Brett Wynkoop

Wynkoop says he grew up in a military family, the son of a father who spent 30 years on Navy submarines and a mother who was a registered nurse, and attended 12 public schools across the country.[3] He graduated from the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy at Kings Point, served as a Naval Reserve officer reaching the rank of lieutenant, and built a career in technology specializing in Unix, networking and security, according to his campaign website.[3] In New York he says he ran a sailing school and charter boat business at the 79th Street Boat Basin and owned an IT firm, and that after COVID-era layoffs from healthcare site reliability work he returned to captaining charter sailboats and teaching computer science.[3]

Wynkoop first appeared on the ballot as the Conservative Party candidate for New York City Council District 39 in 2021, finishing second with 7.8% of the vote behind Shahana Hanif.[2] He ran for Assembly District 52 in 2022 on the Republican and Conservative lines, receiving 7.9% of the vote against Jo Anne Simon, and again in 2024 on the Conservative line, receiving 5.8%.[2] In the November 4, 2025 general election he ran again for Council District 39 on the Conservative line and received 8.7% of the vote, and incumbent Hanif won.[2]

Wynkoop was the Republican and Conservative Party nominee in the November 3, 2026 general election; both party primaries were canceled.[1][2] In the November 3, 2026 general election, Wynkoop lost to Jo Anne Simon, according to unofficial results from the NYC Board of Elections and Wikipedia.[4][5]