Adams wins New York mayoral primary

Eric Adams won New York’s Democratic mayoral primary, pending certification of final numbers.

In a city where Democrats outnumber Republicans by more than six-to-one, he stands as a heavy favorite to win the general election in November against GOP nominee Curtis Sliwa.

After Tuesday’s counting of about 127,000 absentee ballots, the Brooklyn borough president was 8,426 votes ahead of former city sanitation commissioner Kathryn Garcia under the new ranked-choice voting system, or 50.5% to 49.5%, according to unofficial totals posted on the city's Board of Elections website.

Garcia and third-place finisher Maya Wiley conceded on Wednesday,

In votes, Adams totaled 403,333 to Garcia’s 394,907. He is a retired police captain who largely campaigned on a public safety theme.

“The results are clear: an historic, diverse, five-borough coalition led by working-class New Yorkers has led us to victory,” said Eric Adams.

Board officials said roughly 3,700 absentee ballots remain to be “cured,” with the system allowing voters to correct technical errors, such as unsigned ballots. BOE expects to certify the results next week.

“The results are clear: an historic, diverse, five-borough coalition led by working-class New Yorkers has led us to victory,” Adams said Tuesday night.

Sliwa, the founder of the Guardian Angels volunteer crime prevention unit and a former radio talk-show host, defeated Fernando Mateo in the Republican primary with more than 50% of the vote and did not have to undergo ranked-choice layers.

In the city comptroller Democratic primary, progressive backing catapulted City Council member Brad Lander to victory over council Speaker Corey Johnson, 51.9% to 48.1%. Johnson conceded.

Lander had the support of U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez from Queens and U.S. Senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren from Vermont and Massachusetts, respectively.

Daby Carreras is the Republican comptroller candidate.

The race to succeed term-limited Democratic Mayor Bill de Blasio involved frequent debate over escalating crime in the city.

Despite New York’s reputation for progressive politics, voters looked to the more moderate Adams and Garcia instead of Wiley, an outspoken police critic, and other liberals, such as former presidential candidate Andrew Yang and outgoing city Comptroller Scott Stringer.

Wiley criticized the Board of Elections, which last week admitted to counting 135,000 test ballots, an error that was later corrected.

Watchdog groups have called for a nonpartisan city agency to replace BOE. That will require changing the state constitution and state laws, according to good-government organization Reinvent Albany.

The crime wave prompted Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Tuesday to declare a statewide gun-violence disaster emergency.

Rising violent crime could hurt municipal credit quality notably in larger cities, said Tom Kozlik, director of municipal strategy and credit for Hilltop Securities.

“This possibility is already compounded by the uncertainty surrounding a post-COVID normal,” he said.

Those variables include tax policy, work arrangements and other influences that affect city living, Kozlik added. “These might not be factors that individually drive people away, but together they could have impactful negative fiscal consequences,” he said.

That includes perceptions of crime beyond raw statistics, Kozlik added. “Under either scenario, individuals may choose to relocate from the cities in which they live. If this occurs in force, it could add to other potential strains state and local credit may experience in the post-COVID normal,” he said.

According to the watchdog Independent Budget Office, spending by agencies involved in the criminal justice system spiked to $9.2 billion in 2020 from $5.1 billion in 2001, or 83%,

“When adjusted for inflation, though, the growth in spending is a far more modest 1.3%,” IBO said.

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Elections New York Crime and misconduct Bill de Blasio Andrew Cuomo
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