Public Advocate rolls out mayor and comptroller endorsements

Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, the second-highest ranking elected official in the city, rolled out his endorsements for the mayoral and comptroller races last week.

- By ARIAMA C. LONG

"I'm very concerned for a Cuomo mayoralty — bringing back something that didn't work the first time and had to leave to replace something that's not working now," said Williams. "It's not what we need to be doing, and we have amazing leaders in this city who never left. They've been doing the work, on the ground. They are what New York needs."

With the city's ranked choice voting (RCV) system, voters can rank up to five candidates in order of preference. If no candidate secures more than 50% of first-choice votes, the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated, and those votes are redistributed based on voters' next preferences. This process continues until a winner is declared.

Williams announced that his strategy is to rank his long-time friend Comptroller Brad Lander and City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams as his top choices in this year's mayoral bid to replace incumbent Mayor Eric Adams. Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani would be his third choice, followed by State Senator Zellnor Myrie and former Comptroller Scott Stringer as fourth and fifth choices. There are 11 candidates officially on the ballot for the primary on June 24.

"As the top two picks, Brad Lander and Adrienne Adams represent the strongest leadership New Yorkers can rally behind. Both have governed with vision, transparency, and deep compassion for working families across the five boroughs," said Williams.