The New York Young Republican Club celebrates the resounding victories of our endorsed candidates in tonight’s primary elections. As the results come in and the dust settles, the truth is now obvious: MAGA is ascendant in New York City and the RINO Brooklyn GOP establishment is, thankfully, dead. All four of the candidates that our Club endorsed in tonight’s elections won their primaries. Inna Vernikov trounced her ex-Democrat opponent; it took the Associated Press barely forty minutes to issue a call. Frank Morano’s race was over before it started. In Smithtown, incumbent Supervisor Ed Wehrheim was handily reelected. And most dramatically of all, George Sarantopoulos defeated the Republican County Chair in his home district.
As the star of the New York Young Republican Club rises, it is clear that the establishment party apparatus in Brooklyn is dead. The failed insurgency by a well-connected cabal of ex-Democrats collapsed; the People of Brooklyn made their voices clear: Inna Vernikov is the new powerbroker in Kings County. For supporting a renegade grifter against the shining star of the Republican Party, the cabal of ex-Democrats who tried to steer this campaign for her opponent revealed their true selves: shameless hacks who are, ultimately, the authors of their own destruction.
What is next for the Brooklyn GOP establishment, after such a shameful defeat? While they may possess the fancy titles, it is clear from tonight’s results that the decision-makers in the Brooklyn GOP do not represent the will of their constituents. Instead of throwing his weight behind the obvious candidate for the 47th District, the Republican County Chair actually decided to run against Sarantopoulos himself. The selfishness of Richie Barsamian is a stain on the Republican Party; it has no place in the GOP and neither does Richie Barsamian.
As George Sarantopoulos’s margin of victory over Barsamian is under the required margin, the election will proceed to a recount. But since Barsamian is also the County Chairman, he will appoint the people who actually conduct the recount – a conflict of interest if a politician ever had one. The New York Young Republican Club calls on Barsamian to recuse himself from the recount process if he desires to retain any credibility with the public. In truth, however, justice demands more than this. The proper role of the Republican County Chairman is to recruit candidates to run for public office. Barsamian’s choice to run for Council himself is a violation of his office; his failure to break even half of the vote should be taken as a sign of no-confidence in his leadership. The New York Young Republican Club calls on him to do the right thing and resign, tonight.
The devastation of Ari Kagan, as well, illustrates deep-seated problems within the Republican establishment in Brooklyn. A dedicated grifter known for unfailingly losing elections, Kagan was a propagandist for the Soviet Army before settling into a more comfortable role as a local Democrat. On the City Council between 2021 and 2023, Kagan voted to the left of even his party comrades. In early 2022, he voted down $325 million to the NYPD – which passed regardless, with Democrat support. Intent on making New York unlivable, he voted to close Rikers Island and create open-needle heroin injection sites for addicts.
When he noticed the area shift to the right, Kagan grifted to the Republican Party later that year. Did his views change with his party allegiance? Far from it. Even after “joining the GOP,” Kagan voted to give trauma care to illegal immigrants, create a commission to study “lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, [and] asexual” orientations, and, last but certainly not least, create a Homeless Bill of Rights that guarantees the God-given, inalienable right to sleep on the street. Sensing his grift, voters roundly rejected him for reelection at the ballot box later that year.
Kagan tried to rebound by stabbing the Republican Party in the back two years later. Recognizing that his hometown would never elect him again, Kagan ran in the neighboring district, challenging the successful incumbent Inna Vernikov. In healthy organizations, such self-aggrandizement and double-crossing would promptly earn Kagan a pink slip. With the Brooklyn GOP, it landed him endorsements. State representatives Michael Novakhov and Alec Brook-Krasny, themselves ex-Democrats who we exposed in a previous statement, rushed to Kagan’s defense, endorsing him over the popular incumbent. Ignoring the endorsement of Donald Trump Jr. for Councilwoman Vernikov entirely, the so-called “Donald J. Trump Kings County Republican Club” threw their weight behind Ari Kagan.
With tonight’s final results, the grift of the ex-Democrat Brooklyn cabal is exposed at last. The voters saw through their transparent hoax and resoundingly rejected their candidates. Ari Kagan, perennial grifter, is gone at last. Richie Barsamian will resign tonight if he cares for his political future. Frank Morano’s opponents are not worth mentioning. Alec Brook-Krasny and Michael Novakhov, at the core of the ex-Democrat cabal, are now irrelevant, politically. The ex-Democrat grifter cabal is no more; real MAGA Republicans are firmly in control of our Party.
When it comes to Republican politics in New York City, the New York Young Republican Club is now the only game in town. From start to finish, the NYYRC stood behind our candidates: George Sarantopoulos, Ed Wehrheim, and the Honorable Councilmembers Inna Vernikov and Frank Morano. Unlike the irrelevant Brooklyn party establishment, every one of our endorsed candidates won their races. When we called for action, our membership enthusiastically responded, taking to the streets of Manhattan Beach, Brighton Beach, Midwood, and Homestead. With such organization and commitment, victory for our candidates was inevitable.
Chairman Richie Barsamian must concede his race and resign immediately, tonight. When he is out of the way, local Republicans will be free to Make Brooklyn Great Again. The New York Young Republican Club is at the forefront of the fight for New York and we call upon all fellow winners to join us.