Justin Lee Brannan (born October 14, 1978) is an American politician and musician. A

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (Cyprus) (DCY) **Democratic Part ...

, he is the current

New York City Council The New York City Council is the lawmaking body of New York City in the United States. It has 51 members from 51 council districts throughout the five boroughs. The council serves as a check against the mayor in a mayor-council government mod ...

member for the 47th district, based in

Bay Ridge, Brooklyn Bay Ridge is a neighborhood in the southwest corner of the New York City borough (New York City), borough of Brooklyn. It is bounded by Sunset Park, Brooklyn, Sunset Park to the north, Dyker Heights, Brooklyn, Dyker Heights to the east, the Nar ...

. A former musician, he was a founding member of the New York City hardcore bands Indecision and Most Precious Blood.

Personal life

Brannan is an outspoken

vegetarian Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the Eating, consumption of meat (red meat, poultry, seafood, insects as food, insects, and the flesh of any other animal). It may also include abstaining from eating all by-products of animal slau ...

and animal welfare advocate. A Third Degree Master

Freemason Freemasonry (sometimes spelled Free-Masonry) consists of fraternal groups that trace their origins to the medieval guilds of stonemasons. Freemasonry is the oldest secular fraternity in the world and among the oldest still-existing organizati ...

, Brannan founded the Bay Ridge Democrats, an active Democratic political club based in southwest Brooklyn. In 2012 he was named one of the "New York City Rising Stars: 40 Under 40" by ''City & State'' newspaper for his work as Director of Communications and Legislative Affairs for

man Vincent Gentile. Brannan is married to artist and educator Leigh Jewel Holliday. The couple were married in the lobby of

Bear Stearns The Bear Stearns Companies, Inc. was an American investment bank, securities trading, and brokerage firm that failed in 2008 during the 2008 financial crisis and the Great Recession. After its closure it was subsequently sold to JPMorgan Chas ...

where they met as employees. Brannan and Holliday opened a fine art school for children in Bay Ridge called The Art Room. Brannan attended

Xaverian High School Xaverian High School is an independent Catholic high school located in the Bay Ridge neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York, serving grades 6 through 12. Grades 9-12 offer a college preparatory program and grades 6-8 are middle school. History T ...

in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. He studied journalism and mass media at

Fordham University Fordham University is a Private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit research university in New York City, United States. Established in 1841, it is named after the Fordham, Bronx, Fordham neighborhood of the Bronx in which its origina ...

and

College of Staten Island The College of Staten Island (CSI) is a public university in Staten Island, New York, United States. It is one of the 11 four-year senior colleges within the City University of New York system. Programs in the liberal arts and sciences and pro ...

Career

Music career

Before entering politics, Justin Brannan was a

hardcore punk Hardcore punk (commonly abbreviated to hardcore or hXc) is a punk rock music genre#subtypes, subgenre and subculture that originated in the late 1970s. It is generally faster, harder, and more aggressive than other forms of punk rock. Its roots ...

guitarist for the bands Indecision from 1993 to 2000 and Most Precious Blood from 2000 onwards. Both bands were known for their outspoken commitment to social justice and

vegetarianism Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the Eating, consumption of meat (red meat, poultry, seafood, insects as food, insects, and the flesh of any other animal). It may also include abstaining from eating all by-products of animal slau ...

. The band’s messages focused on social justice, human rights,

environmentalism Environmentalism is a broad philosophy, ideology, and social movement about supporting life, habitats, and surroundings. While environmentalism focuses more on the environmental and nature-related aspects of green ideology and politics, ecolog ...

, relationships, individuality and espousing straight-edge views against drugs, alcohol and promiscuous sex. Indecision is widely known for their song "Hallowed be Thy Name". The song features a lyric ("For Those I Love I Will Sacrifice") written by Brannan when he was sixteen years old that fans across the world have turned into a

tattoo A tattoo is a form of body modification made by inserting tattoo ink, dyes, or pigments, either indelible or temporary, into the dermis layer of the skin to form a design. Tattoo artists create these designs using several tattooing processes ...

. Most famously, an image of the tattoo was seen on the ribs of a 19-year-old US Army infantryman named Kyle Hockenberry being treated in a medevac helicopter following an explosion that cost him both of his legs and one arm. The photo was taken for a military newspaper and won photographer Laura Rauch an award from the

Society of Professional Journalists The Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ), formerly known as Sigma Delta Chi, is the oldest organization representing journalists in the United States. It was established on April 17, 1909, at DePauw University,2009 SPJ Annual Report, lette ...

. Brannan also works closely with the 9/11 Stephen Siller Tunnel to Towers Foundation commemorating the heroes of 9/11 and "Building for America’s Bravest", a program that constructs Smart Homes for military returning home with devastating injuries. Brannan also founded the

deathgrind Deathgrind (sometimes written as death-grind or death/grind) is a shorthand term that is used to describe bands who play a fusion of death metal and grindcore. ''Zero Tolerance'' described deathgrind as "grindcore and brutal death metal collidin ...

band Caninus, known for using two dogs as vocalists.

Finance career

Brannan was a touring punk rock musician before he landed at

, working his way up as a clerk in their wealth management division, and working as a financier in the

venture capital Venture capital (VC) is a form of private equity financing provided by firms or funds to start-up company, startup, early-stage, and emerging companies, that have been deemed to have high growth potential or that have demonstrated high growth in ...

space raising money for start-up

alternative energy Renewable energy (also called green energy) is energy made from renewable resource, renewable natural resources that are replenished on a human lifetime, human timescale. The most widely used renewable energy types are solar energy, wind pow ...

companies based in

Silicon Valley Silicon Valley is a region in Northern California that is a global center for high technology and innovation. Located in the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area, it corresponds roughly to the geographical area of the Santa Clara Valley ...

. He later worked as a fundraising consultant for a number of non-profit humanitarian organizations in New York City.

Political career

Brannan served as the Director of Communications and Legislative Affairs for Council member

Vincent J. Gentile Vincent Joseph "Vinnie" Gentile (born January 3, 1959) is an American politician who served in the New York City Council from the New York City's 43rd City Council district, 43rd district from 2003 to 2017. He is a Democratic Party (United State ...

, representing the 43rd district which includes

Bay Ridge Bay Ridge is a neighborhood in the southwest corner of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. It is bounded by Sunset Park to the north, Dyker Heights to the east, the Narrows and the Belt Parkway to the west, and Fort Hamilton Army Base an ...

, Bath Beach,

Dyker Heights Dyker Heights is a predominantly residential neighborhood in the southwest corner of the borough of Brooklyn in New York City. It is on a hill between Bay Ridge, Bensonhurst, Borough Park, and Gravesend Bay. The neighborhood is bounded by 7 ...

and portions of

Bensonhurst Bensonhurst is a residential neighborhood in the southwestern section of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is bordered on the northwest by 14th Avenue, on the northeast by 60th Street, on the southeast by Avenue P and 22nd ...

City Council

In 2017, Brannan won the Democratic primary to replace Gentile in the 43rd district. Brannan won 39% of the vote in a five-way race, narrowly beating Khader El-Yateem, who garnered 31% of the vote, by 682 votes. Brannan drew criticism during the campaign for taking money from real estate interests. Contributors to Brannan's campaign include Sal Raziano of the real estate firm Casandra Properties and Anthony Constantinople of Constantinople & Vallone, a lobbying firm currently under investigation for conflicts of interest and payroll discrepancies surrounding its Sports & Arts program at a Lower East Side public school. During the campaign, several concerned citizens filed a complaint with the

New York City Campaign Finance Board The New York City Campaign Finance Board (CFB) is an List of New York City agencies#Non-mayoral, independent New York City agency that serves to provide campaign finance information to the public, enable more citizens to run for office by grantin ...

in which they accused Brannan of neglecting to disclose campaign expenses when he failed to alert election regulators that Gentile’s campaign for Brooklyn DA paid the rent for Brannan’s campaign office. In the general election, Brannan won with 51% of the vote to the Republican candidate, John Quaglione's 47%. Brannan won by a slightly smaller margin in the 2021 election. In the 2024 general election for a redrawn 47th district, Brannan defeated his Republican colleague Ari Kagan by 58 to 41 percent after they were drawn into the same district.

2025 Comptroller campaign

Following the decision by New York City Comptroller

Brad Lander Bradford S. Lander (born 1969) is an American politician, urban planner, and community organizer who has served as the 45th New York City comptroller since 2022. He is a Progressivism in the United States, progressive member of the United States ...

to challenge incumbent

Eric Adams Eric Leroy Adams (born September 1, 1960) is an American politician and former police officer who has served as the 110th mayor of New York City since 2022. Adams was an officer in the New York City Transit Police and then the New York City P ...

in the 2025 Democratic primary for mayor, Brannan opened a campaign account for Comptroller. During the campaign, Brannan also sponsored some surveys for Public Policy Polling.

Election history

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brannan, Justin 1978 births 20th-century American male musicians 20th-century American musicians 21st-century American male musicians 21st-century American musicians 21st-century New York (state) politicians American lyricists American male guitarists American punk rock guitarists College of Staten Island alumni Guitarists from New York City Hardcore punk musicians Living people Musicians from Brooklyn New York (state) Democrats New York City Council members People from Bay Ridge, Brooklyn Politicians from Brooklyn Xaverian High School alumni Candidates in the 2025 United States elections