John Duane, Tom Duane’s Brother, Files For City Council Run

John Duane, a former one-term Assemblyman in the 1980’s, has taken a formal step towards running for the northeast Queens Council seat held by Republican Dan Halloran.

Duane, an attorney whose Council prospects I wrote about in January, just registered a campaign committee for the seat. He is the brother of Manhattan State Sen. Tom Duane, who is best known as the state’s first openly gay state senator and HIV-positive member.

Matt Silverstein, a Democratic state committee, is officially in the Democratic primary for the seat in 2013. Paul Vallone, the brother of Queens Councilman Peter Vallone, Jr., will also likely run. Community Board chairman Jerry Iannece has also indicated interest, though he now says he will run for the Assembly seat held by Rory Lancman, who is running for Congress.

Duane is well-regarded by both labor sources and Queens Democratic Party sources that I’ve spoken to about his candidacy. Queens Democrats are hoping to avoid a repeat of 2009, when a divisive six-way Democratic primary allowed Halloran to win the Democratic-leaning district.

Duane also finished a respectable second in the 2010 race for ex-Assemblywoman Ann-Margaret Carrozza’s seat, which was won by Ed Braunstein.

It’s unclear when exactly the Council election will be held. The seat would be vacant before 2013 if the incumbent, Halloran, wins the NY-6 congressional election in November, running as the Republican candidate.