Eric Adams Campaigns for New York City Mayor in US – 22 May 2021
New York (77WABC) – On June 2, the eight democratic mayoral candidates met for their first in-person debate. The race is heating up as the vote for the candidate will be held on June 22. Former presidential candidate Andrew Yang and former NYPD captain Eric Adams are considered the top runners at this point, according to CNN. Former Commissioner to the New York City Sanitation Department Kathryn Garcia is also on the rise according to ABC News, and Maya Wiley, former counsel to Mayor Bill de Blasio, is considered the top progressive candidate.
Mayor de Blasio has not endorsed any candidate yet.
As in the first debate, candidates were asked to question each other. Yang and Adams grilled each other, with Yang revealing that Adams has been investigated for corruption and Adams criticizing Yang for leaving the city during the height of the pandemic last year.
The issue of violent crime was what separated the candidates. According to ABC News, the more progressive candidates did not share how much money they would take away from police departments, a sharp turnaround from last year.
The more moderate candidates “called for more investment in law enforcement.”
Yang said, “The defunding of police is not the right approach for New York City.”
The election for mayor will also feature ranked choice voting, which was started in 2019. Voters will list the candidates in first place, second place, etc. according to preference. The winner must have a majority 50% of votes, according to CNN Politics.
The Republican mayoral candidates, Curtis Sliwa and Fernando Mateo, will debate once again on June 6.
The Democratic mayoral candidates will face off against each other one more time prior to the primary. That debate will be on June 16, and the primary is on June 22.
WABC will host the first in-person debate for the NYC mayoral race on Wednesday. It will be the first such debate since the start of the COVID pandemic. The Democratic debate will air commercial free June 2 from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. https://t.co/ADXFHNOiuH pic.twitter.com/CCRM4ZhoWo
— Eyewitness News (@ABC7NY) May 30, 2021
