Eric Adams, Brooklyn borough president and Democratic candidate for New York mayor, speaks during a news conference in Brooklyn on June 24. (Brendan Mcdermid/Reuters)
By Colby Itkowitz The Washington Post
Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams was projected the winner in the New York City Democratic mayoral primary on Tuesday, bringing to a close a chaotic and drawn-out election complicated by a debacle in initially tallying the results under a new voting process.
Adams has held first place since the June 22 primary, but his lead narrowed considerably as ranked-choice ballots were analyzed, eliminating less-popular candidates and distributing their votes to higher-finishing alternatives.
The projection by the Associated Press came after more absentee ballots were counted. The second-place finisher was former sanitation commissioner Kathryn Garcia. Adams is heavily favored to win the November general election against Republican Curtis Sliwa because of New York City’s strongly Democratic voting base. He would be the city’s second Black mayor.
“Now we must focus on winning in November so that we can deliver on the promise of this great city for those who are struggling, who are underserved, and who are committed to a safe, fair, affordable future for all New Yorkers.”
New York’s new ranked-choice system allowed former sanitation commissioner Kathryn Garcia and civil rights lawyer Maya Wiley to chip away at Adams’s lead. Under the rules, it would have been possible for them to overcome his margin had the absentee ballots broken their way.
But after more than 100,000 absentee ballots were counted, Adams kept his lead, besting Garcia by a little more than 8,000 votes, or 1 percent of the vote, out of nearly 1 million cast.
Related news story:
Eric Adams Declares Victory After Assembling Diverse Coalition (NYT)
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