Justin Brannan

Brannan attended Xaverian High School in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. He studied journalism and mass media at Fordham University and the College of Staten Island. Brannan is an outspoken vegetarian and animal welfare advocate. A Third Degree Master Freemason, 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 New York City Councilman Vincent Gentile. Brannan is married to artist and educator Leigh Jewel Holliday. The couple were married in the lobby of Bear Stearns, where they met as employees. ==Career==

Music career Before entering politics, Justin Brannan was a hardcore punk guitarist for the bands Indecision from 1993 to 2000 and Most Precious Blood from 2000 onwards. 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. 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. 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 band Caninus, known for using two dogs as vocalists. Finance career Brannan was a touring punk rock musician before he landed at Bear Stearns, working his way up as a clerk in their wealth management division, and working as a financier in the venture capital space raising money for start-up alternative energy companies based in Silicon 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, representing the 43rd district which includes Bay Ridge, Bath Beach, Dyker Heights and portions of Bensonhurst. by 682 votes. Brannan drew criticism from The Indypendent newspaper during the campaign for accepting certain campaign contributions from real estate interests. Contributors to Brannan's campaign included $2,000 from Sal Raziano, a senior realtor of the real estate firm Casandra Properties and Anthony Constantinople (an amount under $1,000) of Constantinople & Vallone, a lobbying firm under investigation in 2017 for accusations of conflicts of interest and payroll discrepancies at its Sports & Arts program at a Lower East Side public school. During the campaign, two of his opponent’s opponent’s employees and a third supporter of his opponent filed a complaint with the New York City Campaign Finance Board 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 $2,000 rent for Brannan’s campaign office; Brannan’s campaign called the claims baseless. 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 to challenge incumbent Eric Adams 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. Politico declared Mark Levine the winner of the Democratic primary for City Comptroller on June 24, 2025. ==Election history==