Campaigns & Elections

Council members and Assembly member vie for Brooklyn borough presidency

Robert E. Cornegy Jr., Mathieu Eugene, Antonio Reynoso, and Jo Anne Simon all want to replace Eric Adams.

Council member Robert E. Cornegy Jr.

Council member Robert E. Cornegy Jr. John McCarten

The race for Brooklyn borough president is underway, with 12 candidates vying to succeed Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams, who is term-limited and running for mayor. The Democratic primary in June, which is the de facto election, will use the new ranked-choice voting system. 

There are educators and community advocates running, but the top tier consists of Council members Robert E. Cornegy Jr., Mathieu Eugene, and Antonio Reynoso and Assembly Member Jo Anne Simon. Hospital executive Khari Edwards has also raised enough funds to be competitive and has picked up a few endorsements. 

A Brooklyn Democratic source explained that the Brooklyn Democratic Party has not endorsed anybody officially for the race, but the 42 district leaders who comprise the executive committee will be meeting soon to make their decision, with Cornegy as a rumored frontrunner for the coveted endorsement. 

Cornegy, however, has been recently faced with allegations that he asked employees of his Council office for campaign contributions and free labor for his campaign. A Cornegy spokesperson told The City that the accusations were “unsubstantiated.” Other Cornegy staffers recently allegedly threatened a local community board member. (Cornegy said his staff “feared for their safety.”) 

Each major candidate has a likely base of support: Eugene is the first Haitian-born New Yorker elected to the City Council, and he represents a heavily Afro-Caribbean, Flatbush-based district. Reynoso is Latino and comes from a largely Latino Bushwick-Williamsburg district, in which he has also appealed to progressive young professionals. Simon, a former president of the Boerum Hill Association, is an established presence among the progressives of Brownstone Brooklyn. Cornegy represents Bed-Stuy, the historic heart of African American Brooklyn. Edwards recently received the endorsement of the influential public employee union District Council 37. “Each candidate has some strengths that I think are going to be shown in the last several months,” said Camille Rivera, a partner at New Deal Strategies.

Here is the essential information about all of the candidates:

City Council Member Robert E. Cornegy Jr.

Current job: Council member of District 36 representing Bedford-Stuyvesant and northern Crown Heights. 

Fundraising: 

Private funds: $291,471

Public funds: $594,505

Endorsements: State Sens. Roxanne Persaud and Diane Savino Assembly Members Jamie Williams, Eric Dilan, William Colton and Mathylde Frontus, City Council Majority Leader Laurie Cumbo, City Council Members Darma Diaz, Alan Maisel, Chaim Deutsch and Kalman Yeger, Former Brooklyn Democratic Chair Frank Seddio, District leaders Sue Ann Partnow, Edu Hermelyn, Shirley Patterson, David Schwartz, Arleny Alvarado-McCalla, Annette Robinson, Joseph Bova, Henry Butler, Former Assembly Members Tremaine Wright and Darryl Towns, Former Rep. Ed Towns, Former Council Member David Greenfield, Reverend Jacques Andre DeGraff, Director and Producer Spike Lee, Comedian Tracy Morgan, Teamsters237 and the Seaside Independent Democrats

Focused issues: According to his website, Cornegy wants to create a more diverse community board filled with residents, business owners, and service providers, economic development by supporting New York City increasing “living wage”, land-use reform to continue the positive aspects of the ULURP and have more engagement with the community board, continue the expansion of STEAM programs in Brooklyn public schools, and adding a task force to former Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams reSET program to include representatives from each neighborhood to look at possible sustainable energy opportunities. 

City Council member Antonio Reynoso 

Current Job: Council Member for District 34 representing Bushwick, Ridgewood, and Williamsburg. 

Fundraising: 

Private funds: $209,988

Public funds: $528,306 

Endorsements: NY Working Families Party, Make the Road Action, New Kings Democrats, Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, activist and actress Cynthia Nixon, Council Members Margaret Chin and Helen Rosenthal, state Sens. Jessica Ramos and Julia Salazar, Assembly Members Marcela Mitaynes and Maritza Davila, Council candidates Jennifer Gutierrez and Sandy Nurse, District Leaders Shaquana Boykin, Kristina Naplatarski and Samy Nemir Olivares, Teamster Joint Council 16.

Issues: According to his website, Reynoso wants to reduce NYPD’s role in communities to make room for social services instead, protect immigrants from ICE, support small businesses by implementing rent relief, tax credits, and expansion of MWBE opportunities, invest in the public school system and eliminate the school-to-prison pipeline, provide fully-funded public hospitals, improve urban planning, a greener Brooklyn, better access to transportation, increased pay for healthcare workers and increased support for senior citizens. 

Assembly member Jo Anne Simon 

Current job: Assembly Member for District 52 representing Cobble Hill, Boerum Hill, Carroll Gardens, Vinegar Hill, Gowanus, DUMBO, Park Slope, Brooklyn Heights, and Prospect Heights

Fundraising: 

Private funds: $348,247

Public funds: $481,224

Endorsements: Former state Sen. Velmanette Montgomery, 504 Democratic Club, Hon. Joan Millman, Union of Arab Women of NYC, Bay Ridge Democrats, Jim Owles Liberal Democratic Club, Independent Neighborhood Democrats, Brooklyn Young Democrats, Lambda Independent Democrats of Brooklyn, Central Brooklyn Independent Democrats, state Sen. Andrew Gounardes, Assembly member Robert Carroll, District leaders Joanne Seminara and Josh Skallar and former District Leader Ralph Perfetto. 

Focused issues: Simon’s website notes that she has supported and authored legislation advancing women’s rights, criminal justice reform and affordable public power, among other issues. 

City Council Member Mathieu Eugene

Current Job: Council member of District 40 covering Crown Heights, East Flatbush, Flatbush, Kensington, Midwood, Prospect Park, and Prospect Lefferts Gardens. 

Fundraising: 

Private funds: $54,033

Public funds: None 

Endorsements: Councilmember Eugene’swebsite does not state endorsements. 

Focused Issues: According to his Council website, Eugene has worked within Brooklyn to “ensure quality education with smaller class size (and) improve access to healthcare for all people.” 

Khari Edwards 

Most recent job: Vice President of External Affairs for Brookdale Hospital and Medical Center

Fundraising: 

Private funds: $158,842

Public funds: $514,362

Endorsements: City Council Member Alicka Ampry-Samuels, Assembly Member N. Nick Perry and District Council 37. 

Focused issues: According to Edwards’ website, he focuses on affordable housing, providing support to public hospitals and access to healthcare, small business support, creating opportunities for the youth such as designated seats for 18 to 25-year-olds on community boards. 

Anthony T. Jones 

Current Job: Member of the Democratic state committee for Assembly District 55. 

Fundraising: 

Private funds: $48,643

Public funds: None

Endorsements: None listed on Jones’ website. 

Focused issues: According to his website, Jones wants to support small businesses in the borough, create stronger community boards and build better community-police relations. 

Kimberly Council 

Current job: Associate Minister for the Berean Baptist Church 

Fundraising: 

Private funds: $84,400

Public funds: none 

Endorsements: None according to Council’s website

Focused Issues: equitable education, construction of affordable housing by community non-profits, programs that support senior citizens and creating affordable housing designated for seniors, police reform that provides support for formerly incarcerated community members, ensuring an independent Civilian Complaint Review Board, that every Brooklyn neighborhood has a healthcare infrastructure, and gender parity within community board. 

Lamor Miller Whitehead 

Current Job: Self-employed 

Fundraising: 

Private funds: $43,636

Public funds: none

Endorsements: None according to his website.

Focused issues: According to his website, Whitehead wants to focus on COVID-19, criminal justice reform, education, community development, and low and moderate-income housing. However, when pursuing more details on these focus issues, Whitehead’s website did not provide information and did not respond to comment. 

Pearlene Fields 

Current Job: Cousulant 

Fundraising: 

Private funds: $3,486 

Public funds: none 

Endorsements: None according to her website

Focused Issues: Affordable housing that does not rely on lottery systems that can have waitlists for years, public safety that focuses on eliminating the abuse of authority from police officers and stop “crooked” police, supporting small businesses, and equitable education. 

Ramos Robert

Current job: President of DC37 Local 205 Daycare Workers Union, member of the CUNY board of trustees, member of AFSCME.

Fundraising:

Private funds: $5,938

Public funds: none

Endorsements: None, according to Ramos’ website

Focused issues: providing resources to underfunded schools, incentives to homeowners to install solar panels, eliminating the school-to-prison pipeline, making the Citizens Complaint Review Board elected and expansion of community land trusts. 

Robert Elstein 

Current job: Public school educator 

Fundraising: 

Private funds: $5,446

Public funds: none 

Endorsements: None, according to his website

Focused issues: Ending mayoral control over public schools, developing a neighborhood beautification network, reimaged policing, developing a plan for climate change, and “strengthen(ing) libraries, schools, and Brooklyn’s youth through artistic and intellectual expression.”

Shanduke McPhatter 

Current job: Executive Director of Gangstas Making Astronomical Community Changes Inc. 

Fundraising:

Private funds: $2,197

Public funds: none

Endorsements: McPhatter does not have a website to display possible endorsements. 

Focused issues: McPhatter does not have a website to display any issues. 

Corrections: The positions of City Council Member Alicka Ampry-Samuels and Assembly Member N. Nick Perry were originally misidentified in this story. Several endorsements were incorrectly attributed. Edwards is no longer employed at Brookdale Hospital.

X
This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and to analyze performance and traffic on our website. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. Learn More / Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Accept Cookies
X
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.

Allow All Cookies

Manage Consent Preferences

Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link

If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.

Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.

If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.

Save Settings
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Cookie List

A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:

Strictly Necessary Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Functional Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Performance Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Social Media Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Targeting Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.