New York City To Hold Mayoral Primary On Tuesday (2024)

LULU GARCIA-NAVARRO, HOST:

A retired police officer, a former sanitation chief and a 2020 presidential hopeful - those are some of the candidates hoping to become New York City's next mayor. The city's mayoral primary is on Tuesday, and there are eight people in the running. And whomever wins will almost certainly succeed the current mayor, Bill de Blasio. Katie Honan is the City Hall reporter for The Wall Street Journal, and she joins us now from Queens, N.Y. Hello.

KATIE HONAN: Thank you so much for having me, Lulu.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: So New York mayor is a hugely powerful role, not only in the state but in the country. We have Andrew Yang, of course, on the ticket, but also Eric Adams, a former NYPD cop; Maya Wiley, an attorney; Kathryn Garcia, a former sanitation commissioner. This will be, though, the first time that voters will be able to sort of rank candidates by preference in this race. That's called ranked-choice voting. How will this change things?

HONAN: I think a lot of us are still unsure as to what this will mean on Election Day and how the voter tallies will actually shake out. Yesterday, we had what was probably our first joint - at least this late in the game - joint campaigning between two candidates, Captain Garcia and Andrew Yang. Interestingly enough, Andrew Yang told his huge crowd of followers in Flushing, Queens, rank me first, and rank Captain second. Captain Garcia just said rank me first and ended it there, full stop. We thought there might be some more collaboration or these kind of cross-endorsem*nts, but so far, we haven't seen that. Polling shows that voters are pretty OK with understanding ranked-choice voting. I think maybe they're confused as to how they're going to rank people in their ballot and some strategic - ranking someone five to knock someone else out, all that kind of stuff. But it will definitely be interesting, and seeing when we actually get these results. Because it could - you know, we will have an idea on Tuesday, which is primary day, but we won't have those final results for a few weeks.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: I mean, the new mayor is going to inherit a lot of challenges - a rise in homicides, an economy fighting its way back from the pandemic, the legacy of the sort of horrific death toll of the pandemic, too. I mean, it's a city that's been traumatized, I guess, for lack of a better word. What are you hearing from New Yorkers as they cast their votes?

HONAN: I heard initially - you know, in reporting early on in this campaign, people were just so distracted. No one was paying attention. First, so many candidates were running. You know, there were eight who debated - they qualified for the debate - but there's actually 13 on the ballot, and there were even more people running before that who have dropped out. So people were just trying to literally stay alive, trying to keep their families intact if they were doing online schooling, trying to stay safe and healthy. Now people are starting to tune in and get a sense of who's running. And it's - yeah, it's public health. It's a lot - public safety concerns about crime - really serious concerns about crime - and concerns about the city's comeback. And as you said, look, more than 35,000 New York City residents died of COVID. I don't think anyone has fully grappled with that trauma and that grief of what we all dealt with. Even if you did not die or if you did not lose a loved one very close to you, you - it was all around you for months and months and months. So I don't know how that will play out in the election, but it will certainly be inherited by the next mayor when they take office on January 1.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: Let me ask you this. It's likely, as we mentioned, that whomever wins will be the next mayor. But let's talk about the Republican candidates. Do they have a chance?

HONAN: You know, that is difficult to say. We have two candidates, Curtis Sliwa and Fernando Mateo. Both are longtime New York City characters, for lack of a better word. Curtis Sliwa, the founder of the Guardian Angels, a street safety organization in the '70s. Fernando Mateo has been a longtime activist in various organizations in the city. I don't know who's going to win that, right? I mean, there's polling that shows Curtis Sliwa is in the lead, but who knows? Depending on crime and depending on who wins, there could be some sort of surge. As liberal as people think New York City is, we have elected Republican mayors quite frequently. And if there's a surge in crime and depending on who actually wins the Democratic primary, who knows what can happen between June and the November general to kind of push someone voting for a Republican?

GARCIA-NAVARRO: That's Katie Honan. She is the City Hall reporter for The Wall Street Journal. Thank you very much.

HONAN: Thanks for having me. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

New York City To Hold Mayoral Primary On Tuesday (2024)

FAQs

What is Eric Adams' approval rating? ›

As New York City Mayor Eric Adams nears the end of his second year in office, voters give the mayor a negative 28 - 58 percent job approval rating with 14 percent not offering an opinion, according to a Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pea-ack) University poll of registered voters in New York City released today.

What happens if the NYC mayor resigns? ›

In the event of the resignation, death or removal of a Mayor, the Public Advocate serves as Acting Mayor until a special election or general election is held, depending on when the vacancy in the Office arises.

Who is next in line after the NYC mayor? ›

In the event of a vacancy or incapacity of the mayor, the public advocate is first in line to become mayor.

What NY mayor served 3 terms? ›

The longest-serving mayors have been Fiorello H. La Guardia (1934–1945), Robert F. Wagner Jr. (1954–1965), Ed Koch (1978–1989) and Michael Bloomberg (2002–2013), each of whom was in office for twelve years (three successive four-year terms).

What is bidens approval rating in the us? ›

In the new Reuters/Ipsos poll, the share of respondents approving of Biden's performance as president fell marginally to 38% from 40% in March. The online poll, which surveyed 1,016 U.S. adults nationwide, had a margin of error of three percentage points.

Does Adams's approval rating sink to the lowest for any NYC mayor since 1996? ›

Mayor Since 1996. At 28 percent, Eric Adams's approval rating is the worst for any New York mayor in a Quinnipiac University poll since it began surveying the city 27 years ago.

How many years can NYC mayor serve? ›

According to current law, the mayor is limited to two consecutive four-year terms in office but may run again after a four-year break. The limit on consecutive terms was changed from two to three on October 23, 2008, when the New York City Council voted 29–22 in favor of passing the term limit extension into law.

Can the governor of New York State remove the mayor of New York City? ›

The mayor may be removed from office by the governor upon charges and after service upon him of a copy of the charges and an opportunity to be heard in his defense. Pending the preparation and disposition of charges, the governor may suspend the mayor for a period not exceeding thirty days.

Can NYC recall a mayor? ›

JUSTIFICATION: Unlike 18 other states in the nation, there is no recall system for voters in New York State to remove an elected official. The power to remove an elected official rests solely with the Governor. There is no provision of New York State law that would authorize a city or local government recall.

Who is mayor Adams' wife? ›

Tracey Collins is an American educator and author who is the de facto first lady of New York City as the domestic partner of New York City Mayor Eric Adams.

How did Eric Adams become mayor? ›

Adams was elected mayor of New York City in the city's 2021 mayoral election. He received the Democratic Party's nomination after narrowly winning a crowded Democratic mayoral primary which used instant-runoff voting (ranked-choice voting).

How many mayors are there in New York City? ›

Eric L. Adams is the 110th Mayor of the City of New York. Mayor Adams has served the people of New York City as an NYPD officer, State Senator, Brooklyn Borough President, and now as the 110th Mayor of the City of New York.

Has NYC ever had a Republican mayor? ›

Bloomberg was re-elected mayor in November 2005 by a margin of 20 percent, the widest margin ever for a Republican mayor of New York. Bloomberg had spent $102 million on his campaign by late October 2005.

Who is considered the best mayor of New York City? ›

A socialist member of the Republican Party, La Guardia was frequently cross-endorsed by parties other than his own, especially parties on the left under New York's electoral fusion laws. A panel of 69 scholars in 1993 ranked him first among the ten best mayors in American history.

Who was the youngest mayor in NY State? ›

Myrick became the City of Ithaca's youngest mayor and first mayor of color when he was sworn into office on January 1, 2012 at age 24. He also became the youngest mayor in the history of the State of New York.

What is the approval rating for the mayor of Chicago? ›

New polling shows Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson has a 28% approval rating – as low as one mayor after a national scandal and another who was about to get booted by voters.

How much is Eric Adams worth? ›

A. As of 2024, Eric Adams is estimated to have a net worth of $9 million.

What is job approval ratings? ›

Presidential job approval is a simple, yet powerful, measure of the public's view of the U.S. president's job performance at a particular point in time. The approval ratings reported here are based on periodic multiday Gallup polls for Presidents Harry Truman through George W.

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