Brian Cunningham
D · New York State Assembly, District 43 · Tier 1/2
Tier 1/2, between “Firmly pro-Israel” and “Mainstream pro-Israel”
AD-43 incumbent since a March 2022 special election. Central Brooklyn progressive whose legislative profile is domestic — housing, gun-violence prevention (author of the Community Violence Intervention and Prevention Act), and SUNY Downstate. Strongly backed by the Crown Heights Orthodox/Chabad community in his elections, and a close ally of Zohran Mamdani. He has visited Israel and cites the trip as shaping his view. In July 2022 he withdrew his congressional endorsement of Yuh-Line Niou over her support for BDS, invoking Israel’s right to exist; he is not a sponsor of the Not on Our Dime Act, and beyond signing a December 2023 statement that mourned “Palestinian and Israeli civilians” killed in the war, no post-October-2023 position on the genocide, a ceasefire, or aid has been found, though he multi-sponsored K509, the May 2025 Assembly resolution congratulating Israel on its 77th anniversary.
A 1/2, on a thin record: one statement from 2022, one joint statement from 2023 and one resolution signature. In July 2022 he withdrew his endorsement of Yuh-Line Niou for Congress over her support for BDS, telling the Forward, “I will not support a candidate that fails to recognize our democratic ally’s right to exist,” and citing a 2018 trip to Israel. In May 2025 he was one of 133 multi-sponsors of K509, the Assembly resolution congratulating Israel on its 77th anniversary. Neither is leadership. In December 2023 he signed the “Women’s Rights Leaders Condemn the Atrocities of October 7th” statement, which condemned the sexual violence of the October 7 attack and added, “We mourn the deaths of so many Palestinian and Israeli civilians who have been killed in this war,” saying it did not “signal support for the bombings in Gaza”; Gov. Kathy Hochul, the leaders of both chambers and dozens of legislators from across the spectrum on Israel signed it, so it does little to set any one signer apart. Beyond it, no statement of his on Gaza, a ceasefire or aid since October 2023 has been located. The rest of the case for reading him differently rests on inference: he is a close ally of Mayor Zohran Mamdani, and when Crown Heights community press pressed him in May 2026 to vote against the Not on Our Dime Act, he took no public position either way.
Open the full card, with votes, money and every source, on elect26 →
elect26 places 2026 midterm candidates on a six-tier spectrum, from 1 (most pro-Israel) to 6 (most critical of Israel).