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The leading candidates for city comptroller each bring their own strengths to the race.
Brooklyn City Councilman Justin Brannan is well-versed in municipal finances as chair of the council’s budget committee. He boasts of the budget battles he’s waged against Mayor Eric Adams and the mayor’s office of management and budget, or OMB.
“I know where the bodies are buried in the budget,” Brannan said Tuesday at a debate hosted by New York Law School and the Citizens Budget Commission. “I know the games that OMB plays. And I want to continue that service.”
Manhattan Borough President, Mark Levine, meanwhile, is a longtime, well-known elected official who told the audience at Tuesday’s debate he’ll be an “activist comptroller.”
“I’ll push an agenda to solve our affordable housing crisis by investing city pension money in financing housing that would not otherwise be built,” Levine said.
Levine and Brannan, both Democrats, are gunning for the office currently occupied by Brad Lander, who’s vacating the seat to run for mayor. They’re joined in the Democratic primary race by Brooklyn state Senator Kevin Parker and Ismael Malave, who’s worked previously as a staffer in the both the city and state comptroller’s offices.
But Levine and Brannan have earned by far the most support. At the debate, they addressed issues like potential cuts in federal funding coming down the pike, as President Donald Trump and Congressional Republicans look to slash spending.
“This is coming. And it’s going to hit New York City hard,” Levine said. “It’s going to hit not just our people, but our fiscal health. We need to be ready to fight back.”
Levine says the city should prepare by adding to its budget reserves now. But Brannan warned that could backfire as a matter of political strategy.
“Putting more money aside would then signal to Washington that we’ve got the money we need to withstand their cuts,” he said. “So we have to be careful there.”
Both candidates have qualified for public matching funds, providing a boost to their campaigns ahead of the June 24 primary. Levine currently has $2.4 million in cash on hand, while Brannan has $1.6 million.
