Five things to watch in the District 24 special
It’s finally here – the first New York City election of 2021 and the first of the ranked-choice voting era – and even if you’ve never heard the word Pomonok, the Council District 24 special election in Eastern Queens could set the tone for this whole season. Here are five burning questions we’ll be looking to answer once the polls close at 9 p.m.
How many voters will rank?
In San Francisco’s first ranked-choice voting election in 2004, nearly a quarter of voters said they only voted for one candidate and didn’t rank – and that was after an $800,000 outreach campaign. Conventional wisdom says that fewer voters ranking would be good news for James Gennaro, the one white candidate, since six of his competitors of South Asian descent might be targeting the same voters. Another question – given the snow and the cold and the lackluster early voting numbers – is how many people will vote at all.