Pilot charts new course as State Senate candidate

A young GOPer is betting he can turn the 22nd State Senate district red again.

Karim Elsammak, an international airline pilot, declared his candidacy at the New York State Young Republicans’ Winter Conference March 12.

“We are going to do a really good job,” Elsammak said. “We are going to kill this bail reform nonsense. It’s killing people on the subways. I can’t get on the train anymore. It’s a mess.”

Democrat Andrew Gounardes turned the seat blue by defeating longtime Republican State Sen. Marty Golden in 2018. He then beat businessman Vito Bruno in a close race two years later and is running for a third term in the newly redrawn district.

The district again includes Bath Beach, Bay Ridge, Bensonhurst, Dyker Heights and Gravesend, with Boerum Hill, Gowanus and Sunset Park now in the mix. It no longer includes Gerritsen Beach, Manhattan Beach, Marine Park or Sheepshead Bay.

Elsammak is endorsed by the Brooklyn GOP and the Kings County Conservative Party.

“It’s an absolute honor to be endorsed by the Brooklyn Republican Party,” he said on social media. “I’m glad people believe in the need for a new and fresh generation of politicians.”

Elsammak said he plans to criticize his political opponents for their policies rather than their party affiliation.

“I will be a leader for all New Yorkers and I will provide our city with bipartisan solutions that will be logic-based and fair for all,” he said.