Curtis Sliwa, Republican candidate, is campaigning on the liberal West Side. (Released 2021) (2024)

5 conclusions from the mayoral elections in New York.

Now that the Democrats are far behind the Republicans, the winner of the Democratic primaries in November would be the big favorite.

Now that almost 90 percent of the votes have been counted, Mr.Adamsled in four of the five boroughs – everywhere but Manhattan – although the final results, including the city's first-ever use of ranked choice, areis expected to last weeks.

Here are five lessons from the mayoral primary:

1. Eric Adams wants to define himself in the field of public safety.

A former captain in the New York Police Department and current Brooklyn Borough President, Mr.AdamS framed his candidacy from the start as a working-class black man who could combat both rising crime and the city's history of discriminatory policing.

Often referring to himself in the third person — and telling the “Eric Adams story” — he decided to focus his campaign on public safety at a time when a spike in shootings has stoked fear among New Yorkers. Recent polls have shown that crime has become the most important issue for voters.

“I'm not just running to be mayor, I'm running to save my city,” he said before the polls closed Tuesday.

As of Wednesday morning, he was in the lead with about 30 percent of the vote — almost 10 percentage points ahead of his nearest rivals — although final results will be determined in coming weeks via ranked-choice voting.

“What a moment, what a moment, what a moment,” said Mr. Adams in a speech celebrating being "first choice" on Tuesday.

Pre-election polls showed that Mr. Adams consolidated a multitude of black support, even with three other prominent black candidates in the field, Ms. Wiley, Ray McGuire and Dianne Morales, who is Afro-Latino.

And on Tuesday, his support was indeed strongest in the black communities of Brooklyn and Queens, as he combined his relatively moderate platform with appeals based on his resume as a black leader who made it in New York.

While the Democratic Party is in the grip of an internal debate over how to address the historic mistreatment of Black and Latino New Yorkers by police, Mr. Adams' candidacy in opposition to the 'defund the police' movement,proverbat one point it was a conversation pushed by “a lot of young white rich people.”

He drew on his years with the N.Y.P.D. for credibility on crime and had some of her sharpest conversations with Ms. Wiley on the issue, at one point accusing her of "wanting to cut the police budget and shrink the police force into a time when black and brown babies are being shot in our streets.”

2. Due to ranked choice voting, counting is not over yet.

In one of the more dramatic developments of the race, Ms. Garcia forged a belated alliance with Andrew Yang, the former 2020 Democratic presidential candidate, in the final weekend before the primaries, as they campaigned together, and urged his voters to put her second in their election campaign. ballots (she did not serve).

It could benefit Mrs. Garcia, while seeing Mrs. Wiley from early Wednesday and second-choice support from Yang supporters could vault her to the front.

The 2021 race marks New York's first citywide use of ranked choice, and that has added uncertainty to the process.

Olivia Lapeyrolerie, a former adviser to Mayor Bill de Blasio, said the system has “completely changed any idea of ​​ideological purity.”

“Democratic voters in this city are not married to brands, but to who they believe is the best choice to lead our recovery,” she said.

For now, the chance for Ms. Garcia or Ms. Wiley to nab Mr. Adams will apparently depend on winning overwhelming support from the other's backers.

Both candidates had at times run for the city's first female mayor, though they never campaigned together, as Ms. Garcia did with Mr. Yang. (On Tuesday, Beyoncé's Run the World (Girls) played at Ms. Wiley's pageant party; Ms. Garcia took off a white blazer onstage to reveal a shirt that said "feminist" on it.

“It's time for a woman to lead this city,” Ms. said. García. She urged patience before full tabulation. “This isn't just about the 1's, it's about the 2's and 3's.”

Ms. Garcia's speech reminded us of her relative newcomer status on the political scene, a New York Times reportededitorial approvalhelped her emerge as a favored candidate among the city's educated elites. On Tuesday, she couldn't help but notice the literal glow of the TV stage lights. "Besides, they're very smart right now," she said.

3. Andrew Yang was dizzy from the start.

Andrew Yang for the Mayor's Boomlet aptly started with a tweet.

It was the night of the 2020 New Hampshire primary, and just as Mr. Yang withdrew from the presidential race, Howard Wolfson, a longtime political adviser to Michael R. Bloomberg, the former mayor of New York City, tweeted that Mr. Yang "would be a very interesting candidate for mayor of New York in '21."

Mr. Yang's optimistic and energetic candidacy caused a stir from the moment he came to power. He quickly raised money from loyal supporters, made some surprising alliances, including with leaders in the Orthodox Jewish community, soared in the early polls and attracted an overwhelming amount of media attention.

The sharp glare of this spotlight seemed to dampen Mr. Yang's star and by Tuesday he had limped to fourth place and abandoned the race. “Celebrities tend to fade away,” said Jonathan Rosen, a Democratic strategist in the city.

The great attention for Mr. Yang has reshaped the race. New York veteran Patrick Gaspard complained on Twitter that it “allowed other candidates to be woefully unexamined until the end.”

In recent weeks, Mr. Yang cut a sharp edge when he sparred with Mr. Adams on both political and personal matters, highlighting questions about where exactly the Brooklyn borough president lives.

“It turned out I was right: He was an interesting candidate,” Mr. said. Wolfson Tuesday. "But interesting doesn't always equal success."

4. Maya Wiley and the Progressive Momentum stalled on the first ballot.

In early 2021, the left-leaning lane in the mayoral race appeared to be dangerously busy. But the stars seemed to align as best they could for Ms. Wiley's progressive candidacy in the final weeks of the campaign.

Aaccusation of sexual harassmentof two decades ago against Scott Stringer, the city comptroller, crippled his campaign in late April when some early backers abandoned him. On Tuesday, the collapse was so complete that he was ranked fifth in parts of the Upper West Side – his home track.

Then there was Dianne Morales, who had inspired a left wing for her unapologetic portrayal of progressivism.hampered by internal problems, including a unionization effort by her campaign staff that culminated in a bitter public battle.

Afterwards, Ms. Wiley received the support of Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Senator Elizabeth Warren.

But Tuesday's results showed progressives struggling to form a winning coalition in the mayoral race, where three of the top four — Mr. Adams, Mr. Yang and Mrs. Garcia – all ran more moderate or technocratic campaigns.

For Ms. Wiley, the mathematical hope that she can overtake Mr. Adams remains alive as more ballots and runoff elections are counted.

5. Progressives have their hopes elsewhere, even if Adams wins.

While Adams' lead was discouraging to some on the left, New York progressives were hopeful in several other key ballot measures.

In Manhattan, yesthe district attorney's racewas too close to callAlvin Bragg, a progressive, with a narrow lead over Tali Farhadian Weinstein. Ms. Weinstein, a more moderate Democrat, had poured more than $8 million of her own money into her campaign in the final weeks of the race, drawing the ire of progressives over her spending and ties to Wall Street.

In the city comptroller's race to appoint Mr. strings,Brad Lander, a progressive from Park Slope, Brooklyn, led City Council Speaker Corey Johnson by a similar margin to Mr. Adams led Ms. Wiley in the mayor's race. Like Ms. Wiley, Mr. Lander was endorsed by Ms. Ocasio-Cortez and Ms. Warren.

Jumaane Williams, the current New York City prosecutor and an outspoken progressive, cruised through his primary and won about 70 percent of the vote.

In one of the city council races for the left, Tiffany Cabán, who previously ran for Queens district attorney, led by a wide margin, with the support of the Democratic Socialists of America. Other progressive favorites were leading council seats, including Sandy Nurse and Jennifer Gutierrez.

In New York, India's second-largest city, Buffalo, Walton, a democratic socialist, was poised to upset four-term incumbent Democrat Byron Brown. Mr. Brown is a former chairman of the Democratic Party of New York and a close ally of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo.

Katie Glueck and Michael Gold contributed reporting.

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Eric Adams leads in the first count and calls it a victory for 'the little guy'.

“I will be your mayor,” said Mr. Adams, who led the field in the early results. He added: "The little guy won", although final results were not expected until several weeks later.

The party atmosphere was exuberant and as Mr Adams' lead grew, the mood loosened up and supporters took to the dance floor at the Schimanski nightclub. The crowd included Black and Latino leaders, members of the Southeast Asian community and Orthodox Jewish attendees.

As he has done throughout the match, Mr. Adams opwhat his life story is- Growing up poor, being abused by police and then becoming a cop who spoke out against discriminatory policing - made him a working-class candidate who could identify with the largest number of New Yorkers.

He also focused on the other message that helped him top the polls: fighting crime and improving public safety. And he took shots at his rivals, saying New York didn't need academic or philosophical debates about policing. He also called Andrew Yang a celebrity candidate.

“Social media does not choose a candidate,” he said. Adams. “Social Security people choose a candidate.”

India Walton stuns longtime incumbent in Buffalo mayoral race.

Challenger,India B.Walton, is a nurse and community activist who ran for office with the support of the Democratic Socialists of America and the Working Families Party. When the Associated Press announced the race Wednesday morning, Ms. Walton was leadingByron Brown, a longtime member of the Democratic establishment, by 7 percentage points, or about 1,500 votes, with all in-person ballots counted.

ShouldMrs Walton, 38, triumph in the general election in November - a likely outcome in a strongly DemocraticBuffalo- she would be the first female mayor in Buffalo's history and the first socialist mayor of a major American city since 1960, when Frank P. Zeidler resigned as mayor of Milwaukee.

Her victory came decades after the nation's most prominent Democratic socialist, Sen. Bernie Sanders, was mayor of Burlington, Vt. Sanders served as mayor for eight years before being elected to Congress and has twice run for president as a Democrat.

Mrs Walton celebrated his victory with a cheering appeal to his mother, who was capturedon video, shouted: 'Mom, I won. Mom, I'm the mayor of Buffalo. Well, not until January, but yes.'

Mr. Brown, who once led the state Democratic Party and is a close ally of Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, refused to concede Tuesday night despite the margin separating him from Ms. Walton.

“We will make sure every vote counts,” he said. (Ms. Walton's campaign estimated there were about 1,500 outstanding ballots).

Ms Walton showed no hesitation in declaring victory, highlighting what she said were the national implications of the race. She said the stunning result “would reverberate here in Buffalo and across the country, demonstrating that a progressive platform that puts people over profit is both feasible and necessary.”

“Tonight's outcome proves that the people of Buffalo demand a community-oriented, people-centered government, and we stand ready to serve them,” said Ms. Walton said in a statement. “For far too long we have seen our city work for politicians, for developers, for the police union, but not for regular working families. In our city, everyone wants a seat at the table.”

Ms. Walton has said her priorities as mayor will include enacting so-called sanctuary city rules to protect undocumented immigrants, enacting more robust protections for renters and ending the police officer's role in most emergency calls on the field of mental health care.

She has also criticized Brown's handling of the coronavirus pandemic and helped lead protests in the city last year over the police killing of George Floyd.

Mr. According to his opponents, Brown, 62, did not campaign vigorously and refused to debate Ms. S. Walton. He has regularly appeared with Mr. Cuomo at the governor's press conferences in Western New York to promote the state's economic reopening.

Ms. Walton, in turn, relied on intense grassroots organizing, formidable fundraising and the support of some of the governor's most vocal enemies, including the Working Families Party and Cynthia Nixon, who waged an unsuccessful primary campaign against the president. Cuomo in 2018.

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N.Y. City Council is ready for review, although the primary results remain unknown.

In most races — in which candidates compete for open seats — a winner was not expected to be declared. Absentee ballots have not yet been counted (more than 200,000 have been requested) and ranked elections have yet to be tabulated. Official results from the election board are not expected until mid-July.

GentlemenThe municipality is guaranteed an inspectionafter the November general election, with all 51 seats on the ballot, and a new official guaranteed in 32 of them.

The council's high turnover rate is largely due to term limits that prevent members who have served at least two terms from seeking re-election, although a handful of them sought other office in Tuesday's vote.

Many of the incumbents seeking re-election faced primary challengers. A handful of them are relatively new to the position, having only won a special election earlier this year and facing challengers they recently defeated.

The council's top job will also be open: the current speaker, Corey Johnson, was as wellcandidate for city comptrollerand leaves the office. Council members elect their leader, who plays a key role in setting the council's agenda and negotiating the city budget with the mayor. Choosing a speaker will be one of the first ways the winners of council seats will exert their influence, Mr Johnson said.

“The council will really have to oversee the new commissioners, who will be chosen by whoever is the mayor,” Johnson said. "So it is an extremely consistent choice."

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Here are scenes of election parties in New York.

Buoyed by her performance during the mayoral elections, Maya Wiley says: 'New York is on fire.'

Claiming she still had “a path to victory,” she said she still had “a path to victory.” Wiley that “50 percent of the votes will be recounted,” given the subsequent ballots that are still pending.

“The votes are still being counted,” she said. “Every vote will count.”

Ms. Wiley's advisers argued that she had built a coalition that could challenge the Democratic Party machine that had rejected control. Adams.

“He is not expanding the electorate,” said Jon Paul Lupo, a senior adviser to Ms. Wiley, who said the campaign believed she would earn more second- and third-place votes than Mr. Adams and emerge victorious in later rounds the battle might come. Ms. Wiley held a narrow lead over third-place Kathryn Garcia early Wednesday. Andrew Yang dropped out of the race after falling far behind in the early return.

One of her closest supporters and advisers, Michael Blake, a former delegate from the Bronx and now vice chairman of the Democratic National Committee, was almost giddy with excitement and helped rally black supporters on Friday evening, June 10, telling them: Just because a man is black doesn't mean he's the best choice for black people.”

“These are the people sending a message,” he said. Blake. He and other top campaign advisers said areas where they expected their candidate to do well had not yet reported results and that turnout in those areas was higher than expected. At the same time, they believed that Mr. Adams would be hurt by lower turnout in places like southeastern Queens and central Brooklyn.

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After the primaries, Kathryn Garcia says she's done talking before.

"When I started, people said, 'Well, I know you would be the best mayor, but I'm just not sure you can win.' Or: 'Women have never won the race for mayor'.”

Some even said, “commissioners are not mayors,” she added.

“What they're literally talking about is you don't have any services to call on,” she said. "That means if we take this home, I won't have to pay for any favors either."

With more than 80 percent of precincts reporting, Ms. Garcia had 20 percent of the vote, behind Maya Wiley's nearly 22 percent and Eric Adams' nearly 31 percent.

The voters in this election wereallowed to rankmaximum of five candidates. WhenThe polling station starts countingAfter absentee ballots in a few weeks, candidates with lower votes will be eliminated. For voters who chose the lower ballot candidates as their first choice, subsequent choices will be counted instead.

“This is going to change a lot with twos and threes, so I'm not giving up her chances,” said Liz Krueger, the Upper East Side-based senator who represents Ms. Garcia's campaign.

Ms. Garcia isn't giving up yet either.

“As expected, these will be ranked elections,” she said, referring to the fact that no candidate would likely get 50 percent of the vote in the first round and win outright. "We won't know much more tonight than we know now."

She thanked her family, her supporters, her team and before leaving the stage, she said, "You know, I think we should party like it's 1999." Music from U2, which she dreams of playing at her inauguration, blasted through the sound system.

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The embattled mayor of Rochester, against whom charges were filed, loses handily.

Mrs. Warrenwill not fall under any other party linein November, all but ensuring that Mr. Evans, who became popular for his work on the city's school board, will become mayor of a city that leans heavily Democratic.

Ms. Warren, who was first elected in 2013, came under fire last year after her administration reported the death ofDaniel Prude, a black man who was hooded by police. It took months for city officials to release body camera footage of his death, leading to accusations of a cover-up, the resignation of the city's police chief and calls for Ms. Warren to resign.

Shortly afterwards she wasindicted on two unrelated campaign finance chargeswho threatened to remove her from office if she was convicted.

The controversies wouldn't end there. Last month, herman was arrestedafter police said they found drugs and weapons during a search of his car and home and were accused of being part of a mid-level cocaine trafficking ring. Ms. Warren was not charged with a crime.

Ms. Warren, who is running for a third term, is the first woman and second African-American mayor of Rochester, a city of about 200,000 in western New York.

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Andrew Yang ends his campaign after a poor performance.

“Our city was in crisis and we believed we could help,” he told supporters gathered at a Manhattan hotel.

But as a self-described “numbers guy,” he said, the prospects for his campaign were bleak.

“I will not become mayor of New York City based on the numbers that came in tonight,” he said. “I'm conceding this race even though ultimately we don't know for sure who the next mayor will be. Whoever that person is, I will be thrilled to work with them to help improve the lives of the 8.3 million people who live in this country. our great city and I encourage other people to do the same.”

Mr. Yang said he believed his supporters were drawn to a central message of his campaign: that “politics as usual was not working.” He said he believed that too his campaign had influenced the debate over the priorities that will determine the city's future. These, he said, include elevating the discussion of financial aid for families, an issue he also promoted in the 2020 presidential election, and the push to reopen schools. He also said he helped draw attentionan increase in attacks on people of Asian descent.

He touted and cited his ability to recruit many small donorshis alliance with Kathryn Garcia, a fellow mayoral candidate and former Sanitation Commissioner, as positive.

“I thought we could strengthen each other and give New York City a better opportunity for leadership, which I was excited about,” he said.

Yang was often challenged by other candidates and reporters during the campaign on what sometimes appeared to be a lack of confidenceits loose grip on some aspects of what city government does.

Mr. Yang acknowledged Tuesday that “there was so much about New York City” he didn't know.

"I would sometimes come to Evelyn's house and say, 'Hey, have you visited this neighborhood?' Have you been here?'' he said, adding that he and his wife would try to contribute to "public life in New York City and beyond."

Raymond McGuire stops conceding as Shaun Donovan thanks the supporters.

“It's not about me,” said Mr. McGuire. "It's about us."

He took time to thank his supporters before posing for selfies with a long line of supporters making their way through the Red Rooster restaurant in Harlem.

Earlier in the evening, supporters were optimistic that what had become a long-range bid could still turn into a triumph.

Michelle Jean, a friend and mentee of Mr. McGuire's, said she was happy to vote for him on Tuesday. “I would swim up and down the Hudson River for him,” she said. “He is an extraordinary person.”

Meanwhile, Shaun Donovan's family, friends and associates crowded into their campaign headquarters in Brooklyn. The results came on a projector, but most people didn't even look at it. Instead, they talked, ate, cheered and hugged against the backdrop of a live band and a room full of blue, orange and white balloons.

Lucas Donovan, Mr. Donovan's son described how the campaign had become a family affair. Mr. Donovan's niece, Willa Gilbert-Goldstein, 19, who had been campaigning since early morning, had gone to each community on Tuesday. With a big smile on her face, she said, “This campaign brought people together after a year of separation.”

Shortly after the polls officially closed, the lights came on and Mr. Donovan walked up to the people and shouted "Go, Shaun, Go!" He walked slowly to the stage, stopping to hug old friends and take photos before addressing friends and family in the room, along with his wife and two sons. “I am proud that we have chosen the progress policy,” he said.