The popularity of each candidate’s message and chances of victory depend not only on the strength of their personal appeal to voters but also their campaign infrastructure.
There is no one formula for victory in the Democratic mayoral primary and the top eight candidates are running vastly different campaigns. The popularity of each candidate’s message and chances of victory depend not only on the strength of their personal appeal to voters but also their campaign infrastructure – including the tacticians, advisors, consultants, and campaign staff members who mostly go unseen but whose work informs the candidates’ policies, positions, fundraising, advertising, and public appearances.
As to be expected, consultants, in particular, are having a lucrative year supplying the mayoral candidates with all manner of advice. The more well-resourced campaigns are spending hundreds of thousands, if not millions, on firms and individuals helping them hone their pitch. Leaner campaigns have had to be more creative as they try to curry favor with the electorate with fewer campaign professionals.
Representative Adriano Espaillat, who had backed Scott Stringer, switched to supporting Eric Adams, while Andrew Yang had a rocky week on the campaign trail.
arrow Absentee ballots turned in during early voting, at the Park Slope Armory, October 27, 2020 Mary Altaffer/AP/Shutterstock
When Democratic mayoral candidate Andrew Yang hit the stump last week talking about support for democracy reforms, including allowing non-citizen permanent residents and 16- and 17-year-olds to vote in municipal elections, he also used the moment to take a swipe at the New York City Board of Elections.
He said the agency was “under-resourced” and needed better funding not only to ensure people were not stuck in long lines to vote but also to deliver results quickly after the polls closed.
“I can speak for a lot of New Yorkers when I say, we really want you to be able to count those votes quickly,” Yang said with a chuckle at an event in Lower Manhattan last week. “No one wants to have an Iowa situation or something,” he added, referring to a three-week delay in certifying the Democratic presidential caucus results there last yea