2021 New York City mayoral election


An election for the mayor of New York City was held on November 2, 2021. Incumbent mayor Bill de Blasio was term-limited and ineligible to run for re-election. Democratic Brooklyn Borough president and former police officer Eric Adams won the election in a landslide, defeating Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa. Adams became the city's second Black mayor.
Primary elections took place on June 22, 2021. Rather than the plurality voting of previous primaries, the elections were the first to use ranked-choice voting. Sliwa, founder of Guardian Angels, handily won the Republican primary over New York State Federation of Taxi Drivers founder Fernando Mateo. Polling showed businessman Andrew Yang as the frontrunner as of May 2021, but his lead later shrank as Adams emerged and eventually won in the final round of the [2021 New York City Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic mayoral primary|Democratic primary] over former New York City Department of Sanitation Commissioner Kathryn Garcia.
In the general election, Adams maintained a sizable lead over Sliwa and was heavily favored to win. On election day, Adams won easily, receiving 66.99% of the vote to Sliwa's 27.76%. He was sworn in on January 1, 2022.

Background

In the 2017 mayoral election, lncumbent Bill de Blasio was re-elected mayor of New York City for a second term, defeating Republican nominee Nicole Malliotakis. New York City used proportional representation from 1937 to 1947. Such a system produced benefits to voters and elected a more diverse city council than had been produced under first-past-the-post voting before and after.
In 2019, New York City voters passed Ballot Question #1 to amend the City Charter to "give voters the choice of ranking up to five candidates in primary and special elections for mayor, public advocate, comptroller, borough president, and city council beginning in January 2021". The first election in the city to use ranked-choice voting was in the 24th council district in Queens, which took place on February 2, 2021. This was the first time ranked-choice voting was used in the New York City mayoral election.
In 2019, journalists and political commentators predicted several potential 2021 mayoral candidates, including Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams, Bronx Borough President Rubén Díaz Jr., NYC Council Speaker Corey Johnson, NYC Comptroller Scott Stringer, and NYC Public Advocate Jumaane Williams.
By May 2021, thirteen candidates had qualified for the [|Democratic Party primary], and two for the [|Republican Party primary]. There are also minor party and independent campaigns for the general election in November.

Democratic primary

Polling in late January and early February 2021 showed businessman Andrew Yang as the Democratic primary frontrunner, with Adams in second place and Stringer in third place.
In April, Scott Stringer was accused of sexual abuse by Jean Kim. Stringer denied the allegations, claiming that the relationship had been consensual. In June, a second woman accused him of sexual misconduct.
On May 5, 2021, Politico reported that a recent poll found that Eric Adams was leading the Democratic primary contest; this marked the first time since January that any Democratic candidate other than Yang had led in a public poll. On June 7, Spectrum News reported that Adams had maintained a lead in the Democratic primary.
On July 6, the Associated Press reported that Adams had won the Democratic primary. The Guardian stated that Adams, a "former police captain", had prevailed "after appealing to the political center and promising to strike the right balance between fighting crime and ending racial injustice in policing". An earlier report from The New York Times asserted that Adams had run as a "working-class underdog" and had "hammered away at the message that he was the only candidate who could tackle both crime and police reform".

Candidates

Eliminated in primary

Write-in candidates who did not qualify for ballot access

Withdrawn

Declined

Republican primary

Candidates

Major candidates

Two candidates appeared on the Republican primary ballot.
CandidateExperienceAnnounced

Fernando Mateo
Founder of the New York State Federation of Taxi Drivers


Curtis Sliwa
Founder of the Guardian Angels 'Radio talk show host'


Sliwa ran on a platform opposing the Defund the Police movement, supporting a property tax overhaul so that wealthy citizens pay more in comparison to working-class residents, keeping in place the Specialized High School Admissions Test while increasing opportunities for vocational training in charter schools, and focusing on fiscal restraint. He also opposes the killing of unwanted animals and supports making all animal shelters no-kill shelters.

Failed to qualify for ballot access

  • Abbey Laurel-Smith, businesswoman
  • Adam Oremland, attorney and social media personality
  • Bill Pepitone, retired NYPD officer
  • Sara Tirschwell, CFO of Foundation House

Withdrawn

  • Cleopatra Fitzgerald, activist
  • Christopher Scott Krietchman, entrepreneur

Declined

Third parties

Conservative Party

Nominee

  • Bill Pepitone, retired NYPD officer

Working Families Party

Candidate

  • No candidate nominated

Declined

Empowerment Party

Nominee

  • Quanda S. Francis, Sykes Capital Management President and Accountant

Libertarian Party

Nominee

  • Stacey Prussman, activist and comedian

Party for Socialism and Liberation

Candidate

Independents

Declared

  • Thomas Downs, activist
  • Quanda Francis, president of Sykes Capital Management
  • Christopher Scott Krietchman

General election

Results

Though Adams won the election easily in the heavily Democratic city, he received fewer votes than Bill de Blasio in either of his two mayoral runs, and lost many heavily Asian American precincts. This is partly attributed to Sliwa's pledge to halt the construction of homeless shelters which were proposed by Adams to be built in neighborhoods such as Asian-majority Sunset Park. Other issues of importance to Asian American activist leaders included proposed reforms to the Specialized High Schools Admissions Test in high schools, bail reform, and plans to build new jails in neighborhoods such as Chinatown, Manhattan.

By borough

Adams won four boroughs out of five, mirroring the Democratic performances in 2013 and 2017 to win Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan and Bronx while losing Staten Island. He performed the best in Manhattan, crossing 80% of the vote, and earned more than 70% of the vote in Brooklyn and Bronx. In contrast, Sliwa performed more strongly in Queens, with slightly more than a third of the vote, and handily defeated Adams in Staten Island, the city's only borough to back Trump in 2020.

By congressional district

Adams won in 11 districts out of 13, securing more than 80% of the vote in the 13th, 15th and 16th districts in the city's northwest. He also crossed the 70% threshold in six more districts, but underperformed significantly in the Asian-plorality 6th district, where he only beat Sliwa out by 60 votes. Conversely, Sliwa won the 11th district, the city's only one to back Trump in 2020 and the only one to be represented by a Republican; additionally, he outran Adams in the portion of the 3rd district.
DistrictAdamsSliwaRepresentative
43.1%53.4%
78.3%19.1%
47.8%47.7%
73.0%18.9%
74.1%20.7%
77.0%66.9%
73.4%21.0%
31.5%61.5%
75.8%18.2%
82.8%11.6%
59.2%34.6%
82.9%14.0%
81.5%15.2%