Pinion started his career as a youth development director at a Bronx health center, where he worked for several years before becoming a political commentator, where he appeared on news networks such as CNN.[4] Later, Pinion became the host of "Saturday Agenda" on Newsmax.[5] He is also a climate change activist and has criticized climate change deniers within the GOP.[6] He has worked with the organization RepublicEn, a right-leaning environmentalist advocacy organization, since 2017.[7]
Prior to running for office, Pinion served as the Chair of the Conservative Color Coalition and was the Outreach Director for the New York Young Republican Federation.[7]
In 2018, Pinion announced his candidacy for New York's 90th assembly district, which was vacated after Shelley Mayer won an open seat to the state senate.[4] He received the Republican and Conservative party nominations, but lost the election to Nader Sayegh.[8]
Pinion ultimately received 2.5 million votes statewide, winning 42.8% of the vote to Schumer's 56.8%. Despite a large funding disparity (Pinion spent only $500,000 on campaign advertising, against Schumer's $38 million), Pinion performed better than any Republican candidate has in a New York U.S. Senate race since Rick Lazio in 2000, and lost to Schumer by a narrower margin than any Republican candidate has since Schumer beat Senator Al D'Amato in 1998. Pinion's performance was part of a "red wave" in the 2022 New York state elections, which saw an overperformance for Republicans in statewide and Congressional races.
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