Van Bramer defeats county Dem candidate

26th City Council District

BY NOAH ROSENBERG

Wednesday, September 16, 2009 3:59 PM EDT

In a primary election that hinged on issues like responsible development, affordable and mid-price housing, job creation, transportation and quality of life, the people of District 26 selected James Van Bramer as their Democratic City Council candidate on Tuesday, September 15.

Van Bramer, currently the chief external affairs officer of Queens Library and a western Queens native, was joined on the ballot by Deirdre Feerick and Brent O’Leary, both of whom were also raised in the borough.

Van Bramer earned 46 percent of the vote, followed by Feerick, a City Council attorney, with 37 percent and Brent O’Leary, who received 17 percent.

While Feerick boasted the endorsement of the Queens County Democratic Association and, among others, received the blessings of Borough President Helen Marshall and Congressmember Joseph Crowley, Van Bramer’s supporters included influential organizations like the Service Employees International Union – the largest local union in the world – The New York Times and the United Auto Workers.

The Democratic candidate will now vie in the November general election for a chance to represent Woodside, Sunnyside, Long Island City, Astoria and Maspeth.

While earlier in the day Feerick – widely considered a frontrunner leading up to the primary – said she felt “very upbeat about this election,” she also added “we’re not taking anything for granted.”

And, in the end, it was Van Bramer by 571 votes.

“It feels great. We’re very excited and of course grateful for all of the people who supported me and our campaign,” the Democrat said the afternoon after his primary victory.

He attributed his win to his “tremendous grassroots campaign,” influential supporters and, above all, old-fashioned hard work.

“More than anything I think we worked absolutely tirelessly in this campaign,” Van Bramer said. “We had a tremendously organized campaign, and we had a campaign plan and we stuck to it and we worked it right through the very end.”

THE COURIER/File Photo
James Van Bramer, Queens Library’s chief external affairs officer, earned 46 percent of the vote in the 26th City Council District’s Democratic Primary.