Ranked choice voting would protect voter choice in New York City mayoral election

New York City Mayor Eric Adams ended his bid for reelection on Sunday, amid concerns that he would split the vote with other candidates and help Democratic State Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani win. (Though Adams has suspended his campaign, his name remains on the ballot – likely creating confusion for New York voters.)

Adams had positioned himself as an ideological moderate willing to work with President Trump. He faced months of pressure from powerful actors to drop out, so as not to hurt the chances of former Governor Andrew Cuomo, who is also running to the right of Mamdani. 

If New York City used ranked choice voting (RCV) in general elections like it does in primaries, Mayor Adams would not have faced such intense pressure to quit the race. New Yorkers would have greater choice and more voice in deciding their mayor.

New York’s vote-splitting problem

Adams’ departure leaves three leading candidates in the race for New York City Mayor: Mamdani, the Democratic nominee; Cuomo, who is running as an independent following his defeat in the Democratic primary; and Curtis Sliwa, the Republican nominee. Adams, Cuomo, and Sliwa were widely seen as competing for a similar group of moderate and right-leaning New York voters – while Mamdani is running as a democratic socialist. 

Ironically, in our zero-sum political system, having more moderate candidates run means moderates are less likely to win. Polls showed that the best chance for such a candidate to win would be for Adams and Sliwa to leave the race, giving Cuomo a head-to-head matchup against Mamdani.

To prevent vote-splitting, members of the business community and the Trump administration reportedly sought to entice Adams and Sliwa to drop out by offering them jobs. Sliwa claims to have been offered millions of dollars as well. 

The solution: ranked choice voting

Ranked choice voting would solve New York’s vote-splitting problem. Voters rank candidates in order of preference. If a candidate receives more than 50% of first choices, they win – like any other election. If not, the winner is decided by an “instant runoff,” where whoever ranked the last-place candidate “Number 1” has their vote count for their next choice. This process continues until a candidate wins with more than 50% of the vote. Voters can honestly rank the candidate they like most as Number 1, without fear that doing so will spoil the race and help the candidate they like least.

New York City has used RCV for primary elections since 2021 – and voters have embraced the system. For instance, this year, voter turnout crossed 1 million for the first time since 1989, 96% of voters said RCV was simple, and 78% of voters ranked two or more candidates in the Democratic mayoral primary. 

If New York City expanded RCV to general elections, there would be no more threat of vote-splitting. Adams, Cuomo, and Sliwa supporters could pick their favorite candidate and rank backup choices.

In fact, ideologically similar candidates can benefit from RCV by campaigning together and “cross-endorsing” – which occurs when pairs of candidates encourage voters to rank them first and second on their ballots. Mamdani won the Democratic primary in part by actively seeking cross-endorsements with other candidates, most notably third-place finisher Brad Lander. The primary boasted 11 candidates – and unlike in the general election, they faced minimal pressure to drop out, leaving voters with a wide variety of candidates to choose from.

Adams’ decision to end his campaign comes too late to remove his name from the ballot. RCV can help with that, too. Even if a voter picks a candidate who has already dropped out, their vote will still count for their next choice. 

With ranked choice voting, there is less political gamesmanship, voters get more choices, and candidates can run freely without fear of spoiling the race. To support RCV in the Empire State, visit Rank the Vote NYC and Common Cause / NY. If you live outside New York, find an RCV group in your state here.

Read more here about how RCV could work in general elections with New York’s system of fusion voting.