Source: Politics<\/p>\n
NEW YORK \u2014 They\u2019re visiting shops along bustling thoroughfares in the Bronx, addressing parishioners at churches in Southeast Queens and lining up for pictures with children on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. But little ground has been so heavily trafficked as the area outside Brooklyn Borough Hall, where stores, government buildings and a transit hub converge in the heart of one of the city\u2019s most voter-rich districts in its most populous<\/p>\n
The Democratic primary candidates have been making stops outside Brooklyn Borough Hall: Andrew Yang received a Covid test at a mobile truck there in March. Scott Stringer, the city\u2019s comptroller, and Shaun Donovan, an Obama administration official, kicked off petitioning there in March. Kathryn Garcia, a longtime city manager, handed out campaign literature during morning rush hour last week, departing one hour before Maya Wiley \u2014 a lawyer and former mayoral aide \u2014 arrived to greet commuters. And Eric Adams, the Brooklyn borough president, needs only to walk outside his office.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s no wonder: The perimeter of Borough Hall lies in a state Assembly district where 46,517 people voted in four recent elections \u2014 more than in any other district across the city, according to an independent analysis conducted by consulting firm BerlinRosen.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s the civic center of Brooklyn,\u201d City Council Member Steve Levin said. \u201cIf you\u2019re running for mayor, it\u2019s kind of a perfect place.\u201d<\/p>\n
Candidates competing in the June 22 primary are banking on support in New York\u2019s traditional battleground areas. But the advent of a ballot system allowing voters to rank up to five people in an eight-way field \u2014 with six first-time candidates who have no proven bases of support \u2014 has scrambled political conventions. Contenders are hitting low-turnout neighborhoods they would ordinarily bypass, while also trying to secure support on their opponents\u2019 turf, with the hope of being ranked second or third.<\/p>\n
Garcia and Wiley are trying to cut into Stringer\u2019s base on Manhattan\u2019s Upper West Side, while all three also compete in Brownstone Brooklyn. Adams expects to outperform his rivals in Central Brooklyn, though Wiley is refusing to cede that ground. Adams and Ray McGuire, a former finance executive, are dueling for support in the predominantly Black neighborhoods of Southeast Queens. And Yang, the former presidential candidate, is banking on piecing together a coalition of white moderates, Asians and Orthodox Jews \u2014 eating into voting blocs Adams had been counting on to expand his base.<\/p>\n
And all are making a play for Latino voters<\/a>, who are politically diverse, growing in numbers and have never had representation in the city\u2019s highest elected office.<\/p>\n \u201cThe need to compete everywhere is magnified by ranked-choice voting,\u201d Alex Navarro-McKay, who prepared the voter analysis for BerlinRosen, said. \u201cIn that respect, this election will look different than past multi-candidate primaries, where candidates focused on consolidating and mobilizing their bases.\u201d<\/p>\n Further complicating candidates\u2019 calculations is a shift in voting patterns since the last competitive mayoral election in 2013. A movement supporting far-left ideals has taken root in neighborhoods along the East River, though it remains to be seen whether their interest in national races translates into excitement for a municipal election without a candidate who has captured their devotion. Dianne Morales, who would seem a natural fit for those voters, has been dealing with a staff revolt over the past week<\/a>.<\/p>\n New Yorkers of Hispanic and Asian descent are expected to be more consequential than in prior years, particularly since Yang, would make history as the city\u2019s first Asian-American mayor.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Stringer has been visiting churches in Southeast Queens \u2014 a predominantly Black area where voters generally favor moderate Democrats. It would seem like prime territory for Adams and McGuire \u2014 Black men with more centrist positions than Stringer, a white man who in 2019 backed a challenger to the local congressman\u2019s pick for district attorney.<\/p>\n But Stringer, who has lost some support following contested allegations of sexual assault, sees an upside to campaigning in that area, which includes the two Assembly Districts that together accounted for 26,287 votes in the 2013 primary \u2014 making them the most civically active in the borough that year. The comptroller stopped by four churches in Jamaica, Queens on May 9, just as he was seeking to rehabilitate his candidacy from an accusation of sexual misconduct from 20 years ago<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople in this community are raised to come out and vote,\u201d Dennis Walcott, president of the Queens library and a lifelong resident of Southeast Queens, said recently, as he recounted the attention his neighborhood had been receiving from mayoral candidates.<\/p>\n Voters there appear split between Adams and McGuire, if endorsements and campaign cash are any indication.<\/p>\n Adams has received 424 donations totaling more than $80,000 in those two districts, according to a POLITICO analysis of data provided by the city Campaign Finance Board<\/a>. That dwarfs financial support for his competitors in the area.<\/p>\n But McGuire has won endorsements from prominent Southeast Queens politicians, including Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.), state Sen. Leroy Comrie and Assembly Member Vivian Cook. Perhaps more important, according to McGuire adviser Tyquana Henderson-Rivers, is support from civic organizations that drive people to the polls.<\/p>\n \u201cWe didn\u2019t just go after grasstops and elected officials, and we certainly have our share out there. We\u2019re holding our own with Eric,\u201d Henderson-Rivers said in an interview. \u201cWe have the leadership of civic, tenant and block associations.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s what\u2019s priceless,\u201d she added. \u201cI\u2019ll take them anytime and twice on Sunday over some of these electeds.\u201d<\/p>\n Another hotly-contested area is the Upper West Side of Manhattan \u2014 home to the 69th state Assembly District, which produced the largest vote total in the 2013 primary. Stringer grew up as a politician in that area and expects a strong showing, despite the recent allegation that cost him progressive endorsers.<\/p>\n In the days following the accusations that he groped a 2001 campaign volunteer against her will \u2014 a claim he has denied \u2014 several residents in the area told POLITICO they plan to vote for Stringer.<\/p>\n \u201cI still support him. He\u2019s a great candidate,\u201d said 68-year-old Brent Saunders. \u201cI always think of sexual harassment of someone using their power against someone. It\u2019s becoming irritating for me because you\u2019re hearing more and more of these stories, and it\u2019s very irritating \u2014 the fact that almost anything is an issue.\u201d<\/p>\n Others were dismissive of Wiley, who worked as City Hall attorney under outgoing Mayor Bill de Blasio for two years and provided legal analysis on MSNBC. Wiley, a first-time candidate who would become the city\u2019s first female mayor, is hoping to peel progressive voters from Stringer. But on the Upper West Side last month, one person referred to her as a \u201cmedia personality\u201d and another called her a \u201cpolitical dilettante.\u201d<\/p>\n Nevertheless, Wiley has raked in nearly $92,000 from 1,171 donations in that Assembly District \u2014 more individual contributions than any candidate other than Stringer, who received $134,610 from 1,346 donors.<\/p>\n None of that was enough to move Assembly Member Daniel O\u2019Donnell, who represents that district and endorsed Garcia \u2014 a first-time candidate who worked as de Blasio\u2019s sanitation commissioner and go-to crisis manager.<\/p>\n Garcia has been gaining momentum since the endorsement of the New York Times<\/a>, which holds sway among left-of-center white Democrats. Her poll numbers have been improving<\/a> and her fundraising has picked up steam<\/a>. As her standing improves, Garcia has been spending more time on the Upper West Side, and on Friday greeted students and parents at a public school on West 84th Street.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is a citywide campaign that is building a grassroots coalition of number one support from every borough. Kathryn is going everywhere and talking to everyone, which is why she has the highest percentage of donations from New York City \u2014 84.7 percent,\u201d campaign spokesperson Lindsey Green said. \u201cWe’ll continue to be on the ground, citywide, through election day.\u201d<\/p>\n Wiley\u2019s team sees her path to victory as a mix of white liberals and Black voters, particularly those who reliably turn out in Central Brooklyn. The strategy mirrors de Blasio\u2019s winning coalition and she has received some of the same endorsements he did in 2013 \u2014 most notably health care workers union 1199 SEIU<\/a>.<\/p>\n At a recent campaign stop outside Brooklyn Borough Hall, Wiley told POLITICO she intends to campaign on the Upper West Side and in Central and Brownstone Brooklyn in the final weeks. \u201cThat\u2019s where we have a lot of voters, but it also represents this broad coalition I\u2019m pulling together which is Black, Latino, progressive and white, particularly white women,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Her staff has divided the city into three tiers based on demographics and past turnout. The team then determines how many first-, second- and third-place votes Wiley needs to win in each of those districts and focuses her time accordingly, according to a person involved in the strategy.<\/p>\n Wiley is hoping to steal support from Adams in his home base of Central Brooklyn, and capitalized on his weak relationships with high-profile politicians in that area to secure big-name<\/a> endorsements<\/a> like Reps. Hakeem Jeffries and Yvette Clarke. She planned to campaign with Jeffries Tuesday morning along Utica Avenue.<\/p>\n She has received 854 contributions totaling $52,842 in the 57th Assembly District, where a progressive upstart unseated an incumbent in a 2018 primary. Adams, by comparison, has $60,800 from 345 donors, according to POLITICO\u2019s review.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s some pretty striking commonality across neighborhoods. Eric\u2019s traditional support in Central Brooklyn is definitely something that you see in Southeast Queens, but then also the very small but big-in-a-primary population on the North Shore [of Staten Island] and in the West Bronx,\u201d Adams consultant Matt Rey said. \u201cAnd the more people get to know him, the more they like him.\u201d<\/p>\n In private, several people close to Adams have acknowledged Wiley\u2019s potential to seize votes from him but believe she has been an underwhelming candidate.<\/p>\n Adams drew a lively crowd one recent Friday as he opened a campaign office in Crown Heights.<\/p>\n After the celebration, one supporter from East New York explained why he backs the former NYPD captain.<\/p>\n \u201cAs a Black man who has lived the majority of my 53 years on the planet in this city, and having been stopped, frisked and beaten several times by police officers in the city, I need, want and dream of change,\u201d Derek Caldwell said.<\/p>\n Caldwell, who works in a homeless shelter, said he likes Wiley and appreciates \u201cthe sense of pride [Yang] has given Asian Americans\u201d but does not like \u201chis seeming lack of knowledge concerning police reform plans.\u201d<\/p>\n He said he connects with Adams, who grew up in hardscrabble Brooklyn and Queens neighborhoods. \u201cHis 20-some-odd years in law enforcement, his founding of the 100 Blacks in Law Enforcement Who Care and his experiencing of police abuse personally at 15 speaks volumes to me,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Adams has faced his share of setbacks this cycle at the hands of Yang, a former presidential candidate embarking on his first run for local office.<\/p>\n Yang, the son of Taiwanese immigrants, received the backing of prominent Asian politicians, including Rep. Grace Meng and state Sen. John Liu. Adams \u2014 recognizing the difficulty he may face as a moderate former cop appealing to white liberals \u2014 went into the race hoping to win over Asian-Americans, who have been voting in bigger numbers in recent years.<\/a><\/p>\n