City Councilmember Jimmy Van Bramer (D-Sunnyside, Woodside, Long Island City, Astoria, Dutch Kills) officially launched his bid for the Queens Borough President’s office on Tuesday morning.
“We’ve got a once in a lifetime chance to fundamentally change Queens politics forever,” he said in a launch video released on YouTube. “That’s why I’m running for Queens Borough President.”
Van Bramer is a term-limited decade long city councilmember. He will be up against a handful of candidates already filed to run in the borough-wide race including current Queens Borough President Donovan Richards. Richards assumed office late this fall after a special election to replace Melinda Katz, who left the office to serve as Queens District Attorney.
Van Bramer has positioned himself as a progressive option for the borough-wide office citing his support for policies such as taxing the rich and reallocating funding away from the New York City Police Department.
“It’s time for a new vision for Queens where working New Yorkers get ahead –– not real estate developers who put profit before people –– where we tax millionaires and billionaires and reimagine affordable housing, where we invest more resources in Black and brown communities and not the NYPD,” he said in the video. “I know it’s really bad now, but we can create a better, more just world together.”
This is the second election for Queens Borough President in a year. Last year, a special election for the office was supposed to take place in March but was postponed because of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Richards won the primaries in June and the general in November. He assumed office shortly thereafter.
Van Bramer campaigned in that election as well but dropped out in January 2020 for family reasons.
