In final debate, Brannan and Levine seek to sway the undecideds

One cast himself as a steady steward of city finances. The other, a fiscal fighter ready for a brawl.

In the final city comptroller debate before the start of early voting on Saturday, Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine sought to maintain his frontrunner status by leaning into his experience as a bilingual public school teacher who launched a local credit union. City Councilmember Justin Brannan from Brooklyn, meanwhile, touted himself as the city’s fiscal fighter, defending New York City’s finances against the Trump administration.

The two leading candidates vying for the Democratic nomination gave voters their best closing arguments in an hour-long debate on Tuesday hosted by Spectrum NY1, The City and WNYC. Their differences were more about style than substance, as both share similar visions about the role of the city’s chief fiscal officer. But the moderators still elicited some spirited exchanges, underscoring how they differed.

The comptroller is tasked with overseeing the city’s five municipal pension funds with investments of nearly $280 billion for retirees from the city workforce. As the second-most powerful city office, the comptroller can also serve as an important check on the mayor and City Hall through audits of city agencies and registering city contracts.

But this highly competitive race has largely been overshadowed by the crowded field of mayoral candidates at the top of the municipal ticket. In the most recent poll, Levine led Brannan by 25 points, with a large slice of undecided voters.

One of the earliest areas of disagreement between the candidates related to how much money the city should set aside in reserve funds. Levine said the city should set more aside to safeguard itself from looming federal budget cuts.

“ It may not be politically popular, but it's the best way to protect us against cuts going forward,” Levine said.

Brannan shot back, “We can’t run the city on reserves.”

As chair of the Council’s Finance Committee, he said the city’s $9 billion reserve funds were enough, and instead, the city should be investing in vulnerable communities. He described President Donald Trump’s so-called “Big, Beautiful Bill” that is still being debated by Congress as “ a heat-seeking missile directed directly at the city of New York.”

Both candidates punted when asked if they had evaluated the fiscal impact of proposals from the leading mayoral candidates, including former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s plan to increase pension benefits for city workers and state Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani’s proposals for free buses and free childcare.

Instead, the two agreed the city needed bold ideas and that a comptroller’s job was to ensure those plans were fiscally sound.

But moderator Alyssa Katz from The City asked Brannan a follow-up question related to a recent video Mamdani released, urging his supporters to donate to Brannan’s campaign, asking if that seeming endorsement would compromise his ability to check his administration.

Mamdani released a similar pitch ahead of the last fundraising deadline for mayoral candidate Adrienne Adams, the City Council Speaker, that led to her highest fundraising day of the campaign.

Brannan endorsed Mayor Eric Adams four years ago, and said that has not stopped him from being an outspoken critic who also called for his resignation. While Brannan insisted he would maintain his independence no matter who was elected, he also offered tacit praise to the Democratic Socialist candidate for bringing big ideas to the table.

“ I think anyone right now that is proposing bold solutions to bring down the cost of living in this city, to make life easier for working people, those are people that I want the support of,” Brannan said. “So I appreciate anyone that supports my campaign, who has that same vision.”

Asked for his take, Levine said he’s stayed out of the mayor’s race for a reason.

“ I just think it's critical that the next comptroller be totally independent and that there not be a perception, or reality, that the comptroller owes favors to the next mayor,” Levine said. “And I am preserving my independence in this campaign.”

New campaign finance filings are due on Friday. According to the latest numbers, Levine has an estimated $3.3 million to Brannan’s $2.6 million.

Levine argued that he brings a different depth of experience to the role of comptroller, at one point calling the position his “dream job.” He said teaching in the South Bronx helped him see the struggle of families with no bank accounts or access to credit, which prompted him to found a federal credit union.

“ I think what distinguishes me is my record of seeing big problems in New York and organizing to win for New York City,” Levine said.

There was also daylight between the candidates about how to leverage investment in the city’s pension funds to finance city programs like affordable housing and childcare. Both said they planned to invest a portion of the pension fund in affordable housing.

But under Levine’s plan, he would help developers speed up delayed projects by helping developers access start-up financing — a key bottleneck, he said — that delays so many projects. Levine estimated his plan could produce 70,000 units of affordable housing.

Brannan said his affordable housing plan would build homes for city workers. He also talked up a policy to use pension fund investments to invest in the build-out of universal childcare.