Corey Johnson Floats Run for Comptroller
Speaker shifts gears after dropping out of the mayoral race last year
BY MATT TRACY
Out gay City Council
Speaker Corey Johnson
is considering a run for
city comptroller, he told
the New York Times.
Johnson, who in the midst of
his second and fi nal term in the
City Council, is exploring a run
to serve as the city’s chief fi nancial
offi cer nearly fi ve months
after he exited the mayoral race
due to personal reasons. He is
vowing to make a fi nal decision
on the comptroller race within
the next two weeks, though he
is already slated to participate in
a Jim Owles Liberal Democratic
Club comptroller forum, according
to NY1.
Johnson said several elected offi
cials — including city lawmakers
— told him to look into a run for
comptroller, according to the Times.
Johnson represents the City Council’s
District Three, which includes
Chelsea, Hell’s Kitchen, Greenwich
Village, West SoHo, Hudson
Square, Times Square, Garment
District, Flatiron, and the Upper
West Side.
City Comptroller Scott Stringer,
a mayoral candidate, is term-limited,
paving the way for a wide-open
race to replace him. Other candidates
in the race for comptroller
include Councilmember Brad
Lander of Brooklyn, State Senators
Kevin Parker of Brooklyn and Brian
Benjamin of Manhattan, State
Assemblymember David Weprin of
Queens, and Michelle Caruso-Cabrera
— who mounted an unsuccessful
primary challenge against
Bronx and Queens Representative
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez last
year.
“I wouldn’t be considering this
if I didn’t feel good about where I
am personally and the work I’ve
done over the last six months in
focusing on myself and my own
well-being,” Johnson told the
Times.
The Democratic primary for
comptroller is on June 22, leaving
Johnson with a four-month window
to make a citywide pitch for
his candidacy. Johnson still has a
war chest consisting of $585,132,
according to the Campaign Finance
Board, following an exploratory
bid for mayor during which
he committed to limiting campaign
contributions to $250 per person
and sought to avoid donations
from lobbyists, corporate PACs,
or real estate developers and their
employees.
“I haven’t made a fi nal decision
yet — I have to continue to talk
to my family, but I am considering
it because I love this city,”
Johnson told the Times.
He added, “I think the next
comptroller needs to be someone
who will ensure that our recovery
is one where we are making
sure that all the money we’re
spending is spent appropriately,
and I feel like I’ve done that as
speaker.”
The 38-year-old speaker took
criticism last year when the City
Council passed a budget that
failed to meet the expectations
of activists who sought a signifi -
cant reduction in police funding.
He will again face a test this year
when he oversees a City Council
budget for the fi nal time as
speaker.
Johnson, the fi rst out gay man
to serve as speaker, spearheaded
legislation allowing New Yorkers to
change the gender marker on their
birth certifi cates and has stood
in support of several queer initiatives,
but his record on LGBTQ issues
is mixed. While he supported
the legislation that passed earlier
this month repealing a discriminatory
loitering law known as a ban
on “walking while trans,” he faced
heat from the LGBTQ community
in 2019 due to his opposition to
comprehensive sex work decriminalization.
Gay Men’s Health Crisis (GMHC),
VOCAL-NY, Make the Road New
York, and DecrimNY were among
the groups that publicly chided the
speaker for his stance on that issue.
Johnson, who fi rst took offi ce
in 2014, ascended to his role as
speaker in January of 2018.
POLITICS
JOHN MCCARTEN/ NEW YORK CITY COUNCIL
Out gay City Council Speaker Corey Johnson is looking at a run for comptroller.
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