NEW YORK, NEW YORK – JUNE 08: Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams, who’s running as a Democratic mayoral candidate, June 8, 2021 in the Queens borough of New York City. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
Caitlin Sinclair, OAN NY Political Correspondent
UPDATED 2:45 PM PT – Monday, August 22, 2022
New Yorkers are heading to the polls to vote in the state’s second round of primary elections, with several key congressional races on the ballot and as far as endorsements go, the approval of one in particular is standing out. New York Mayor Eric Adams has favored a few candidates.
In Tuesday’s state Senate primary, Mayor Adams endorsed three candidates facing rivals backed by the democratic socialists of America. The Mayor said the endorsements are meant to help elect people willing to tighten the state’s bail law, a move that he believes is needed to address an uptick in serious crime.
During an unrelated press conference he addressed his recent backings;
“I just want reasonable thinking lawmakers. I want people that are responding to the constituents, the people of this city, they want to support the police, they want safe streets, they want to make sure people who are part of the catch-release-repeat system don’t continue to hurt innocent New Yorkers.”
The Mayor has recently held a fundraiser for Miguelina Camilo, a lawyer running against Senator Gustavo Rivera in the Bronx. Mr. Rivera was endorsed by representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
Additionally, in a newly created Senate district that covers parts of Queens, Brooklyn and Manhattan, the Mayor has endorsed a moderate Democrat, Elizabeth Crowley, over Kristen Gonzalez, a tech worker who is supported by the democratic socialists.
In Brooklyn, Mr. Adams endorsed incumbent Senator Kevin Parker, who is facing a challenge from Kaegan Mays-Williams, a former Manhattan assistant district attorney, and David Alexis, a former lyft driver and co-founder of the drivers cooperative who also has support from the democratic socialists.
Yet, it’s unclear just how much influence Mr. Adams’s endorsements will have when overall voter turnout is a topic of concern. If you thought turnout was low before, this second primary is expected to have an even worse turnout.
Recent voter statistics showed that Tuesday’s primary could possibly be even sleepier than June’s contest, which featured the race for governor and drew fewer than 475,000 registered citywide Democrats to cast their ballots. Due not only to lack of knowledge about the divided primaries, but to the race falling on a popular travel month, voters may be hard to come by. That means that a very small percentage of the electorate will have an outsized influence on a number of consequential races, some of which may ultimately impact Democrats’ control of the house.
So, Eric Adams is attempting to use endorsements to influence policy. Let us see if New Yorkers play along.