Bay Ridge

Brooklyn Republican Party to hold City Council debate on May 4

Liam McCabe, John Quaglione and Bob Capano to meet in Bay Ridge

April 27, 2017 By John Alexander Brooklyn Daily Eagle
Brooklyn GOP Executive Chairman Ted Ghorra and Vice Chairman Brian Doherty. Eagle photo by John Alexander
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The Brooklyn GOP has set a date for District 43’s Republican debate. On Thursday, May 4 at 7 p.m., the three Republican candidates will answer questions at the Bay Ridge Manor at 476 76th St. in Bay Ridge. Event organizers are Brooklyn GOP Executive Chairman Ted Ghorra, Vice Chairman Brian Doherty and the Brooklyn Teen Republican Club and its President Batya Goldberg.

Liam McCabe, John Quaglione and Bob Capano are all running for the seat in the 43rd Council District (Bay Ridge-Dyker Heights-Bensonhurst) to succeed Vincent Gentile, a Democrat who has held the council seat since 2003 but who is term-limited and cannot run for re-election this year.

All three candidates are community leaders in their own right. Quaglione serves as deputy chief of staff to state Sen. Marty Golden (R-Bay Ridge-Southwest Brooklyn), McCabe is a former aide to U.S. Rep. Dan Donovan (R-C-Southwest Brooklyn-Staten Island) and Capano is an adjunct professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice and manages a Gristedes supermarket in Manhattan.

The Democrats running for the council seat are Rev. Khader El-Yateem, pastor of Salam Arabic Lutheran Church; Justin Brannan, Gentile’s deputy chief of staff; Kevin Peter-Carroll, scheduler for Councilmember Stephen Levin (D-North Brooklyn); and Nancy Tong, a constituent aide to Assemblymember Bill Colton (D-Gravesend-Bensonhurst) in the primary.

A fifth Democrat, Assemblymember Peter Abbate (D-Dyker Heights-Bensonhurst) is said to be considering a run, but has not yet officially entered the race.

While Brooklyn is a Democratic leaning borough, there does exist a strong Republican Party base in Bay Ridge and surrounding neighborhoods.

It will come as little surprise to any of your readers that Brooklyn today is comprised of a majority of registered Democrats,” according to Ghorra. “We do, however, have a number of Republican elected officials covering more Republican/conservative-leaning parts of our borough, including Bay Ridge, Dyker Heights, Marine Park, Bergen Beach, Gerritsen Beach, Borough Park and Windsor Terrace. Moreover, we have begun and will expand our base to the many different and varied groups of people and voting blocs around our borough.”

The Brooklyn Eagle will moderate the debate, as the council candidates will face off on the issues, answering questions and hoping to win their party’s support. The primary takes place on Sept. 12.

 

For information or to RSVP for the debate, go to [email protected].

 

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