With just over three weeks left until the Democratic Primary for New York City mayor, the Working Families Party late Friday issued its ranked endorsement of candidates in the race.
At the top of the ticket, the progressive group ranked state Assembly Member Zohran Mamdani as their first-choice candidate; then followed City Comptroller Brad Lander, City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams, state Sen. Zellnor Myrie and state Sen. Jessica Ramos.
Back in March, the Working Families Party had revealed a list of endorsements which included Mamdani, Lander, Adams and Myrie, but notably did not rank those candidates until May 30.
The New York City primary ballot gives voters the opportunity to rank five candidates as part of the ranked-choice voting process implemented in 2021.
The progressive third party has its eyes set on beating out former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who has led in the polls since before he announced his campaign. That lead, however, has shrunk in recent weeks as Mamdani closes in Cuomo.
“To give voters clear guidance, we’re ranking a full slate of 5 candidates. When we unite, we can defeat Cuomo & elect a mayor who fights for us,” the New York Working Families Party said in a post on X.
A recent Emerson College poll out this week, which surveyed 500 registered voters, showed Cuomo prevailing, 54% to 46% over Mamdani.
As the race tightens ahead of the first Democratic mayoral primary debate on June 4, one major endorsement remains from the progressive wing of the party: Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. It’s not yet clear how or when the New York lawmaker, whose endorsement will likely carry significant weight, will throw her support to any of the candidates.
Early voting begins on June 14 before the primary on June 24.
The race for mayor in New York City may be tightening. A new poll shows Zohran Mamdani making gains on Andrew Cuomo. But many voters are still making up their minds in the final weeks before the primary. NBC New York’s Andrew Siff reports.
NYC Democratic mayoral primary debate: What to know
NBC 4 New York/WNBC, Telemundo 47/WNJU and POLITICO New York will partner together to host the debate on June 4.
The list of qualified candidates for the debate, according to the NYC Campaign Finance Board (in alphabetical order) are:
- Adrienne Adams
- Michael Blake
- Andrew Cuomo
- Brad Lander
- Zohran Mamdani
- Zellnor Myrie
- Jessica Ramos
- Scott Stringer
- Whitney Tilson
The debate will begin at 7 p.m., airing live on WNBC-TV and across WNBC’s and WNJU-TV’s streaming and digital platforms, including the NBC 4 New York and Telemundo Noreste streaming channels.
