Laurie Cumbo is the incumbent Council Member representing the 35th District, which encompasses Fort Greene, Clinton Hill, Prospect Heights, and parts of Crown Heights and Bedford-Stuyvesant. Cumbo is a Democrat and the founder of MoCADA, the Museum of Contemporary African Diasporan Arts. MoCADA was the recipient of Cumbo’s largest capital budget allocation, $1.4 million, in 2014, which was matched by the city’s executive budget for the 2015 fiscal year.
Her 2013 campaign was aided by nearly $300,000 in independent expenditures from REBNY-backed PAC Jobs for New York. This accounts for nearly 60% of total funds in support of her 2013 campaign.
Cumbo’s largest individual contributor in 2013 was Stephen Green, of real estate giant SL Green.
In her 2017 race, Cumbo’s biggest bundlers have included Chris Havens of Citi Habitats, one of the largest real estate brokers in the city. Citi Habitats is known for targeting gentrifying neighborhoods.
Cumbo has received donations from BFC Partners' Donald Capoccia and Brandon Baron.
While Cumbo now states that she opposes the Armory project “in its current form,” she negotiated the original deal and was one of its key advocates in its earlier stages.
Cumbo faces Ede Fox in the Democratic primary election on September 12th, and Jabari Brisport in the general election on November 7th.