Mark Levine’s winning, diverse New York City comptroller coalition

Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine has emerged as the likely winner in the New York City comptroller race, garnering a significant 14 percentage point lead over New York City Council Member Justin Brannan in first-choice votes. His likely win would be made official through ranked choice voting on July 1.

“Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to my bar mitzvah,” Levine said to open his victory speech at his West Village election night party. Flanked by several of his top endorsers and fellow elected officials – including Brooklyn Democratic Party Chair Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn, state Sen. Brian Kavanagh, Queens Borough President Donovan Richards and City Council Members Linda Lee and Shekar Krishnan – Levine proceeded to thank his supporters, friends and family. 

Levine had long been seen as the front-runner in the race, having led Brannan in cash on hand throughout the race. Also on the ballot were state Sen. Kevin Parker and civil servant Ismael Malave; neither of their campaigns ever really took off.

The seat opened up when sitting Comptroller Brad Lander opted to run for mayor rather than run for reelection.

With the two leading candidates largely aligned on the issues, the race to be the city’s next finance chief was one defined mainly by coalition-building – and at times, somewhat wonky ones.

With Levine garnering much support in Manhattan political circles, Brannan, who represents southern Brooklyn, seemed to be banking on gaining support in the outer boroughs. In the end, that did not really seem to pan out, with Levine receiving the backing of the Brooklyn, Queens and Bronx borough presidents, in addition to support from more moderate elected officials in Queens, like Assembly Members David Weprin and Nily Rozic and state Sen. Leroy Comrie, among others.

Richards alluded to that wide array of support in introducing Levine on Tuesday night. “Look at this coalition – this diverse coalition that Mark Levine has put together,” he said. “And when you look at what’s happening around this country, how our values (are) under attack … we have a comptroller who understands that our diversity is our strength.”

The New York Working Families Party opted to endorse Brannan, surprising many observers – after all, Brannan isn’t exactly an ideologue. From there, many more progressive elected officials – like New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, City Council Member Chi Ossé and even U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, among many others – followed suit, though it is not at all an exact science. Levine earned key labor endorsements in the United Federation of Teachers and 1199SEIU, among others, though Brannan received plenty of labor support in his own right.

Brannan conceded the race at about 11 p.m. Tuesday. “While the votes didn’t fall the way we hoped, I’m damn proud of what we built together,” he said in a statement. “We were always the underdogs in this race: outspent and on the outside. But what we built against the odds is something I am deeply proud of.”