Jabari Brisport: Campaigns and Elections
First Campaign: 2017 City Council, District 35
Brisport's first campaign was a 2017 bid for the New York City Council seat in District 35, which covered Fort Greene, Clinton Hill, Prospect Heights, and parts of Crown Heights and Bedford-Stuyvesant . He ran on the Green Party and Socialist Party ballot lines against Democratic incumbent Laurie Cumbo . The DSA endorsed his candidacy, and Our Revolution and New York Communities for Change provided support . Brisport won the Green Party primary, defeating Scott Hutchins 32 votes to 4 . In the general election, he received approximately 8,619 votes, or roughly 29 percent, to Cumbo's 68 percent and Republican Christine Parker's 4 percent . The result was described as an unusually strong showing for a third-party candidate, and Brisport earned more independent votes in a City Council race than any candidate since 2003 . The campaign established Brisport's profile in Brooklyn progressive politics and demonstrated DSA's capacity to mobilize support in the borough .
2020 Primary
In 2019, Brisport announced he would run for the New York State Senate in District 25, switching his party registration from Green to Democratic . The seat was open following the retirement of Velmanette Montgomery, who endorsed Assemblywoman Tremaine Wright as her successor . The third candidate was Jason Salmon, a former Montgomery staffer .
Brisport was endorsed by the Democratic Socialists of America, the Working Families Party, Senator Bernie Sanders, Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, New York Communities for Change, and 1199SEIU . Wright received Montgomery's endorsement and backing from the Brooklyn Democratic establishment .
On primary night, June 23, 2020, Brisport led with 52.25 percent of in-person votes, but approximately 26,000 absentee ballots remained uncounted due to increased mail voting during the COVID-19 pandemic . Brisport declared victory on July 23, 2020, after absentee tallies widened his lead over Wright to approximately 10,000 votes . Final unofficial results showed Brisport with 33,510 votes (57.7 percent), Wright with 20,229 votes (34.8 percent), and Salmon with 4,270 votes (7.4 percent) .
2020 General Election
Brisport ran unopposed in the November 2020 general election on the Democratic and Working Families Party ballot lines, receiving 138,261 total votes (108,059 on the Democratic line and 30,202 on the WFP line) . His election made him the first openly gay person of color in the history of the New York State Legislature .
2022 Primary and General Election
Brisport faced a primary challenge from Reverend Conrad Tillard, a former minister in the Nation of Islam who ran as a more moderate alternative, and Renee Holmes . Tillard received endorsements from Mayor Eric Adams and State Senator Kevin Parker, while Brisport retained the support of the DSA, Working Families Party, 1199SEIU, and District Council 37 . Adams' endorsement of Tillard drew attention to Tillard's past anti-Semitic, anti-gay marriage, and anti-abortion statements from his earlier career, though Tillard stated he had grown beyond those positions .
Brisport won the August 23, 2022, primary decisively with 12,492 votes (70.4 percent) to Tillard's 2,710 votes (15.3 percent) and Holmes' 2,475 votes (13.9 percent) . In the November general election, Brisport received 63,017 total votes (50,505 on the Democratic line and 12,512 on the WFP line) .
2024 General Election
Brisport ran for reelection in 2024 without a primary or general election challenge. He advanced from both the Democratic and Working Families Party primaries without opposition and won the November 5, 2024, general election unopposed .
2026 Primary
Brisport faces a primary challenge in the 2026 cycle from Marlon Rice, a 51-year-old community organizer backed by the VIDA coalition, a Central Brooklyn political network aligned with more mainstream Democratic politics . Rice has framed his candidacy around community-based work and has been critical of DSA-aligned policy positions he views as hostile to longtime Black homeowners in the district . City and State described the race as one of the key state legislative primaries to watch in 2026 .