partial-jurisdiction for a state legislator (Foreign Aid, Foreign Wars, and the federal slices of Immigration, Healthcare, and Economic Policy) were re-evaluated for the Representative. Those with no state record were scored on platform rhetoric.
Issue-by-Issue Analysis
Click any row to expand the dossier● Intrinsic Evils — 2.0× multiplier
AbortionIntrinsic Evil · 2×Official actionsScore1.0/5
Assessment
Both actions are in direct tension with CST values. Issue score: 1.00.
CST Reasoning
Direct abortion is a grave moral evil with no qualifying circumstance. Constitutionalizing abortion access or publicly funding it are actions in direct tension with Church teaching.
Dossier (2 entries)
Affirmative floor vote for the Equal Rights Amendment, which constitutionally entrenches reproductive rights, including abortion.
Co-sponsorship of the Reproductive Freedom & Equity Program bill (died in committee), which sought to fund and expand abortion access.
The Church holds that human life begins at conception and that direct abortion is a grave moral evil that admits no exceptions (Evangelium Vitae §62; CCC 2270–2275).
End of Life PolicyIntrinsic Evil · 2×Official actionsScore1.0/5
Assessment
Legalizing assisted dying is precisely the act that Church teaching identifies as always gravely wrong. Issue score: 1.00.
CST Reasoning
Euthanasia and assisted suicide are always gravely wrong.
Dossier (1 entry)
Co-sponsorship of the Medical Aid in Dying Act, now enacted law (Chapter 714 of 2025, signed 2026-02-06), which legalizes assisted dying in New York.
The Church opposes euthanasia and assisted suicide as violations of human dignity at its most vulnerable moment, while affirming the right to refuse disproportionate treatment and calling for robust palliative care (CCC 2276–2279).
● Prudential Issues — 1.0× multiplier
ImmigrationPrudential · 1×Official actionsScore4.0/5
Assessment
Scored 4 rather than 5 because this is a single pending state bill, not an enacted comprehensive measure. Issue score: 4.00.
CST Reasoning
Every migrant retains inalienable dignity regardless of status. Wealthier nations carry a real duty to welcome those in genuine need. Church teaching explicitly commends humane treatment in detention and enforcement, as well as the protection of family unity. Enforcement built on deliberate cruelty or family separation as deterrence is in direct tension with the teaching.
Dossier (1 entry)
Co-sponsorship of the New York for All Act (in committee), which restricts state and local cooperation with federal immigration detainers, protecting migrants from enforcement-driven separation.
The Church affirms the right to migrate in search of safety and a dignified life, the duty of receiving nations to welcome migrants to the extent possible, and the obligation to treat all migrants with the dignity owed to human persons (CCC 2241; Laudato Si §175; Strangers No Longer).
Labor RightsPrudential · 1×Official actionsScore4.7/5
Assessment
Issue score: 4.69.
CST Reasoning
Work expresses human dignity; Church teaching explicitly commends just wages, the right to organize, workplace safety, and protection of precarious workers.
Dossier (3 entries)
Worker IP Protection Act (prime-sponsored, enacted as Labor Law §203-F), strengthening workers' legal position against employer IP overreach.
Benefit Transparency bill (prime-sponsored, pending), requiring clearer disclosure of employee benefits.
Paid-leave requirement bill (prime-sponsored, pending), expanding paid leave protections for workers.
Work is a fundamental expression of human dignity. The right to organize, to receive just wages, and to safe working conditions are not privileges but duties owed by society (Rerum Novarum; Laborem Exercens §§6–10; Centesimus Annus §15).
Criminal Justice ReformPrudential · 1×Official actionsScore4.3/5
Assessment
Issue score: 4.34.
CST Reasoning
Both victims and offenders retain inviolable dignity. Punishment may be neither degrading nor purely vengeful. Church teaching explicitly commends humane conditions, safeguards against wrongful conviction, and attention to unjust patterns in punishment.
Dossier (3 entries)
Ban on solitary confinement of children (prime-sponsored, 2025).
Bar on arrests based solely on protected characteristics (prime-sponsored, 2025).
ICE OUT NY Act (prime-sponsored, 2025), restricting state cooperation with federal immigration enforcement.
Punishment must serve rehabilitation and reintegration, not retribution. The Church calls for restorative justice, humane conditions of incarceration, and investment in healing broken social bonds (Compendium of the Social Doctrine §§402–405).
HealthcarePrudential · 1×Official actionsScore4.5/5
Assessment
Scored 4, not 5 because the teaching is model-neutral on financing. Issue score: 4.49.
CST Reasoning
Basic healthcare access is a requirement of human dignity, with priority for the poor, elderly, and disabled. The Church takes no position on how healthcare is financed or delivered, only that people can access it. None of Bores's actions implicate the teaching's hard lines on abortion, euthanasia, or conscience.
Dossier (4 entries)
Minimum-essential-coverage mandate (prime-sponsored, pending), requiring baseline insurance coverage.
Hospital facility-fee prohibition (prime-sponsored, pending), lowering patient out-of-pocket costs.
Outpatient substance-use-disorder coverage without preauthorization (pending), expanding access for a vulnerable group.
Co-sponsorship of the single-payer NY Health Act (pending).
Access to healthcare is a right rooted in human dignity. Society has an obligation to ensure that all people, especially the poorest, can receive the medical care necessary to live a dignified life (Caritas in Veritate §43; Compendium §166).
HousingPrudential · 1×Official actionsScore4.4/5
Assessment
Issue score: 4.43.
CST Reasoning
Adequate housing is a requirement of human dignity. The Church teaches that property ownership comes with social obligations, and that any policy approach to housing is acceptable as long as it actually gets people housed.
Dossier (4 entries)
Bill limiting municipal zoning density restrictions (prime-sponsored, pending).
Signed the City of Yes for Housing Opportunity letter (recorded official position).
Basement and cellar legalization expansion (prime-sponsored, pending).
NYC vacant-property tax bill (prime-sponsored, pending), applying the principle that property rights carry social obligations.
Adequate shelter is a fundamental human right. Society must ensure that no person is left without a home through active public investment, fair housing enforcement, and protection of the vulnerable from displacement (Gaudium et Spes §26; Compendium §167).
Foreign Aid & Global PovertyPrudential · 1×Tier 4 rhetoricScore4.0/5
Assessment
Held to 4, not 5, because it is a campaign pledge rather than an enacted appropriation. Issue score: 4.00.
CST Reasoning
Wealthier nations owe real duties of solidarity to the global poor. Church teaching explicitly commends meaningful assistance to the poorest and humanitarian relief.
Dossier (1 entry)
No state legislative record; scored on congressional platform. The platform pledges to greatly increase humanitarian aid, including to Gaza, with oversight, and to rebuild U.S. foreign-aid capacity.
The goods of the earth are destined for all of humanity. Wealthy nations bear a positive duty of solidarity to the global poor through foreign aid, debt relief, fair trade, and international development investment (Populorum Progressio §§43–55; Caritas in Veritate §§36–38).
Economic PolicyPrudential · 1×Official actionsScore3.5/5
Assessment
Issue score: 3.50.
CST Reasoning
The economy exists to serve the person and the common good. The test is whether the poor are included, not allegiance to any economic model.
Dossier (2 entries)
Commercial rent tax cut for small retail and food-service businesses (prime-sponsored, pending). Supports small-enterprise viability and the workers it employs, consistent with the teaching's concern for subsidiarity and inclusion. Scored 4.
Tax credit for voting (prime-sponsored, pending). Promotes civic participation but is only loosely connected to economic-justice teaching. Scored 3.
Economic systems must be evaluated by their treatment of the poorest. The Church demands a preferential option for the poor, condemns structural sin that produces inequality, and calls for economic institutions that serve human dignity rather than profit alone (Centesimus Annus §§11–12; Laudato Si §§109–110).
EnvironmentPrudential · 1×Official actionsScore5.0/5
Assessment
Both actions score 5 with no countervailing record. Issue score: 5.00.
CST Reasoning
Care for creation is a moral obligation joined inseparably to justice for the poor and future generations. Church teaching commends action proportionate to the scale of the crisis.
Dossier (2 entries)
Recorded pro-environment floor votes documented by NYLCV scorecards, including a perfect 100 in 2023.
Heat-pump incentive bill (prime-sponsored, pending), accelerating the clean-energy transition.
Care for creation is a moral obligation, not a political preference. The earth belongs to all, and environmental degradation is a form of injustice that disproportionately harms the poor. Climate change is a moral crisis requiring urgent collective action (Laudato Si §§24–26, 49–52; Laudate Deum).
Foreign Wars & InterventionsPrudential · 1×Tier 4 rhetoricScore3.0/5
Assessment
Issue score: 3.00.
CST Reasoning
The Church holds that deliberately killing civilians and disproportionate force are always wrong. Beyond that, whether a specific conflict is justified is a prudential judgment. Church teaching strongly favors diplomacy, civilian protection, and restraint.
Dossier (1 entry)
No legislative record; scored on congressional platform. The platform is genuinely mixed. On the aligned side: diplomacy-first, two-state outcome, sustainable ceasefire, and civilian and humanitarian aid. On the tension side: he opposes restricting offensive arms sales and opposes measures like Block the Bombs, a posture that sits uneasily with the teaching's emphasis on restraint and civilian protection.
War is permissible only as a last resort, when all peaceful means have been exhausted, and only when conducted with strict proportionality and discrimination between combatants and civilians. Arms sales without humanitarian conditionality are complicit in unjust violence (CCC 2309; Gaudium et Spes §§78–82; Compendium §§438–442).
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