The ad wars in the Democratic primary for New York City comptroller are heating up with City Council Member Justin Brannan on Thursday releasing his first pair of ads in the competitive contest.
Brannan released his TV spots a little over a week after his rival, Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine, debuted his own first broadcast ad. With both candidates now on the air, the race for who will become the city’s next top money manager is entering its final stretch in the run-up to the June 24 primary.
Brannan’s ads, “Ride” and “Change,” seek to portray him as someone who will use the comptroller’s office to fight for everyday New Yorkers. Both ads show Brannan as a brash, in-your-face politician who will use his outer-borough grit to fight against federal funding cuts from President Trump and city-level budget trims from the mayor’s office.
The first ad features Brannan speaking directly to the camera with iconic Coney Island amusement park rides, such as the Wonder Wheel and the Cyclone, in the background. In the 30-second spot, Brannan highlights the cost-of-living crisis gripping the city and describes his working-class roots.
“New Yorkers are tired of being taken for a ride,” Brannan says in the ad. “Cost of living up, quality of life down. I want to fix that.”
The council member also posits that his record as City Council Finance chair of fighting against Mayor Eric Adams’ repeated budget cuts, including to early childhood education, makes him the best person to take on Trump as comptroller.
“As budget boss, I stood up to Eric Adams, I said ‘hell no’ to his school cuts,” Brannan says. “Now I’m ready to take on Trump and his crew of freaks.”
Brannan’s other ad features snippets of interviews with supporters who describe him as a “bulldog” who has the “guts” to fight for New Yorkers.
Brannan’s campaign spent $500,000 to put the ads on broadcast, cable, and digital platforms for this week alone. Both spots will stay on the air through the primary.
Levine’s ad, “My Language,” released last Monday, shows him telling New Yorkers about his record in five languages: English, Spanish, Mandarin, Hebrew, and Greek. According to his campaign, he is fluent in three of the languages he speaks in the video—English, Spanish, and Hebrew—and is learning the other two.
The Manhattan beep touts his role in creating a credit union in upper Manhattan in Spanish, says he took on “corporate landlords” in Mandarin, and built thousands of units of affordable housing in Hebrew.
“As comptroller, I’ll root out corruption and protect our money from Donald Trump and Elon Musk,” he says in English.
While Levine was leading in the most recent poll of the race, conducted by the Honan Strategy Group last month, the same survey showed that 60% of voters are still undecided. As they go on the air, both candidates will introduce themselves to voters and make a play for those who have not made up their minds yet.
Levine has raised roughly $1.5 million more in private and public funds than Brannan and currently has a little over $1 million more in his campaign account. Yet endorsements from major politicians, unions, and political organizations have been fairly evenly split between the two.
