Tuesday, May 20`, 2025
Year : 2, Issue: 38
by Brigid Bergin, Gothamist
With only five weeks to go in the Democratic primary for mayor, Zohran Mamdani took the unusual step of urging his own supporters to donate to a rival, making a move analysts said shows how a ranked-choice alliance could undermine the frontrunner, Andrew Cuomo.
Mamdani posted a video asking New Yorkers to donate to Council Speaker Adrienne Adams’ campaign for mayor on Sunday. While Mamdani has already hit the city’s fundraising cap of $8 million for the primary, Adams has yet to qualify for matching funds. Nevertheless, a recent poll showed a hint of momentum for her candidacy, and her base includes the same moderate Black voters Cuomo is courting. It was the first time in the crowded Democratic primary that a candidate urged supporters to donate to a rival.
Mamdani’s video, which had been viewed more than half a million times as of Monday afternoon, was not coordinated with Adams’ campaign, her spokesperson Lupe Todd-Medina said.
Trip Yang, a Democratic strategist who is not working for any current mayoral campaigns, said the move reflects a political reality with Cuomo dominating the race: Alliances can move money and votes.
“If you are a progressive or an anti-Cuomo Democrat, you should be giving Zohran Mamdani his flowers,” Yang said. “It is a very explicit [ranked-choice voting] play. It is something that dramatically can help out another candidate and this is fairly rare.”
Mamdani, the democratic socialist assemblymember who represents northwest Queens, offered a rationale for the unorthodox move in the video.
“ Why would I be asking you to donate to her? Because we are all running together to defeat Andrew Cuomo, to defeat Eric Adams’ second term, which is what Andrew Cuomo is running for,” he said. “And in order for us to be able to do so, we need to make sure that every campaign has the resources it needs to share that message with as many New Yorkers as possible.”
The current fundraising period ends Monday, with a filing deadline on Friday. The next round of matching fund payments will go out to those who qualify a week later, and it’s a critical one for campaigns. That May 30 payment is the last opportunity for candidates to receive matching funds until June 20, four days before the primary and six days into early voting.
Mamdani is part of a slate of four candidates, along with Adrienne Adams, Brad Lander and Zellnor Myrie, who have been endorsed by the Working Families Party, who all agreed to boost each other while seeking to block the former governor from winning the primary.
“Despite three terms as governor before resigning in disgrace and with universal name recognition, Andrew Cuomo has been unable to secure a majority in any poll,” Mamdani said in a statement.
The most recent Marist College poll shows Cuomo with 37% support in the first round of tallies and Mamdani in second place with 18%.
“That means the outcome of this election will almost certainly be determined in multiple ranked choice rounds. We need strong candidates in this race with the resources to overcome Cuomo’s MAGA billionaires, and that includes Speaker Adams,” Mamdani added.
Cuomo spokesperson Rich Azzopardi did not comment directly on Mamdani’s video or the potential ranked-choice alliances forming to chip away at Cuomo’s lead.
In a ranked-choice election, voters can select up to five candidates in order of preference. If no candidate secures more than 50% support in the first round of counting, the candidates in last place are eliminated and the ballots are redistributed based on voters’ subsequent choices. That process continues until two candidates remain and the one with the most votes wins.
Supporters of ranked choice voting say it encourages civil campaigning by incentivizing alliances. But candidates in the last primary for mayor did not employ a ranked choice strategy until very late in the race.
In 2021, mayoral candidate Andrew Yang endorsed rival Kathryn Garcia as his number two choice just three days before the primary. Garcia lost to Eric Adams by just over 7,000 votes. Trip Yang, who worked for Andrew Yang’s campaign four years ago, said the endorsement moved votes in the ranked-choice tally of that race.
“When Andrew Yang got eliminated, his supporters disproportionately went to Kathryn Garcia,” Trip Yang said. Garcia overtook Maya Wiley and came within striking distance of defeating Eric Adams. “So, obviously it made a huge difference,” Trip Yang added.
Cuomo spokesperson Rich Azzopardi shared a statement touting Cuomo’s pitch to voters.
“This city is in crisis and Governor Cuomo is the only person in this race with the experience to lead and the proven record of results and that’s why he has built a broad coalition of support that reflects our great city,” Azzopardi said.
Todd-Medina pointed to the latest Marist Poll that showed support for Adrienne Adams climbing in the race. She is currently polling at 9%, behind both Mamdani and Cuomo.
“Adrienne has doubled her support without spending a dime and is building the broadest coalition of any candidate in this race,” Todd-Medina said. “She’s uniting all New Yorkers – and is now the first candidate in city history whose opponent chose to fundraise for her because her strength is undeniable.”
Other candidates have offered more subtle signals of support for Adrienne Adams in a ranked-choice contest. At a mayoral forum in Southeast Queens on Saturday, former comptroller Scott Stringer said he remembered being summoned to report to Community Board 12 in that same room where she ran its meetings for five years as chair.
“I had watched and listened to the meeting and I said, ‘I wonder if this woman’s ever going to run?’ And look where she is today. So let’s give her respect,” Stringer said to applause. “That’s my pitch for ranked-choice voting.”
Observers saw Mamdani’s move as a more public play to not only support another candidate but also to make up ground beyond progressives and the assemblymember’s district in Astoria. Adrienne Adams hails from Southeast Queens and is relying on the support from moderate Black voters there, particularly Black women.
“Zohran’s video is very smart for a few reasons,” said a Democratic strategist working on a different mayoral campaign who was not authorized to comment on the record. “Helping Adrienne Adams fundraise and in turn possibly allowing her to afford paid media can help cut into Cuomo’s numbers among Black voters, especially in Southeast Queens, helps fill out ballots with non-Cuomo candidates, and shows that he’s a team player—something left-wing and socialist politicians are often accused of not being.”
