The New York City primary elections: May update
This post about the New York City primary elections was last updated on May 19, 2025.
The New York City primary elections are on June 24, and once again New Yorkers will use ranked choice voting (RCV). The most-watched race is the Democratic mayoral primary, which has eleven candidates. New Yorkers will also pick nominees for a slew of other important offices, from city council to borough president to comptroller.
Several developments over the past month highlight the benefits of RCV in these contests:
- Mayoral candidates have appeared together on stage, an example of how RCV leads to positive campaigning.
- Organizations continue to endorse multiple candidates.
- In crowded city council primaries, RCV will ensure winners have majority support.
- Cuomo announced plans to run in November even if he loses the Democratic nomination, increasing the risk of “vote-splitting” and making the case to expand RCV to New York City’s general elections.
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RCV leads to positive campaigning and ranked endorsements
With RCV, voters gain the freedom to express support for several candidates. This encourages candidates to show common ground with their rivals, in order to earn second and third choices from voters ranking those rivals Number 1. That’s a big contrast with single-choice elections, where candidates often try to undermine voters’ perceptions of their rivals.
In one recent example of RCV’s positive impact, mayoral candidates Brad Lander and Zellnor Myrie made a joint appearance in support of the organization New Yorkers United For Childcare. The two candidates also released a joint Instagram post.
In another example, mayoral candidate Zohran Kwame Mamdani posted on X asking voters to donate to another mayoral candidate, Adrienne Adams – a kind of collaboration that’s almost impossible to imagine in a single-choice election.
In addition, organizations continue to endorse multiple candidates. For instance, the New York Ironworkers Union endorsed Andrew Cuomo as its first choice and Jessica Ramos as its second choice; the New Majority NYC endorsed Adrienne Adams as its first choice and Ramos as its second. Endorsements like this show how organizations and politicians are embracing the ability to support multiple candidates who align with their values.
RCV delivers majority winners and prevents vote-splitting in crowded down-ballot races
Outside of the mayor’s race, there are 19 Democratic and Republican primary elections in which three or more candidates are running, from the public advocate race to city council races. In 10 of those elections, the incumbent is not running.
In single-choice primaries – especially those without an incumbent – candidates can often win with only a plurality of votes. If a district strongly favors one party in the general election, that means the election can effectively be decided by a fraction of a fraction of voters. Ranked choice voting solves that problem by requiring candidates to earn majority support to win.
For instance, consider New York City Council District 8, which has seven candidates running to replace the term-limited incumbent Diana Ayala. Candidates in this race include Elsie Encarnacion, Ayala’s chief of staff; Wilfredo López, a former city council staffer; and Raymond Sanata, who is hoping to be the second of the “Exonerated Five” to be elected to city council.
In a single-choice race, voters would have to consider who has the best chance to win when casting their ballot – or risk “wasting” their vote on a low-performing candidate and helping their least favorite win. Candidates might be encouraged to step out of the race, so that they don’t split the vote with other candidates that share their ideology or base of support.
With RCV, more candidates can stay in the race and voters can express their true range of preferences. Voters can rank backup choices, ensuring their vote still counts even if their first choice can’t win.
Coming up in November: a crowded general election for mayor – without RCV
The winner of New York’s Democratic mayoral primary will face off in November against likely Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa, as well as incumbent Mayor Eric Adams – who is running as an independent. Though Cuomo is the frontrunner in the Democratic primary, he recently announced he intends to run in the general election on an independent ballot line whether or not he receives the Democratic nomination.
This is possible under New York’s fusion voting system, where candidates can be listed on the general election ballot multiple times representing different parties. The Working Families Party is also considering running a mayoral candidate of its own if Cuomo does win the Democratic nomination.
An election with multiple viable choices should be good news for voters. However, general elections in New York City use single-choice voting instead of RCV, meaning the city could see a contentious race in November where a candidate wins with as little as 25% of the vote. This could deliver an unrepresentative outcome – for instance, moderate voters could split the vote and allow a candidate further to the left or right to win; or a majority of left-leaning voters could split the vote in this deep-blue city.
With ranked choice voting in general elections, New Yorkers wouldn’t have to worry about this. Election winners would have majority support, and voters would get a full range of choices. See more information on how RCV can work in conjunction with fusion voting here.
It’s time for New York City to embrace RCV’s full potential and extend its benefits from its primary elections to general elections.
