Lifelong Bay Ridge resident launches fundraiser for City Council campaign

The list of could-be candidates for the City Council’s 43^rd district seat is growing.

On Friday, December 16 (Bay Ridge’s birthday), proud Democrat and lifelong Bay Ridge resident Justin Brannan announced in an e-mail to friends, family and colleagues that he is officially seeking funds for his campaign.

Brannan is a former aide to Councilmember Vincent Gentile, who has represented the 43^rd District for more than 13 years, and who cannot run again come next year’s election due to term limits.

“Now more than ever, we need to elect people with guts who aren’t afraid to stand up for what’s right,” wrote Brannan, who is also president of the Bay Ridge Democrats and a founding member of local grass-roots organization Bay Ridge Cares. “I was lucky to have parents who raised me with a strong work ethic and an equally strong backbone. I got my impatience for bureaucracy from years as an activist and I know how to cut through red tape to get things done.”

While Brannan is only the second to set up a campaign account (Republican hopeful Bob Capano’s is also up and running), a number of other public servants have shown interest in the seat.

Among those are John Quaglione (communications director for State Senator Marty Golden) and Liam McCabe (aide to Congressmember Dan Donovan), both said to be eyeing the Republican nomination alongside Capano, who currently works for Republican businessman John Catsimatidis.

On the other side of the aisle, Democrats Linda Sarsour, Kevin Peter Carroll, Josephine Beckmann and Assemblymember Peter Abbate are also rumored to be considering running.

The 43^rd City Council district encompasses Bay Ridge, Dyker Heights and Bensonhurst.