The lefty Working Households Social gathering on Tuesday endorsed self-described “moderate Democrat” Justin Brannan within the race for metropolis comptroller.
The progressive third-party stated it was backing the Brooklyn councilman over his opponent, Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine, due to his platform advocating for the working class.
“We need people who are willing to fight to make sure that in our government every ounce of energy and time is devoted to delivering solutions and relief for workers and their families, and also to make sure that every leader stands up to Trump and his band of tyrants,” Ana Maria Archilla, co-director of the WFP, stated.
The left-wing group highlighted Brannan’s marketing campaign guarantees to slender the wealth hole, help the creation of a first-in-the-nation common childcare program, assist create a housing program for municipal employees and to assist velocity up the town’s notoriously gradual fee system for non-profit reimbursements.
The term-limited Brannan was first elected in 2017 to rep the purple forty third Metropolis Council district primarily based in Bay Ridge.
“He has shown again and again that in a district that has Republicans and Democrats, he’s able to talk to people about what brings us together, and he’s able to also stand up for the people that are most aligned,” Archilla stated.
The rocker-turned-lawmaker left the council’s Progressive Caucus in 2023, the identical yr he instructed Metropolis & State: “I think if people call me a moderate Democrat, it’s probably closest to the truth. It’s certainly closer to the truth than saying I’m a democratic socialist.”
Brannan, who at present serves because the council’s finance chair, stated that if elected to the citywide watchdog place, he would work to make life extra reasonably priced for working-class households who’ve been fleeing to cheaper locales.
The Brooklyn Dem is understood for sparring with the Adams administration over cuts to the town’s extra tan $112 billion finances throughout the migrant disaster.
“This is not a time for elected officials to be bystanders. This is not a time for us to be spectators. We cannot sit on our hands while the city spirals out of reach for working families,” Brannan, who performs guitar within the band Most Valuable Blood, stated at a press convention asserting the endorsement.
He promised he would proceed to be a “bulldog” for working folks and struggle President Trump’s administration.
“We’re going to fight like hell to protect our city and to make sure that working families can thrive,” Brannan stated.
Brannan already has dozens of endorsements, together with from state Meeting Speaker Carl Heastie and the Transportation Employees Sanitation Union.
His opponent, Levine, has racked up endorsements from a ten,000-member retail employees union referred to as the Retail, Wholesale and Division Retailer Union, Manhattan Congressman Jerry Nadler and Bronx Congressman Ritchie Torres, a Democratic firebrand and potential gubernatorial challenger.
Levine has additionally raised greater than $2.3 million for the race, in comparison with Brannan’s practically $300,000.
However a marketing campaign spokesperson stated Brannan expects to obtain practically $1.5 million in public matching funds subsequent month.
“We expect to raise and spend the maximum allowed by the CFB. With the matching funds payment in March the campaign will have already raised almost $2 million,” the rep stated.
