As the Democratic primary on June 24 approaches, the New York City mayoral race has entered a heated phase. On May 18 (Sunday), Zohran Mamdani, a State Assembly member from Queens and a democratic socialist, released a video urging his supporters to donate to his competitor, Adrienne Adams, the New York City Council Speaker, in a rare move to join forces to prevent former Governor Andrew Cuomo from returning to the political arena.
In the video, Mamdani noted that even though he is one of the mayoral candidates and has raised the maximum of $8.3 million as required by the Campaign Finance Board (CFB), he still hopes that supporters will redirect resources to Adams, who has not yet qualified for matching funds from the city government, to assist her in meeting the deadline (May 20) and qualifying for public funds for television advertising.
This call for support is a rare joint action in New York election history. Although Mamdani did not formally endorse Adams, his actions amount to sharing strategic resources with a competitor in the same political camp. With New York City’s implementation of ranked-choice voting, where voters can select up to five candidates and rank them, strategic cooperation among candidates has become viable.
Since announcing her candidacy in March, Adams has gained endorsements from several progressive officials, including State Attorney General Letitia James. According to a Marist poll earlier this month, she has risen to third place but has not yet reached the threshold required to receive matching funds from the city, preventing her from launching an advertising campaign.
However, the polls indicate that Cuomo is currently leading with a double-digit advantage. The Marist poll shows that about 50% of African-American Democratic voters and 41% of Latino voters support Cuomo, significantly higher than Mamdani’s 20%, while Adams only receives 14% support from African-American voters.
This week, the Cuomo camp launched the first TV ad “Crisis,” promoting his leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic and positioning himself as the most capable candidate to address public safety and cost of living crises.
The Democratic primary for New York City mayor will be held on June 24, with early voting starting on June 15.