By: Jared Evan
With the NYC Mayoral Primary less than a month away, and with the new ranked choice voting system in place, experts are saying this race is hard to predict, and it is possible one of the candidates trailing in the polls can end up winning the primary; the far left of the spectrum is represented by Maya Wiley and Dianne Morales and they just secured an important endorsement.
Tenants PAC lobbies to strengthen rent protections for residents living in the city’s two million apartments, including one million in government-regulated units, and they gave a dual endorsement to the 2 far left female candidates. the NY post reported
“These are two inspirational candidates with a strong commitment to tenants’ rights
and creative approaches to solving the city’s housing crisis,” Tenants PAC treasurer Michael McKee told The Post, referring to Morales and Wiley. “And we think that it is high time that New York City had a woman mayor.”
Both Wiley and Morales have been polling towards the bottom of the field, and a PAC that lobbies on behalf of so many people, can indeed play an impact.
Many New Yorkers are literally scared of Dianne Morales, in particular, winning the primary. With crime being the top issue among the majority of voters, Morales, has been vehemently against the NYPD and has espoused “defund the police” ideology as a major feature of her pitch to become mayor. She appears to be popular among younger voters, who were drawn to Marxist congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
In a recent NY Times article about the election, several NY Times readers wrote in the comment section, that they would leave the city if Morales somehow won the primary, however both Morales and Wiley said they would push Albany to pass a law to re-regulate300,000 recently rent destabilized apartments. Targeting these specific voters could provide a large bump to the two “woke” candidates, especially if the voter turnout is low.
Based on social media as a measurement, the Mayoral primary does seem to be increasing in interest among the NYC population, and many are talking about crime as their main concern. NYC’s far left voting bloc, has appeared to abandon one of the 2 frontrunners, Andrew Yang, due to his support of Israel and are gravitating more to Morales and Wiley, while the 3rd most “progressive” candidate, Scott Stringer, has lost most endorsements and has taken a dip in the polls.
With the rise in crime becoming a hot issue, as NYC has seen an explosion in anti-Jewish and anti-Asian hate attacks, in addition to violent slashings on the subway, endless gun violence and a shooting in the heart of Times Square which garnered international media coverage, after a baby ended up injured; Eric Adams stands the most to gain.
Many Republicans and conservatives are standing behind Adams, however in NYC only registered Democrats can vote in the party’s primary. Will there be enough Republicans and independents switching party affiliation to push Adams over the top? Will ranked choice voting play a huge impact?
Recently a Republican polling firm out of Virginia surveyed the mayor’s race using ranked-choice voting tabulations and , concluded that Yang would win the first round but not secure the 40% necessary to secure the victory and eventually lose to Adams via ranked choice counting.
