Ranked choice voting and New York City's 2025 mayoral election: April update
As New York City approaches its second mayoral primary election with ranked choice voting (RCV) on June 24, two recent developments highlight RCV’s value:
- The Working Families Party endorsed four candidates for mayor – highlighting RCV’s ability to let voters support multiple candidates they like.
- Incumbent Mayor Eric Adams announced he would run as an independent in the general election, setting up a possible “spoiler” problem in November.
Read on for more about how RCV makes New York’s primaries better – and how it would improve the general election.
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Organizations endorse multiple candidates for New York mayor
New York’s Democratic primary for mayor is a crowded one, with nearly a dozen candidates running for the city’s highest office. In a choose-one election, this may have led to a toxic brawl as rivals sought to tear each other down for a small slice of the electoral pie.
Ranked choice voting changes the calculus. Instead of constantly going on the attack, candidates have an incentive to show common ground with each other to earn second- and third-choice support from voters ranking their opponent first. Voters are empowered to rank multiple candidates they support instead of feeling forced to pick just one frontrunner.
Just this week, the New York Working Families Party endorsed four candidates in the Democratic primary – encouraging voters to rank all four. The four candidates – Adrienne Adams, Brad Lander, Zellnor Myrie, and Zohran Mamdani – were seen walking arm-in-arm on Sunday, a powerful visual of the better politics RCV can foster.
As Working Families Party Co-Director Jasmine Gripper explains:
New York City’s ranked choice voting system allows us to unite forces and vote for all of the candidates who share our values without splitting our base of support.
The Working Families Party isn’t the only group to endorse multiple candidates. Several organizations have done so – including the United Auto Workers Region 9A, which endorsed Brad Lander, Jessica Ramos, and Zohran Mamdani for mayor. Each of these organizations has embraced the ability to let voters rank multiple candidates, rather than pick just one.
Eric Adams’ announcement shows need for RCV in the general election
On Monday, New York Mayor Eric Adams dropped out of the Democratic mayoral primary – and announced he would run in the general election as an independent.
With at least three major candidates for mayor – a Democrat, a Republican, and Adams – it’s possible the winner will not have support from a majority of voters, and that the next mayor of the nation’s largest city could be decided by quirky electoral math instead of simply being the most popular candidate.
The field could get even more crowded; the Working Families Party suggested it might use its ballot line to run one of its endorsed candidates in the general election if former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo wins the Democratic primary.
New York could solve this vote-splitting problem by using ranked choice voting in general elections – like it already does in primaries. Introducing RCV to the general election would also empower minor parties to run their own candidate without being labelled as a “spoiler.”
It’s time for New York City to embrace RCV’s full potential and extend the benefits from primaries to general elections.
