Government and politics in Brooklyn

Last updated November 06, 2023

Each of New York City's five counties (coterminous with each borough) has its own criminal court system and District Attorney, the chief public prosecutor who is directly elected by popular vote. Charles J. Hynes, a Democrat, was the District Attorney of Kings County from 1990 to 2013. Brooklyn has 16 City Council members, the largest number of any of the five boroughs. The Brooklyn Borough Government includes a borough government president as well as a court, library, borough government board, head of borough government, deputy head of borough government and deputy borough government president.

Community districts

Brooklyn has 18 of the city's 59 community districts, each served by an unpaid community board with advisory powers under the city's Uniform Land Use Review Procedure. Each board has a paid district manager who acts as an interlocutor with city agencies.

Local parties

The Kings County Democratic County Committee (aka the Brooklyn Democratic Party) is the county committee of the Democratic Party in Brooklyn and has dominated the borough's politics throughout most of its existence. Its Republican counterpart is the Kings County Republican Party.

Federal representation

United States presidential election results for
Kings County, New York^[1]^[2]^[3]
Year	Republican		Democratic		Third party
Year	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%
2020	202,772	22.14%	703,310	76.78%	9,927	1.08%
2016	141,044	17.51%	640,553	79.51%	24,008	2.98%
2012	124,551	16.90%	604,443	82.02%	7,988	1.08%
2008	151,872	19.99%	603,525	79.43%	4,451	0.59%
2004	167,149	24.30%	514,973	74.86%	5,762	0.84%
2000	96,609	15.65%	497,513	80.60%	23,115	3.74%
1996	81,406	15.08%	432,232	80.07%	26,195	4.85%
1992	133,344	22.93%	411,183	70.70%	37,067	6.37%
1988	178,961	32.60%	363,916	66.28%	6,142	1.12%
1984	230,064	38.29%	368,518	61.34%	2,189	0.36%
1980	200,306	38.44%	288,893	55.44%	31,893	6.12%
1976	190,728	31.08%	419,382	68.34%	3,533	0.58%
1972	373,903	48.96%	387,768	50.78%	1,949	0.26%
1968	247,936	31.99%	489,174	63.12%	37,859	4.89%
1964	229,291	25.05%	684,839	74.80%	1,373	0.15%
1960	327,497	33.51%	646,582	66.16%	3,227	0.33%
1956	460,456	45.23%	557,655	54.77%	0	0.00%
1952	446,708	39.82%	656,229	58.50%	18,765	1.67%
1948	330,494	30.49%	579,922	53.51%	173,401	16.00%
1944	393,926	34.01%	758,270	65.46%	6,168	0.53%
1940	394,534	34.44%	742,668	64.83%	8,365	0.73%
1936	212,852	21.85%	738,306	75.78%	23,143	2.38%
1932	192,536	25.04%	514,172	66.86%	62,300	8.10%
1928	245,622	36.13%	404,393	59.48%	29,822	4.39%
1924	236,877	47.50%	158,907	31.87%	102,903	20.63%
1920	292,692	63.32%	119,612	25.88%	49,944	10.80%
1916	120,752	46.90%	125,625	48.79%	11,080	4.30%
1912	51,239	20.94%	109,748	44.86%	83,676	34.20%
1908	119,789	50.64%	96,756	40.90%	20,025	8.46%
1904	113,246	48.12%	111,855	47.53%	10,216	4.34%
1900	108,977	49.57%	106,232	48.32%	4,639	2.11%
1896	109,135	56.35%	76,882	39.70%	7,659	3.95%
1892	70,505	39.97%	100,160	56.78%	5,720	3.24%
1888	70,052	45.49%	82,507	53.58%	1,430	0.93%
1884	53,516	42.37%	69,264	54.83%	3,541	2.80%
1880	51,751	45.66%	61,062	53.88%	516	0.46%
1876	39,066	40.41%	57,556	59.53%	62	0.06%
1872	33,369	46.68%	38,108	53.31%	10	0.01%
1868	27,707	41.02%	39,838	58.98%	0	0.00%
1864	20,838	44.75%	25,726	55.25%	0	0.00%
1860	15,883	43.56%	20,583	56.44%	0	0.00%
1856	7,846	25.58%	14,174	46.22%	8,647	28.20%
1852	8,496	43.97%	10,628	55.00%	199	1.03%
1848	7,511	56.59%	4,882	36.78%	879	6.62%
1844	5,107	51.94%	4,648	47.27%	77	0.78%
1840	3,293	50.86%	3,157	48.76%	24	0.37%
1836	1,868	44.59%	2,321	55.41%	0	0.00%
1832	1,264	42.06%	1,741	57.94%	0	0.00%
1828	1,053	43.84%	1,349	56.16%	0	0.00%

As is the case with sister boroughs Manhattan and the Bronx, Brooklyn has not voted for a Republican in a national presidential election since Calvin Coolidge in 1924. In the 2008 presidential election, Democrat Barack Obama received 79.4% of the vote in Brooklyn while Republican John McCain received 20.0%. In 2012, Barack Obama increased his Democratic margin of victory in the borough, dominating Brooklyn with 82.0% of the vote to Republican Mitt Romney's 16.9%.

In 2020, four Democrats and one Republican represented Brooklyn in the United States House of Representatives. One congressional district lies entirely within the borough.^[4]

Nydia Velázquez (first elected in 1992) represents New York's 7th congressional district, which includes the central-west Brooklyn neighborhoods of Boerum Hill, Brooklyn Heights, Bushwick, Carroll Gardens, Cobble Hill, Dumbo, East New York, East Williamsburg, Greenpoint, Gowanus, Red Hook, Sunset Park, and Williamsburg. The district also covers a small portion of Queens.^[4]
Hakeem Jeffries (first elected in 2012) represents New York's 8th congressional district, which includes the southern Brooklyn neighborhoods of Bedford-Stuyvesant, Bergen Beach, Brighton Beach, Brownsville, Canarsie, Clinton Hill, Coney Island, East Flatbush, East New York, Fort Greene, Gerritsen Beach, Marine Park, Mill Basin, Ocean Hill, Sheepshead Bay, and Spring Creek. The district also covers a small portion of Queens.^[4]
Yvette Clarke (first elected in 2006) represents New York's 9th congressional district, which includes the central and southern Brooklyn neighborhoods of Crown Heights, East Flatbush, Flatbush, Midwood, Park Slope, Prospect Heights, Prospect Lefferts Gardens, and Windsor Terrace.^[4]
Jerrold Nadler (first elected in 1992) represents New York's 10th congressional district, which includes the southwestern Brooklyn neighborhoods of Midwood, Red Hook, Sunset Park, Bensonhurst, Borough Park, Gravesend, Kensington, and Mapleton. The district also covers the West Side of Manhattan.^[4]
Nicole Malliotakis (first elected in 2020) represents New York's 11th congressional district, which includes the southwestern Brooklyn neighborhoods of Bensonhurst, Gravesend, Bath Beach, Bay Ridge, and Dyker Heights. The district also covers all of Staten Island.^[4]

Party affiliation of Brooklyn registered voters
*(relative percentages)*
Party	2005	2004	2003	2002	2001	2000	1999	1998	1997	1996
Democratic	69.7	69.2	70.0	70.1	70.6	70.3	70.7	70.8	70.8	71.0
Republican	10.1	10.1	10.1	10.1	10.2	10.5	10.9	11.1	11.3	11.5
Other	3.7	3.9	3.8	3.6	2.9	2.8	2.5	2.8	2.3	2.3
No affiliation	16.5	16.9	16.1	16.2	16.3	16.5	15.9	15.5	15.4	15.2

The United States Postal Service operates post offices in Brooklyn. The Brooklyn Main Post Office is located at 271 Cadman Plaza East in Downtown Brooklyn.^[5]

Related Research Articles

Brooklyn is a borough of New York City. Located on the westernmost edge of Long Island, it is coextensive with Kings County in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most-densely-populated county in the United States, behind New York County (Manhattan). Brooklyn is also New York City's most populous borough, with 2,736,074 residents in 2020. If Brooklyn were an independent city, it would be the third most populous in the U.S. after the rest of New York City and Los Angeles, and ahead of Chicago.

Flatbush is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood consists of several subsections in central Brooklyn and is generally bounded by Prospect Park to the north, East Flatbush to the east, Midwood to the south, and Kensington and Parkville to the west. The neighborhood had a population of 105,804 as of the 2010 United States Census. The modern neighborhood includes or borders several institutions of note, including Brooklyn College.

Community boards of Brooklyn are New York City community boards in the borough of Brooklyn, which are the appointed advisory groups of the community districts that advise on land use and zoning, participate in the city budget process, and address service delivery in their district.

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New York's 9th congressional district is a congressional district for the United States House of Representatives in New York City, represented by Yvette Clarke.

New York's 10th congressional district is a congressional district for the United States House of Representatives currently represented by Democrat Dan Goldman. The district contains all of Lower Manhattan and the western Brooklyn neighborhoods of Brooklyn Heights, DUMBO, Cobble Hill, Red Hook, Gowanus, Prospect Heights, Park Slope, and Sunset Park. The district also contains portions of Borough Park and Bay Ridge in Brooklyn, and all of Prospect Park. In Upper New York Harbor, the district includes Governors Island, Liberty Island and the Statue of Liberty, and parts of Ellis Island.

New York's 11th congressional district is a congressional district for the United States House of Representatives in New York City. The 11th district includes all of Staten Island and parts of southern Brooklyn, including the neighborhoods of Bay Ridge, Bath Beach, Dyker Heights, south western Gravesend, western Sheepshead Bay, and parts of southern Bensonhurst. The 11th district is currently represented by Republican Nicole Malliotakis, who is currently, along with George Santos of New York's 3rd district, one of only two Republicans that represent any part of New York City in Congress. Malliotakis was first elected in 2020, defeating one-term incumbent Democrat Max Rose.

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The 44th Assembly district of New York is one of the 150 districts in the New York State Assembly. It has been represented by Democrat Robert Carroll. Carroll was elected in 2016.

New York City's 40th City Council district is one of 51 districts in the New York City Council. It has been represented by Democrat Rita Joseph since 2022. She succeeded term-limited Mathieu Eugene, who unsuccessfully ran for Brooklyn Borough President in 2021.

New York City's 44th City Council district is one of 51 districts in the New York City Council. It has been represented by Democrat Kalman Yeger since 2018, succeeding fellow Democrat David Greenfield. Though Yeger caucuses with Democrats on the Council, he is among the Council's most conservative members and has run for office on both Democratic and Republican party lines.

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References

↑ "Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections".
↑ "BOARD OF ELECTIONS IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK 2020 ELECTION NIGHT RESULTS President/Vice President" . Retrieved November 7, 2020.
↑ "New York State Board of Elections, 2020 General Election Night Results" . Retrieved November 7, 2020.
1 2 3 4 5 6 "New York Senators, Representatives, and Congressional District Maps". GovTrack.us. May 21, 2018. Retrieved December 29, 2018.
↑ "NYC Post Offices to observe Presidents’ Day Archived 2011-06-06 at the Wayback Machine ." United States Postal Service . February 11, 2009. Retrieved on May 5, 2009.

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[1] "Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections".

[NYCBOEPOTUS-2] "BOARD OF ELECTIONS IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK 2020 ELECTION NIGHT RESULTS President/Vice President" . Retrieved November 7, 2020.

[NYSBOEPOTUS-3] "New York State Board of Elections, 2020 General Election Night Results" . Retrieved November 7, 2020.

[govtrack.us_2018-4] 1 2 3 4 5 6 "New York Senators, Representatives, and Congressional District Maps". GovTrack.us. May 21, 2018. Retrieved December 29, 2018.

[5] "NYC Post Offices to observe Presidents’ Day Archived 2011-06-06 at the Wayback Machine ." United States Postal Service . February 11, 2009. Retrieved on May 5, 2009.

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