NYC Democrat Official Dumps Party, Switches to Republican

A Democrat New York City councilman has announced that he is dumping the Democratic Party and is switching to Republican.

On Monday, NYC Councilman Ari Kagan, who represents the 47th district, said he has reached his limit with the Democrats’ policies, specifically regarding crime.

Kagan, from Brooklyn, also announced his intention to challenge Democrat Justin Brannan in next year’s general election in the newly-redrawn district.

“Over the last several years in my personal humble opinion, [the] Democratic Party in New York became moving to the left at such a speed that they could not even keep up,” Kagan said at a press conference on Monday.

“And on issue after issue every year, every month, I started to feel that it’s not me leaving the Democratic Party, but [the] Democratic Party very quickly started to leave me.

“Especially on [the] most important issue of the day, public safety.”

“Every month I found myself like ‘what am I doing in the Democratic Party?’” he added, according to amNY.

“In my own district, in southern Brooklyn, everywhere I knocked [on] the doors people saying ‘when are you switching to the Republican Party?”

While explaining the main reasons he was switching parties, Kagan specifically pointed out the city’s criminal reforms and rising crime in the city.

Specifically, he pointed to Democrats’ policy proposals, such as abolishing solitary confinement and eliminating landlords’ ability to run criminal background checks on prospective tenants.

“I believe right now, the Democratic Party is doing everything possible in New York City to make everybody less safe,” he said.

According to crime statistics from the NYPD, crimes like burglary, grand larceny, and rape decreased by 14%, but other crimes increased.

Felony assaults increased by 3%, robberies increased by 3.6%, and car thefts increased by 9.4%.

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Meanwhile, 30 homicides were reported in the month of November 2022 – a 20% increase from the 25 murders reported in November 2021.

Kagan was elected to New York City Council in November 2021.

His district represents the neighborhoods of Coney Island, Gravesend, and Sea Gate.

An immigrant from Belarus and the son of Holocaust survivors, Kagan came to the United States in 1993.

He graduated from Baruch College and worked for comptroller John Liu and former Congressman Michael McMahon; he also worked as a journalist for Russian-language media in the city.

“We’re happy to have him as part of our conference,” Republican New York City Council minority leader Joe Borelli said at the press conference.

“And I think he’ll do a great job serving the people of this district.”

Kagan’s party switcheroo comes as Republicans have begun to make serious inroads in Brooklyn.

According to the New York Daily News, Republicans flipped three state assembly seats in south Brooklyn.

Republican Nicole Malliotakis also won re-election in New York’s 11th Congressional District, by a larger margin than expected; her district encompasses both Kagan’s 47th district and Brannan’s 43rd.

According to the New York Post, Governor Kathy Hochul edged out Republican Lee Zeldin in Bay Ridge in the 43rd district, but Zeldin beat her in other parts of the area.

And in 2021, Republican Curtis Sliwa edged out NYC mayor Eric Adams in the 47th district.

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By Frank Bergman

Frank Bergman is a political/economic journalist living on the east coast. Aside from news reporting, Bergman also conducts interviews with researchers and material experts and investigates influential individuals and organizations in the sociopolitical world.

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