Given that Democrats outnumber Republicans by 7-to-1 in New York City, the winner of the Democratic primary is likely to win the general election in November against Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa.
In the initial voting results released on Election Day, June 22, Adams led the race with about 31% of first-choice votes. He was followed by civil rights lawyer Maya Wiley, with 22% of first-choice votes, and Garcia, with about 19.5%.
Adams saw his lead narrow last week after the Board of Elections announced the results of nine rounds of ranked-choice voting.
Under the new system, voters can rank their top five preferences, with the board eliminating the last-place candidate and transferring those votes round-by-round until two candidates remain. That tally showed Adams with 51.1% over Garcia’s 48.9%, with Wiley eliminated in the last round of counting after voters’ second, third, fourth and fifth votes were factored in.
Eric Adams Wins Democratic Nomination for New York City Mayor
arrow Eric Adams at his election night party. Scott Lynch / Gothamist
Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams clinched the Democratic nomination for New York City mayor Tuesday night, maintaining a narrow lead over former Sanitation Commissioner Kathryn Garcia in the latest ranked-choice voting tabulations, all but assuring his path to becoming the city s next mayor.
The results, which include around 130,000 newly counted absentee and affidavit ballots, show Adams still ahead of Garcia by 8,426 votes, a margin of 1%.
In a statement sent shortly after the results went live Tuesday night, Adams, who would be the second Black man to hold the position, said that while there are still a handful of ballots yet to count the results were clear.