A businessman from Scarsdale announced his candidacy for Congress Wednesday in a bid to unseat 15-term incumbent Rep. Eliot Engel in the Democratic primary.

Jonathan Lewis, 55, vowed to run on a reform platform that includes refusing to accept political action committee donations from corporations.

“We need candidates and elected officials who stand for democratic values and who haven’t gone the way of Washington – which is fundamentally broken. Too many politicians take corporate money, do the bidding of lobbyists for big corporate interests that aren’t even in the district, take perks, enjoy privileges, and go on privately funded trips, rather than working for the district. Instead, they come to work for themselves and their donors. If our Democracy is to survive, this needs to stop.”

“I am running in the Democratic primary to ensure there is a complete discussion on issues such as campaign finance reform, healthcare and affordable prescription drugs, and equality of educational and economic opportunity.”

Lewis co-founded a firm that invests in municipal bonds that finance roads, bridges, schools and universities.

He is a trustee of Yonkers Partners in Education and a former elected trustee of the Scarsdale Board of Education.

Lewis particularly wants to take on the pharmaceutical industry to bring down the escalating costs of prescription drugs. Both of his children have Type 1 Diabetes and he has served as president and board member of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.

His insurgent candidacy to defeat Engel, 71, first elected in 1988, will be uphill battle. The 16th congressional district includes portions of the The Bronx and Westchester.

Engel is the ranking Democrat on the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.