Quaglione announces City Council run

February 2, 2017 By Paula Katinas Brooklyn Daily Eagle

John Quaglione is the latest candidate to enter the City Council race in Bay Ridge. Photo courtesy of Quaglione

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In a move that sets up a potentially exciting three-candidate Republican primary, John Quaglione announced on Thursday that he will run for the City Council seat in Bay Ridge.

Another Republican, Bob Capano, who served as director of community boards for former Borough President Marty Markowitz, has already made it official that he is running for the seat in the 43rd Council District currently held by term-limited Democrat Vincent Gentile.

The third prospective Republican candidate, Liam McCabe, an aide to U.S. Rep. Dan Donovan, was set to make an announcement of his intentions on Thursday night.

The 43rd Council District covers Bay Ridge and Dyker Height and includes parts of Bensonhurst.

In an email to supporters, Quaglione, deputy chief of staff to state Sen. Marty Golden, said he has already started the process of filing the paperwork to run.

Quaglione, who is also the chairman of the board of directors of Saint Anselm Catholic Academy in Bay Ridge, ran against Gentile in 2013 and lost.

“Over the last couple of months, many people have encouraged me to enter this year’s race. I am grateful for this indication of early support which was so important to the campaign when I ran four years ago. Many of you may remember what I said then, and I will say it again now because I still believe that we can do better. I will soon begin to outline my vision to improve and make our community stronger for all of us,” Quaglione wrote.

Several Democrats have either announced that they are running or have signaled that they are considering running, including Assemblymember Peter Abbate; Justin Brannan, Gentile’s former communication director; Nancy Tong, Democratic district leader of the 47th Assembly District; Rev. Khader El-Yateem, pastor of the Salam Arabic Lutheran Church and Kevin Peter Carroll, Democratic district leader of the 64th Assembly District.

The Democratic and Republican primaries will take place on Sept. 12. The general election is Nov. 7.