New Kings Democrat President Brandon West told KCP he has officially decided to throw his hat in the 2021 city council race and run for term-limited City Councilmember Brad Lander’s (D-Park Slope, Windsor Terrace, Kensington) seat.
Also running for the seat is labor activist Briget Rein, and possibly Doug Schneider, the local male Democratic Party District leader.
West said that he wants to separate himself from others by changing the narrative. He looks to change the mind of the people when it comes to how they view power, the way it currently exists and how to get them engaged.
It’s been a long process of people reaching out to West urging him to get in the race. While working both in and out of government he realized people can only be brought into the democracy if they have their needs met and he plans to do so from a grassroots approach.
West said he started out by volunteering for various leftist campaigns when he was younger and while he hasn’t decided on his own campaign manager for his run yet, he has made the decision not to run for re-election as the NKD’s president in January of 2020 in order to fully commit and focus on his campaign.
Brandon’s extensive background working in politics and policy reform include his time in the Mayor’s Office of Management and Budget and then transitioning to the City Council Finance Division where he worked on the Education, Transportation and Contracts Committee.
He also worked on an election and democracy reform policy at a local level and led an independent election day poll watching program in a swing state.
He currently works as a campaign manager for the Center for Popular Democracy on their national Voting Rights and Democracy program’s campaign.
He also serves as a Shop Steward for his local union branch, the NewsGuild-CWA. Additionally, he has a successful, but controversial campaign called Rep Your Block that got over 500 people involved and serving on Brooklyn’s County Committee which is the closest to the people he wishes to serve.
West’s resume shows that he is beyond qualified for the role of City Council. His mission is to have the Democratic Party become more accountable, remain transparent in every aspect of their finances and bringing the power back to the people.
For additional information on his campaign, you can visit his Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/westforcouncil39/.
