Eric Adams claims victory in Democratic primary for New York City mayor
New York, New York – After weeks of suspense, the results are in, and New York City finally seems to have a Democratic candidate for mayor!
Eric Adams is poised to become New York City's official Democratic nominee for mayor, according to tabulations released by the Associated Press on Tuesday evening.
Adams is expected to defeat his Republican challenger, Curtis Sliwa, handily and move on to become the city's second Black-American mayor.
"While there are still some very small amounts of votes to be counted, the results are clear: An historic, diverse, five-borough coalition led by working-class New Yorkers has led us to victory in the Democratic primary for mayor of New York City," the apparent winner said following the announcement.
A former police captain turned state senator and Brooklyn borough president, Adams appealed to many New Yorkers concerned about rising violent crime rates in the city, the New York Times reported.
He was the only candidate with a background in law enforcement, saying he chose the career because he wanted to create positive change from within after suffering from racial profiling and police brutality in his youth.
The announcement signals a defeat for progressives and supporters of the Black Lives Matter movement, who have been calling for a decrease in police budgets and increase in funding for social services.
Adams himself has spoken out against defunding the police.
Could the long tabulation process erode confidence in ranked-choice voting?
New Yorkers have been waiting since Election Day on June 22 to receive the results of their first-ever mayoral primary with ranked-choice voting. Voters were able to indicate their top five candidates in order on the ballot.
The counting system involves eliminating the lowest-scoring candidates one by one and redistributing their ballots according to voters' ranked preferences.
The weeks-long tabulation process has been anything but uneventful. Adams took an early lead. Then progressive favorite Maya Wiley, who received the second-most first-choice votes, sank to position three after Andrew Yang dropped out of the race.
Many of Yang's voters went to Kathryn Garcia next, giving her the boost she needed to come within one percentage point of the frontrunner.
At one point, officials even posted erroneous test ballots before taking them down. All three of the top candidates have filed lawsuits requesting the right to review the tally, with Wiley calling the situation "a debacle," the Associated Press reported.
Even now, the ballots have still not all been processed. Several thousand may still be outstanding, but Adams says those left to be counted are not enough to overturn his win.
Nevertheless, neither Garcia nor Wiley has conceded the race.
For proponents of ranked-choice voting, the New York Democratic mayoral primary hasn't exactly been a prime example of a smooth and fair process.
Cover photo: IMAGO / Pacific Press Agency