Two incumbent city council members – Republican Ari Kagan and Democrat Justin Brannan– continued the race towards the District 47 city council seat during the June 27 primary election.
According to unofficial results from the city’s Board of Elections, Kagan beat out his GOP opponents in the Republican primary, winning 75.24% of the votes.
Anna Belfiore-Delfaus, a city public school teacher and founder of a law enforcement support group, trailed behind the incumbent politician with 12.40% votes. The final Republican candidate, Avery N. Pereira, took home 11.88% of votes.
Come November, Kagan will face Council Member Justin Brannan, who is running as the only Democratic candidate in the general election.
“I am immensely grateful to the communities of southern Brooklyn, including Democrats, Independents and everyone else,” Kagan said at the victory party. “We cannot win this race without Democrats. We need to bring everyone together to win this race.”
As the only Democrat running for the council seat, Brannan did not have to take part in that primary — however, a slate of six Bay Ridge Democrats, led by Brannan, won in the race for judicial delegate in Assembly District 46. Judicial delegates are elected by voters to represent their respective districts at the Judicial Nominating Convention, where the party selects their candidates for judgeships.
“Last night, Democrats from Bay Ridge to Coney Island overwhelmingly elected a slate of candidates who stand for integrity, accountability, and equal rights,” Brannan said. “I’m so proud of the work the Bay Ridge Democrats Club and the Seaside Independent Democrats did together in delivering this sweeping victory. Now this coalition looks forward to focusing on our re-election to the City Council in November.”
The district, which formerly consisted of Bensonhurst, Gravesend, Coney Island and Sea Gate, was rezoned in 2022 to include parts of Bath Beach and Bay Ridge, bringing together parts of both candidates’ former neighborhoods and prompting Brannan, the incumbent in District 43, to run instead in District 47.
Kagan switched parties from Democrat to Republican in 2022, attributing the change to no longer standing with Democrats on issues regarding crime, taxes, and education.
Four candidates initially planned to run in the Republican primary — Kagan would have also faced Michael Ragusa until Ragusa dropped out of the race in April following allegations that he forged signatures on his ballot petitions to make it to the primaries.
“When it comes down to it, they want who they want and there’s nothing you can do about it. They’ll do anything to get you off the ballot,” Ragusa previously told Brooklyn Paper.
Though Belfiore-Delfaus did not come out on top, voters could still see her on the November ballot as a member of the Medical Freedom party, a third-party focused on fighting against medical mandates and vaccinations.
General elections take place on November 7 with early voting going from October 28 – November 5. To find your poll site and other election related information, visit the BOE website.
Additional reporting by Caroline Ourso.
