In a move not unexpected, Kevin Peter Carroll, the Democratic District leader of the 64th Assembly District, which included part of Bay Ridge) will announce today he is running for the open 43rd District City Council Seat this year.
Term-limited City Councilman Vincent Gentile currently holds the seat which includes the neighborhoods of Bay Ridge, Dyker Heights and parts of Bensonhurst and Bath Beach.
Carroll grew up in the district and is a graduate of the New York City public school system having attended McKinley Junior High and Fort Hamilton High School in Bay Ridge. He then continued his academic career in the City University system (CUNY), graduating from the College of Staten Island with a BA in political science and a minor in history.
Carroll is also a founding member of the Brooklyn Democrats for Change (BDFC) club.
Carroll joins fellow Democrats Justin Brannan and Nancy Tong as declared candidates for the seat in what promises to be both a spirited primary come September and general election in November, as the district is one of the few in Brooklyn in which both the Republican and Conservative Parties are very active.
Like both Brannan and Tong, Carroll is politically connected. He is part of the longtime politically active Carroll family that includes his cousin, Assembly member Robert Carroll (D-Park Slope, Windsor Terrace, Kensington). He currently works for City Council Member Stephen Levin (D-Northern Brooklyn) as a scheduler.
Brannan was the communications director for Gentile, then took a job with the de Blasio Administration working in intergovernmental communications for the Department of Education before stepping down to focus on his City Council campaign. However, he has again quietly taken a job with Gentile’s office.
Tong, who is the female Democratic District Leader in the 47th Assembly District, works for Assemblyman Bill Colton (Bensonhurst, Bath Beach) as a community liaison.
While Carroll, Brannan and Tong all bring a wealth of government and community experience to the table as well as a voter base, the white elephant in the room remains Assemblyman Peter Abbate Jr. (Bensonhurst, Sunset Park).
Abbate has been toying with running for sometime and told KCP he would make up his mind over the recent Christmas/New Years holiday. He has not returned calls for several weeks.
Should Abbate run, he would be the early favorite due to his name recognition and ability to fundraise. That said, he wouldn’t be a lock to win in November.
