He attended parochial schools in West New York before serving as an apprentice in the plumbing and heating trade.
He served until 1935, when he was elected to the Camden City Board of Commissioners as part of a coalition ticket.
[3] Brunner consolidated Democratic power in the city of Camden and its surrounding county, and he would go on to serve six four-year terms as mayor before his organization lost control of the city government in 1959.
[1] He was defeated by Alfred R. Pierce and his "Save Our City" ticket, a coalition supported by much of the Hispanic community.
He assisted in the careers of two Governors of New Jersey, Robert B. Meyner and Richard J. Hughes, as well as Harrison A. Williams the United States Senator, and William F. Hyland the New Jersey Attorney General.