Former police officer Eric Adams took the lead in New York City’s Democratic primary on Tuesday, which is sure to be the post-pandemic mayor of America’s largest metropolis.
Shortly after 11:30 p.m. (03:30 GMT), the current Brooklyn Borough President had 30.9% of the vote, according to the New York State Board of Elections, well ahead of the progressive Maya Wiley, who rallied 21.6%.
With 86% Democrats among New Yorkers affiliated with a party, it is assumed that the winner of these primaries will be victorious on November 2 in the general election, and will succeed Bill de Blasio, in office since 2014 and today extremely unpopular.
After 16 months of a health crisis that weakened the city’s economy, the new mayor will be challenged to revive New York.
Tech entrepreneur Andrew Yang, also a moderate, led the polls for a long time, but stalled in recent weeks and ended up falling apart on Tuesday, garnering just 11.6% of the vote.
At midnight, whoever was a candidate for the Democratic presidential primary admitted his defeat. “I will not be the next mayor of New York by tonight’s numbers,” he said.
Just over a year ago, New York was the national epicenter of the pandemic, with more than 33,000 deaths due to the virus.
But the city is coming back to life after harsh months of confinement, thanks to a strong vaccination campaign. Virtually all coronavirus restrictions have been lifted and 66% of adults in the Big Apple have received at least one dose of the vaccine.
“The stakes are high here,” estimated Columbia University expert Lincoln Mitchell, citing issues ranging from post-pandemic recovery to climate change.
– “Law” –
Adams was favored by his image as a former policeman, in a city where insecurity is now the main concern of citizens.
Although crime figures remain at historically low levels, shootings have risen 73% since the beginning of the year, and a series of incidents on the subway has fueled concern.
“New York needs law and order, and to a great extent,” New Yorker Susan Green, a 74-year-old interior designer, told AFP after voting in the morning on the Upper East Side.
“I’ve seen drastic changes and I don’t like what I’m seeing,” said the woman, who voted for Andrew Yang.
Born and raised in New York, Eric Adams is a self-made man, a former police officer who fought during his 22-year career against discrimination, a scourge on the NYPD.
– Primary “single” –
Maya Wiley, in second place among the 13 candidates, benefited from the support of several figures on the left wing of the Democratic Party, especially Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a star of this sector.
This lawyer specialized in human rights and former adviser to De Blasio positioned herself as an alternative to the security approach, even proposing to cut part of the police budget, as many activists of the movement born after the death of the African-American George Floyd claim.
With more than 89% of the votes counted (it remains to count the votes by mail), Wiley was ahead of Kathryn García (20.4%) on Tuesday, a moderate who held various municipal positions.
New York debuts a new voting system in these primaries, which asks voters to choose five candidates in order of preference.
Unless a candidate gathers more than 50% of the votes from the start – a highly unlikely scenario – the candidate who came last is eliminated, and their votes are redistributed towards their second option. And so with the rest, until a candidate exceeds 50%.
This elimination system, coupled with the significant delays that New York often experiences in counting votes by mail, could postpone the announcement of the winner by several days.
The uncertainty about the traditionally very low turnout (only 14% of Democrats voted in the last primaries, in 2017) further complicates the equation.
The absence of a candidate by more than 30% at the polls and the launch of this new voting method make this primary “unique” in the history of the city, according to Doug Muzzio, professor of political science at Baruch University. .
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