Van Bramer Mounts Another Run for Queens Beep
Out gay city councilmember back in the mix after exiting 2020 special election
BY MATT TRACY
One year after out gay
City Councilmember
Jimmy Van Bramer
bowed out of the race
for Queens borough president, he’s
running for the seat yet again.
Van Bramer rolled out a fresh
campaign video on January 19
and emailed his supporters announcing
the move, which comes
one month after former City Councilmember
Donovan Richards took
offi ce following his victory in the
special election race to succeed
former Queens Borough President
Melinda Katz, who became Queens
district attorney. While Richards
will serve out the one year remaining
in the term, Van Bramer will
aim to knock off his Queens rival
in the June primary competition.
The winner of the upcoming
Queens beep race will serve a full
four-year term.
Van Bramer, who often spotlights
his mother in his political
videos and social media posts, cited
family reasons when he exited
the most recent race for borough
president.
“Prioritizing my responsibilities
as a son and brother is where my
attention needs to be right now,”
Van Bramer said when he left the
race in January of last year. “While
this is a diffi cult decision, this is
the right one for me and my family
at this time.”
Now the term-limited Queens
lawmaker is hoping he can regain
his footing after one of his rivals
won the seat — at least for now.
“It’s been some time since you
last heard from my campaign,”
Van Bramer said in a campaign
email. “Like so many of you, 2020
required me to prioritize my responsibilities
as a son and brother
to best care for my family, and I’m
glad to report that the situation
has stabilized and everyone is
healthy.”
Prior to exiting the race last
year, Van Bramer scored a series
of notable endorsements from key
fi gures like Public Advocate Jumaane
Williams, former gubernatorial
Out gay City Councilmember Jimmy Van Bramer is returning to the campaign trail.
candidates Zephyr Teachout
and Cynthia Nixon, who is
an out lesbian, as well as out gay
former State Senator Tom Duane
of Manhattan. Out LGBTQ 2021
City Council hopeful Marti Gould
Cummings and out trans activist
Cecilia Gentili also threw their
support behind his campaign last
year. State Senator Jessica Ramos
and Assemblymember Rom Kim,
both of Queens, endorsed Van
Bramer on January 19, along with
Nixon and her wife, Christine Marinoni.
“Jimmy is a champion for
working families — not political
bosses, rich donors or big corporations
— and he isn’t afraid of
taking on the status quo,” Nixon
said in a written statement.
“He’s been doing it his whole
life, from the time he started his
career organizing for groundbreaking
campaign fi nance reform,
to taking on the Queens
machine to win his seat in the
City Council. In offi ce Jimmy
works every day to defend immigrant
communities, fi ght for
safer streets and functioning
public transit, and make sure
our neighbors don’t go hungry
as the COVID-19 pandemic ravages
our city. Now more than
ever, Queens needs a progressive
fi ghter willing to stand up
for the hard working people of
Queens.”
NEW YORK CITY COUNCIL/GERARDO ROMO
Van Bramer, who ripped the
NYPD and invoked the legacy of
ACT UP when he voted against the
city’s budget over the summer, has
stood out as a progressive leader
POLITICS
in the City Council, where he is
term-limited. He outlined familiar
themes in his latest campaign video
as he brought attention to the
affordability crisis and the problems
facing Queens residents during
the coronavirus pandemic.
“So many families are struggling
to make the rent while the
rich get richer,” Van Bramer said
in his new video. “Small businesses
get wiped out while big
corporations get a bailout. And
people are working themselves to
the bone, risking their own lives
to put food on the table. This is a
system that works for the people
who made it. For everyone else,
it’s a disaster — or even worse, a
death sentence.”
He added, “We’ve got a once-ina
lifetime chance to fundamentally
change Queens politics forever.
That’s why I’m running for Queens
borough president.”
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