The Rye GOP has announced Keith Cunningham will be running for one of the three available City Council seats in the election this fall on Tuesday, November 2nd. The announcement comes on the heels of the local Democrats announcing two weeks ago they will be running a full slate of three candidates – Rye Town Park advocate Jamie Jensen and sitting Council members Lori Fontanes and Josh Nathan.
“Keith would bring a balanced and measured approach to finding solutions to the issues Rye faces,” said former GOP Chair Elaine DiCostanza. Current Co-chair Jana Seitz agreed “Keith will offer what Rye deserves: strong, good, competent government.”
Cunningham is a former partner and managing director of GMP Securities. The firm is one of largest independent investment banks focusing on distressed debt and bankruptcies. He has advised many hedge funds, mutual funds and insurance companies on complex valuations, debt restructurings and trading strategies. He received a Bachelor of Arts Degree from Providence College majoring in Economics and Mathematics and an MBA in International Business and Finance from New York University Stern School of Business.
Cunningham moved to Rye in 2012 with his wife, Nicole, and children, Amelia and Aidan, after a Sound Shore search. “We’ve met so many Rye residents over the years that were attracted to Rye for the same friendly family centric reasons as our family,” said Cunningham in the GOP announcement. “We want to keep Rye that special unique place. The issues that confront the residents of Rye and the City Council are not partisan, they are local issues. We all need to work together in solving them to make Rye an even better place. I pledge my commitment to honest and ethical government, bi-partisanship, open discussion and civil discourse.”
Cunningham has been an active volunteer at NYU Langone Medical Center, utilizing his extended experience as a patient. His most achieved role has been on the Family Patient Advisory Council since 2015. During this time, he had a role of consulting on all patient experience aspects of the planning and development of the new Kimmel Pavilion, a 21-story hospital building considered the most technologically integrated, digitally sophisticated hospitals in the country. Keith’s wife Nicole has been a longtime member of the Board of Trustees of the Rye Reading Room.
