Dianne Morales concedes NYC mayoral race, ending left-wing bid
Dianne Morales, whose long-shot left-wing mayoral bid was upended by an unusual campaign unionization effort, formally conceded on Friday.
Morales, 54, finished with the sixth-most top-choice votes in unofficial in-person Democratic primary results published this week. By bowing out of the race, she joined Andrew Yang, the former presidential candidate, who conceded at his Election Night party last week.
In a video address released Friday morning, Morales said her exit is “not the end of something, it is the beginning.”
“We’ve altered the discourse and the policies in this race to be more inclusive and reflective of our working class, our Black and Brown families, our single moms, our LGBTQIA, our immigrants,” she said. “All of us.”
A former nonprofit executive, Morales saw an already challenging climb to the top of the crowded Democratic field grow more imposing in late May: Her grass-roots campaign bled staffers amid a chaotic unionization effort and claims of a toxic work environment.
Morales called the tumult among her staff a “beautiful mess.” But the staffers’ effort to organize, which featured a work stoppage, was an oddity in the world of municipal politics and raised questions about the first-time candidate’s ability to manage a city that employs more than 300,000 workers.
The campaign ultimately fired about 45 striking staffers, and Morales’ bid ended with a fizzle. In the late hours of the race, Maya Wiley consolidated progressive support, capturing endorsements from Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and other left-wing leaders.
In the preliminary in-person results released by the Board of Elections on Wednesday, Morales was eliminated after six ranked-choice rounds. She captured 2.8% of the first-place vote. (Final results in the unsettled race are due the week of July 12.)
Morales, an Afro-Latina candidate, leaned into the historic nature of her campaign as she conceded, declaring that she had built a movement.
“Come what may, I will always work to transform our city, how it runs, how our communities are represented, and how we continue to instill a sense of hope in the possibility of really becoming a city where everyone can live in dignity,” she said. “Because politics can and should serve all the people.”
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