By Hadassa Kalatizadeh
The 2021 New York City mayoral election which will likely be determined by the Democratic Primary election on June 22, 2021, is in full swing.
With Mayor Bill de Blasio leaving his post due to term limits, the upcoming mayor will have his hands full hopefully leading the recovery post-pandemic, tackling racial inequity, improving education and health care, and getting the city’s finances back on track.
The race is crowded with over a dozen candidates. The most well-known of whom are City Comptroller Scott Stringer and Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams. Mr. Adams is in second place in the limited public polling available, and Mr. Stringer is third. As reported by the NY Times, the front runner in the race for now is also a Democrat, Andrew Yang, an entrepreneur who attracts attention for his willingness to cast aside political correctness and speak candidly. Yang is also the most criticized of the candidates, probably for the same reason. “Andrew Yang is going to keep talking to New Yorkers about his plans to get the city safely reopen and people back to work as fast as we can,” said Chris Coffey, Mr. Yang’s co-campaign manager, referring to the criticism coming their way. “We’ll leave the tired, 1990s negative campaigning to others.”
Other Democratic candidates include Raymond J. McGuire, a former Citi executive; Maya Wiley, a SVP of social justice and professor of urban policy at the New School; Shaun Donovan, a former cabinet member for the Obama administration; Kathryn Garcia, Former Commissioner of the NYC Sanitation Department; Carlos Menchaca, City Council member for Brooklyn’s 38th District; Dianne Morales, CEO of Phipps Neighborhoods; and Barbara Kavovit, CEO of Evergreen Construction NYC. Also running as Democrats are Isaac Wright, Art Chang, Cleopatra Fitzgerald, Quanda Francis, Aaron Foldenauer, and the rapper Paperboy Prince. Republican candidates, which are barely getting any attention, include Fernando Mateo, the President of the NYS Federation of Taxi Drivers and spokesperson for the United Bodegas of America, and Sara Tirschwell, the Chief financial officer at Foundation House.
Among other topics, the winning candidate will have the task of steering the city’s direction in regards to drugs and the possibility of decriminalizing them. The two candidates who support legalization of psilocybin mushrooms are Mr. Yang and Ms. Morales.
As far as money goes, there are a lot of funds being raised in the race. Mr. Adams has the most money, over $7.5 million on hand, and Ms. Morales has the most individual donations in New York City, having received over 9,000 contributions.
