NYC mayoral race: Adams, Garcia emerge as top Democratic candidates in ranked-choice vote

The New York City Board of Elections released its preliminary ranked-choice election results on Tuesday, showing Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams and former Sanitation Commissioner Kathryn Garcia in a tight race for the Democratic mayoral primary.

Adams, a former NYPD captain, has 51 percent of the vote to Garcia’s 49 percent after 11 rounds of ranked-choice voting, according to preliminary tabulations from the city's Board of Elections. Although Adams crossed the 50 percent threshold and edged Garcia by under 16,000 votes, which are not official or final, there are still more than 120,000 outstanding absentee ballots to be counted.

Voting ended on June 22 and Adams enjoyed a lead of roughly 75,000 votes over civil rights lawyer Maya Wiley, who saw a boost in the polls after being endorsed by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y. Garcia was in third at the time.

Although the preliminary results released Tuesday showed Wiley eliminated, it is unclear if she is officially out of the race until the board certifies all ballots cast. In round 10, for instance, Garcia edged Wiley by half a percentage point.

The Board of Elections did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Voters overwhelmingly approved a 2019 ballot measure to implement ranked-choice voting, which allows them to list their preferences in order for up to five candidates.

If no candidate receives a majority of first-choice votes, the one with the fewest number of first-choice votes is eliminated and their votes get redistributed to other candidates based on their voters’ next choice. The process repeats itself until someone crosses the 50 percent threshold.

Adams has signaled he plans to accept the results and Garcia’s campaign has stressed that the results are not final until the board counts all ballots. The board’s timeline suggests all counting could be done by early-to-mid July.

Whoever wins the Democratic primary will be heavily favored in November against the Republican nominee — radio host and 1970s anti-crime activist Curtis Sliwa.