During his tenure as a New York City councilman representing a swing district in southern Brooklyn, Justin Brannan has carved out a distinct profile as a moderate Democrat with populist instincts, building support among both Jewish and Arab-American voters who make up a sizable part of his constituency by carefully navigating tensions over Israel and its war in Gaza, among other divisive issues.

But as he now seeks higher office in the citywide race for comptroller, the 46-year-old former punk rocker is notably courting support from a range of far-left activists and elected officials whose hostile positions toward Israel have differed from the more balanced views he has previously expressed on the Middle East.

The shift has raised concerns among some Jewish leaders who say Brannan is assembling a coalition at odds with the organized Jewish community as it continues to face a surge in antisemitism fueled by Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, terror attacks. Brannan’s newer alliances, some observers say, also conflict with his reputation as a center-left Democrat who in 2023 prominently quit the council’s Progressive Caucus after members were told to sign a statement of principles including a controversial call to reduce the police budget.

“Justin is building the broadest coalition in this race and what it comes down to is his actions; no Jewish leader has ever had to look back and check how he is voting,” said David Schwartz, a Jewish liaison for Brannan’s campaign. 

Even as Brannan has not indicated he will change his rhetoric or positions, some Jewish community activists who have privately confronted him about his endorsements from far-left figures and recent donations to anti-Israel council members, among other sources of contention, say the emerging web of affiliations has stirred growing speculation over his continued commitment to key issues.

In a statement to Jewish Insider on Sunday, David Schwartz, a Jewish liaison for Brannan’s campaign, said he has known the councilman “personally for years and can say without hesitation that he has always been a strong friend and ally of the Jewish community,” citing his opposition to the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement against Israel, statements condemning the Oct. 7 attack and efforts to support security funding for Jewish day schools. 

“Justin is building the broadest coalition in this race and what it comes down to is his actions; no Jewish leader has ever had to look back and check how he is voting,” Schwartz said. 

Since announcing his bid to serve as New York City’s chief accountant last month, Brannan has touted endorsements from some elected officials and activists who have voiced anti-Israel rhetoric, including Sandy Nurse, a city councilwoman who accused Israel of apartheid in her statement on the Oct. 7 attacks and was among just two members to vote against a resolution recognizing an annual “End Jew Hatred Day.”

Brannan has also accepted campaign contributions from Linda Sarsour, a Palestinian American activist fiercely opposed to Israel who has faced accusations of using antisemitic rhetoric. While Brannan has for several years been friendly with Sarsour, who ran an Arab American nonprofit in his district, she has not given to his previous campaigns, according to public disclosures.

Meanwhile, Brannan has himself contributed to a councilmember, Alexa Avilés, who is endorsed by the Democratic Socialists of America — which has faced condemnation for promoting a Times Square rally in the immediate wake of Hamas’ attacks at which attendees were seen glorifying the violence that had just taken place while voicing antisemitic messages. 

For her part, Avilés, one of two DSA-backed council members, is aligned with the BDS campaign against Israel — which Brannan, who faced a BDS supporter during his first City Council bid in 2017, has said he does not support.

The increased scrutiny Brannan is facing underscores the political risks of associating with the hard left in citywide races — particularly after a pronounced rightward turn in the presidential election that has led many Democrats to rethink their outreach to key voting groups that were once a dependable part of their coalition.

Brad Lander, the current city comptroller and a Jewish Democrat who is among several left-wing candidates now running for mayor, has also drawn criticism from Jewish community leaders over his ties to outspoken critics of Israel whose stances the self-described “progressive Zionist” has claimed not to share.

Previously, Scott Stringer, the former comptroller and a Jewish Democrat, had sparked backlash from Jewish leaders when he ran for mayor last election cycle with backing from some state lawmakers who had endorsed the BDS movement, which he has rejected. Stringer is now campaigning for the mayorship while occupying a more moderate lane.

For Brannan, who has family in Israel but is not Jewish himself, his recent overtures to the far left have come as a surprise to some Jewish leaders who appreciated his statements of support in the wake of Hamas’ attacks, which he denounced unequivocally. 

In a district that includes Bay Ridge — which is home to the largest Palestinian constituency in the city — his comments on the conflict likely came at a cost as he campaigned for reelection last November in a tight race against a Jewish Republican who also accused Brannan of failing to condemn anti-Israel protesters.

Even as Brannan waited until shortly after he had won the election to publicly back a “humanitarian cease-fire” and “unconditional immediate release of all hostages,” Jewish leaders who spoke with JI said they did not take particular issue with the language he used — in contrast with statements from far-left elected officials who invoked more extreme rhetoric in calling for an end to the war.

One Jewish community leader in Brooklyn, who like others spoke on condition of anonymity to address a sensitive issue, said he recognized Brannan’s unique situation and felt the term-limited councilman had “brilliantly” balanced his support for Jewish as well as Palestinian voters in the past.

“My concern is about what he’s doing now,” the Jewish leader explained to JI last week, saying he has instead chosen to back Brannan’s top primary opponent, Mark Levine, the Manhattan borough president. 

“The way I look at it is he removed himself from the Progressive Caucus and has inserted himself into the DSA,” one prominent Jewish community leader, who asked to remain anonymous to avoid reprisals, said of Brannan. “If it walks like a duck and talks like a duck, it’s a duck.”

In advance of the June primary, Levine, a Jewish Democrat who entered the race in December, has continued to consolidate support from Jewish and pro-Israel leaders including Reps. Dan Goldman (D-NY) and Ritchie Torres (D-NY). On Monday, his campaign announced a new slate of endorsements from Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY), the senior-most Jewish member of the House, and several Jewish elected officials at the state and local levels.

For his part, Brannan has claimed backing from more moderate figures such as former Rep. Max Rose (D-NY) and City Councilman Jim Gennaro. But some Jewish leaders closely following his nascent campaign say they view his concurrent outreach to the far left as a red flag.

“The way I look at it is he removed himself from the Progressive Caucus and has inserted himself into the DSA,” one prominent Jewish community leader, who asked to remain anonymous to avoid reprisals, said of Brannan. “If it walks like a duck and talks like a duck, it’s a duck.”

Among other council members who have recently received campaign donations from Brannan is Chi Ossé, who days after Hamas’ attacks described “the Israeli military occupation of the West Bank and its dominion over the Gaza Strip” as “the primary root of the violence.”

In addition to such contributions, some Jewish leaders have aired reservations with the candidate Brannan has endorsed to succeed him on the City Council, Kayla Santosuosso, whose ties to Sarsour and skepticism of Israel have drawn scrutiny in the primary. 

Brannan has otherwise faced pressure from Jewish community activists to withhold an endorsement of Shahana Hanif, a far-left councilwoman in central Brooklyn who has provoked backlash from Jewish constituents over her strident rhetoric toward Israel and alleged insensitivity to antisemitic incidents in her district. 

During a forum at a Brooklyn Democratic club in December, Hanif, a DSA member who is now facing a formidable primary threat, told the audience that she had won Brannan’s support, according to video of the event, though he does not yet appear to have publicized an endorsement.

Shortly after the forum, Brannan received a text message from a local Jewish activist asking him to “refrain from endorsing Shahana,” according to a screenshot shared with JI. “I told her I’d endorse her re-elect long before her challenger emerged,” Brannan said in his response. “She’s a colleague. But I’m focused on my own race. It’s a big city I’ve gotta focus on.”

One Jewish leader, however, shared a less generous interpretation of Brannan’s recent maneuvering in the primary. “Now that he’s running citywide, the real Justin is coming out,” said the Jewish leader, who also spoke anonymously to address the race.

Despite such suspicions, Brannan has continued to maintain support from Hasidic leaders in Brooklyn who cite, among other things, his recent role as the council’s finance chair in leading a major new bill to provide increased security funding for hundreds of yeshivas and other religious schools in New York. 

A Satmar leader in Williamsburg, who asked not to be named because the community has not yet taken a position in the comptroller’s race, called Brannan a “pragmatic” Democrat who has been a “friend” to his community and sensitive to its unique religious customs. “He’s a guy who can build coalitions,” the Satmar leader told JI.

Sam Sutton, a Sephardic community activist in Brooklyn who is supporting Brannan and raising money for his comptroller campaign, said that the councilman has been a long-standing ally on a range of crucial issues and “absolutely does not share” the views of the far left on Israel and antisemitism.

In social media comments on Saturday, Brannan, who recently sat for a discussion with the New York branch of the American Jewish Committee, thanked the group for hosting “an important conversation on combating hate through education, understanding, and embracing our shared humanity.” 

“I’m very disappointed that people are bringing relationships with the Jewish community in a negative way in a race where that shouldn’t have any play,” Kalman Yeger, an Orthodox state assemblyman in Brooklyn who previously served with Brannan and Levine on the City Council, told JI, arguing that Brannan’s “positions on topics of city interest are not any further left than any other candidate in the race.”

“Antisemitism is not just a Jewish problem,” he added in his post. “It’s one we must all solve. And we start by seeing each other as human beings.”

Kalman Yeger, an Orthodox state assemblyman in Brooklyn who previously served with Brannan and Levine on the City Council, said he respects both of the candidates and is unlikely to endorse in the race.

“I’m very disappointed that people are bringing relationships with the Jewish community in a negative way in a race where that shouldn’t have any play,” Yeger told JI on Sunday, arguing that Brannan’s “positions on topics of city interest are not any further left than any other candidate in the race.”

He accused Brannan’s critics of relying on guilt by association, which he said could backfire. “None of these candidates are immune from standing next to bad actors as it relates to the Jewish community,” he said.

Still, a political consultant active in Jewish causes, who has spoken with Brannan but is not involved in the primary, said the councilman has failed to grasp how his collective ties to the left are being perceived by some Jewish leaders and donors who have opted to withhold their support due to concerns with his coalition.

The consultant, who insisted on anonymity to speak freely, suggested that Brannan’s recent invocations to the left are likely a tacit acknowledgement he will need to forge new alliances to credibly compete with Levine. “He’s not anti-Israel,” the consultant said of Brannan. “He’s pragmatic, and he understands the political reality.”

“When you have nowhere else to go,” the consultant noted, “you take what you can get.”