Former Metropolis Council Member Ari Kagan is weighing a political comeback as Brooklyn Republicans think about a sequence of seat swaps forward of the upcoming elections.
Photograph by Ethan Stark-Miller
Join our Brooklyn Paper electronic mail e-newsletter to get information, updates, and native insights delivered straight to your inbox!
Former New York Metropolis Council Member Ari Kagan is eyeing a doable political comeback this election season as Brooklyn’s Republican officers look to have interaction in a sequence of seat swaps between metropolis and state authorities.
Studies earlier this month indicated that Kagan, who switched from the Democratic to the Republican Occasion in 2022, has filed a committee to run for the District 48 Metropolis Council seat, presently held by Council Member Inna Vernikov, neighboring his former district.
Nonetheless, a direct contest between the 2 conservatives is unlikely. NYC Council Minority Chief Joann Ariola beforehand instructed the New York Publish that Kagan would formally announce whether or not he’s operating in April when Vernikov is anticipated to announce her candidacy for the state Senate.
In keeping with a supply throughout the Brooklyn GOP, Vernikov’s plans hinge on the end result of the March 25 particular election for the New York State Senate’s twenty second District. That seat is presently held by Simcha Felder, who’s operating for Metropolis Council in District 44 following the election of sitting Council Member Kalman Yeger to the state Meeting in November.
A consultant for Vernikov didn’t return requests for touch upon her political plans.
Council Member Inna Vernikov.Photograph courtesy of John McCarten/NYC Council Media Unit
Kagan, presently working with lately elected State Sen. Steve Chan, has remained reserved about his political aspirations. When requested by Brooklyn Paper about his intentions, he said solely that his major ambition is “to make the Republican Party stronger” in Brooklyn.
Kagan misplaced his Metropolis Council seat in 2023 throughout a showdown with Democrat Justin Brannan for District 47. The district, which beforehand included Bensonhurst, Gravesend, Coney Island, and Sea Gate, was rezoned in 2022 to include components of Tub Seashore and Bay Ridge. The adjustments merged areas from each candidates’ former districts, prompting Brannan, the incumbent in District 43, to run as a substitute in District 47.
Brooklyn Republicans have seen rising momentum lately, bolstered by robust showings for President Donald Trump within the borough’s southern neighborhoods. Brooklyn GOP Chairman Richard Barsamian described the get together’s rising presence as “a mandate of common sense and reality.”
In 2022, a Republican wave flipped three long-held Democratic Meeting seats, and the get together gained additional traction in 2023, unseating Democratic State Sen. Iwen Chu in District 17.
The shift has been pushed partially by help from Brooklyn’s immigrant communities, notably in Latino, Asian, and Russian-speaking neighborhoods with areas reminiscent of Brighton Seashore, Sheepshead Bay, Borough Park, and Bensonhurst leaning extra conservative, contributing to a GOP stronghold in Brooklyn.
