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Eric Adams Is Elected Mayor of New York City
Mr. Adams, a Democrat and former police captain, will be the second Black mayor in the city’s history.Eric Leroy Adams, a former New York City police captain whose attention-grabbing persona and keen focus on racial justice fueled a decades-long career in public life, was elected on Tuesday as the 110th mayor of New York and the second Black mayor in the city’s history.Mr. Adams, who will take office on Jan. 1, faces a staggering set of challenges as the nation’s largest city grapples with the enduring consequences of the pandemic, including a precarious and unequal economic recovery and continuing concerns about crime and the quality of city life, all shaped by stark political divisions over how New York should move forward.His victory signals the start of a more center-left Democratic leadership that, he has promised, will reflect the needs of the working- and middle-class voters of color who delivered him the party’s nomination and were vital to his general election coalition.Yet it seems likely that many of the officials Mr. Adams must work with closely — prominent City Council members, the public advocate and other Democrats who were favored to win on Tuesday — may be substantially to Mr. Adams’s left.Mr. Adams, whose win over his Republican opponent, Curtis Sliwa, appeared to be resounding, will begin the job with significant political leverage.He assembled a broad coalition, and was embraced by both Mayor Bill de Blasio, who sought to chart more of a left-wing course for New York, and by centrist leaders like Michael R. Bloomberg, Mr. de Blasio’s predecessor. Mr. Adams was the favored candidate of labor unions and wealthy donors. And he and Gov. Kathy Hochul have made clear that they intend to have a more productive relationship than Mr. de Blasio had with Andrew M. Cuomo when he was governor.The Associated Press called Mr. Adams’s victory 10 minutes after polls closed, reflecting the overwhelming edge Democrats have in New York City even amid signs of low turnout. Minutes later, the A.P. declared Alvin Bragg, a Democrat, the winner of the Manhattan district attorney’s race. The calls came before those in closely watched governor’s races in New Jersey and Virginia.Observers of New York politics were awaiting results in two Long Island races for district attorney that tested suburban attitudes about the state’s recent criminal justice reforms. And in Buffalo, a fiercely contested matchup between India B. Walton, a democratic socialist and the Democratic nominee, and the incumbent mayor, Byron W. Brown, was getting national attention. The race was not expected to be decided on election night, in part because Mr. Brown waged a write-in campaign, and his votes were likely to require more scrutiny.In New York City, the difficulties that Mr. Adams, 61, will encounter were apparent even as he celebrated his victory.In one of the world’s financial capitals, workers are barely trickling back to their Midtown Manhattan offices. The tourism industry is suffering. Many of the city’s beloved restaurants and other businesses have closed for good. And even as Wall Street profits soar, the city’s unemployment rate stood at 9.8 percent in September, with job growth lagging behind the pace that some economists had predicted last spring.Curtis Sliwa, the Republican candidate, sought to attack his rival on matters of transparency and the Democat’s legal residence.Hilary Swift for The New York TimesMr. Adams will also inherit a budget gap of about $5 billion that will require immediate action, said Andrew S. Rein, president of the nonpartisan Citizens Budget Commission. There will be contracts to negotiate with city workers and, eventually, the federal aid that helped pay for some city priorities will dwindle.“Every decision has long-run implications,” Mr. Rein said. “If you start sooner, you can take care of it. When you’re in an emergency situation, it’s hard to make good decisions that are not painful.”Mr. Adams has stressed that he plans to focus on rooting out inefficiency, but the scope of the fiscal challenges will most likely require more difficult choices.He has made it clear that big business has a role to play in shepherding the city’s recovery, and there are indications that he may have a far warmer relationship with business leaders than Mr. de Blasio, who was elected on a fiery populist platform.“He’s restored confidence that the city is a place where business can thrive,” said Kathryn S. Wylde, who leads the business-aligned Partnership for New York City. “He’s demonstrated that he has the courage to, basically, be politically incorrect when it comes to dealing with the demonization of wealth and business.”There is no issue the next mayor has discussed more than public safety.Mr. Adams grew up poor in Queens and Brooklyn and says he was once a victim of police brutality. He spent his early years in public life as a transit police officer and, later, a captain who pushed, sometimes provocatively, for changes from within the system. That experience cemented his credibility with many older voters of color, some of whom mistrust the police while also worrying about crime.During the primary, amid a spike in gun violence and jarring attacks on the subway that fueled public fears about crime, Mr. Adams emerged as one of his party’s most unflinching advocates for the police maintaining a robust role in preserving public safety. He often clashed with those who sought to scale back law enforcement’s power in favor of promoting greater investments in mental health and other social services.Mr. Adams, who has said he has no tolerance for abusive officers, supports the restoration of a reformed plainclothes anti-crime unit. He opposes the abuse of stop-and-frisk policing tactics but sees a role for the practice in some circumstances. And he has called for a more visible police presence on the subways.The public safety issue remained on the minds of some voters on Tuesday.“Hopefully, since he used to be in N.Y.P.D., he could get everything amicable again with the city and the N.Y.P.D., because it’s been very dangerous out here,” said Esmirna Flores, 38, as she prepared to vote for Mr. Adams in the Bronx.Yet other voters said Mr. Adams’s emphasis on policing stoked misgivings. And he will certainly face resistance on the subject from some incoming City Council members.Tiffany Cabán, a prominent new member who was endorsed by the Democratic Socialists of America, said that on many issues, such as expanding bus and bike lanes, she was “ready to be collaborative.”“Then you’ll see that there are times where there will be tension,” Ms. Cabán said. After emphasizing potential areas of common ground on public safety matters, she pointed to the prospect of Mr. Adams’s more assertive policing policies and added: “We’re going to be ready for a fight on those things.”On the other side of the political spectrum, there are continuing tensions over vaccine mandates. Mr. Sliwa highlighted the issue, which has been difficult for labor leaders to navigate, and it appeared to fire up voters in conservative corners of the city in the race’s final days. The matter may be resolved by the time Mr. Adams takes office, but it underscores the extraordinary challenges that come with governing through a lingering pandemic.There may also be battles over education. Mr. de Blasio recently vowed to begin phasing out the gifted program in the city’s schools, which puts children on different academic tracks and has been criticized for exacerbating segregation. The issue inspires strong passions among parents.Mr. Adams has indicated that he wants to keep and expand access to the program, while also creating more opportunities for students who have learning disabilities, as he did. Mr. Adams, who speaks often about his own struggles with a learning disability, is a proponent of universal screening for dyslexia.More immediately, he faces the task of filling out his government.Throughout the campaign, Mr. Adams faced significant questions from Mr. Sliwa — and the news media — over matters of transparency, residency and his own financial dealings. The people he hires for his administration will play a significant role in setting the tone on issues of ethics and competence.Asked what he was looking for in the powerful position of first deputy mayor, Mr. Adams said on Tuesday that his “No. 1 criteria” was “emotional intelligence.”“If you don’t understand going through Covid, losing your home, living in a shelter, maybe losing your job, going through a health care crisis, if you don’t empathize with that person, you will never give them the services that they need,” he said.For some voters who went to the polls on Tuesday, it was Mr. Adams’s own life experience that compelled them to turn out.Mark Godfrey, a 65-year-old Black man, said Mr. Adams’s rise showed that “there are subtle changes that are occurring in the U.S.” related to racial equity and representation.“He’s been on both sides,” Mr. Godfrey said of Mr. Adams’s experiences with law enforcement. “He’s been a survivor, and he’s been part of the change.”Reporting was contributed by Nicholas Fandos, Nicole Hong, Jeffery C. Mays, Julianne McShane and James Thomas. More
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Mike Duggan Wins a Third Term as Detroit’s Mayor
Mayor Mike Duggan of Detroit was elected to a third term on Tuesday, The Associated Press projected, as voters signaled confidence in the direction of a city that has suffered from decades of disinvestment and population loss.Mr. Duggan, a Democrat who was elected eight years ago as the city was in the throes of municipal bankruptcy, has presided over a resurgence of Detroit’s commercial center and a restoration of basic city services like streetlights. New factories are opening, the Detroit Pistons basketball team moved back from the suburbs, and young college graduates have moved into downtown and Midtown, along with businesses catering to them.“Eight years ago, the problems Detroit was facing were just Detroit — no other city was talking about bankruptcy or streetlights,” Mr. Duggan said earlier this year. “Today, the challenges that we’re dealing with, every other city has.”But by Mr. Duggan’s own assessment, Detroit remains a work in progress. Violent crime is a persistent concern. Blighted and abandoned homes are a common sight, despite efforts to bulldoze or restore many buildings over the last decades. And some longtime residents, especially Black residents who stayed in Detroit through years of white flight to the suburbs, say they are concerned about gentrification as the white population grows and rents go up.Mr. Duggan, the first white mayor in decades of a city where nearly 80 percent of residents are Black, has also so far failed to deliver on his promise to end more than half a century of population decline. Data from the 2020 census showed the population had fallen more than 10 percent since 2010, to about 639,000 residents. The white, Asian and Hispanic populations increased in that period, but there were tens of thousands fewer Black Detroiters in the city. The mayor has disputed that data and pledged to challenge the census figures.Mr. Duggan’s opponent, Anthony Adams, a lawyer and fellow Democrat, focused his campaign on crime reduction, police reform and keeping longtime residents in the city. But he struggled to gain traction as local and national figures in the Democratic Party, including President Biden, gave their support to Mr. Duggan.“We’re starting to lose our Black population in the city, and we’re losing it because the policies of this administration are harmful to the people who have been here through thick and thin,” Mr. Adams said in an interview this summer. More
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Where Does Eric Adams Live? Reporters Staked Out a Brooklyn Block to Find Out.
As questions continued to swirl about Mr. Adams’s residence, reporters for Curbed tried to get to the bottom of the matter.One of the peculiarities of this year’s race for New York City mayor has been the difficulty reporters have had in pinning down where the Democratic candidate Eric Adams lives.Mr. Adams has said that he lives on the ground floor of his rental property in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn, but his tax returns suggested otherwise. He also owns an apartment in Fort Lee, N.J., with his companion, Tracey Collins. Twice, in response to reporters’ questions, he has promised to amend the tax returns. He has blamed the discrepancies on his accountant, who he said was homeless.To get to the bottom of this mystery, the real-estate news site Curbed staked out the Brooklyn home last week.At 4:18 a.m. last Tuesday, Mr. Adams pulled up to the curb in a gray Toyota Prius and parked illegally, in front of the garage of a plumbing supply company, Curbed reported.As Mr. Adams apparently slept, trucks trying to access the plumbing business “backed up all the way down Lafayette Avenue, causing a bona fide pileup.”Finally, at 8 a.m., a forklift from the supply company used a yellow rope to pull Mr. Adams’s car out of the way.When Mr. Adams left his house that morning, he found the traffic jam he had created blocking his path. So he drove down the sidewalk, photos show. Mr. Adams returned to the house that same evening, after participating in the final mayoral debate.Curbed considers its own stakeout inconclusive. It may also soon be a moot point. Mr. Adams is likely to win Tuesday’s election, which means that come January, he may be living in Gracie Mansion. More
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Election Day 2021: What to Watch in Tuesday’s Elections
Most of the political world’s attention on Tuesday will be focused on Virginia, where former Gov. Terry McAuliffe, a Democrat, is trying to return to his old office in a run against Glenn Youngkin, a wealthy Republican business executive. Polls show the race is a dead heat. And the themes of the contest — with Mr. McAuliffe trying relentlessly to tie Mr. Youngkin to former President Donald J. Trump, and Mr. Youngkin focusing on how racial inequality is taught in schools, among other cultural issues — have only amplified the election’s potential as a national bellwether. The results will be closely studied by both parties for clues about what to expect in the 2022 midterms.While the Virginia race is Tuesday’s marquee matchup, there are other notable elections taking place. Voters in many major American cities will choose their next mayor, and some will weigh in on hotly contested ballot measures, including on the issue of policing. There’s another governor’s race in New Jersey, too. Here is what to watch in some of the key contests that will provide the most detailed and textured look yet at where voters stand more than nine months into the Biden administration.Republicans are hoping Mr. Youngkin can prevail by cutting into Democratic margins in suburban Northern Virginia and turning out voters who remain motivated by Mr. Trump.Carlos Bernate for The New York TimesThe Virginia governor’s race is seen as a bellwetherDemocrats have won Virginia in every presidential contest since 2008. Last year, it wasn’t particularly close. Mr. Biden won by 10 percentage points.But Virginia also has a history of bucking the party of a new president — the state swung to the G.O.P. in 2009, during former President Barack Obama’s first year in office — and Republicans hope Mr. Youngkin has found a formula for success in the post-Trump era.To prevail, Mr. Youngkin needs to cut into the margins in suburban Northern Virginia, where voters have made the state increasingly Democratic, while also turning out a Republican base that remains motivated by Mr. Trump.His playbook has focused heavily on education, attacking Mr. McAuliffe for a debate remark that parents should not be directing what schools teach and capitalizing on a broader conservative movement against schools teaching about systemic racism. The result: Education has been the top issue in the race, according to an October Washington Post poll, giving Republicans the edge on a topic that has traditionally favored Democrats.Mr. McAuliffe has aggressively linked Mr. Youngkin to Mr. Trump, who endorsed the Republican but never traveled to Virginia to campaign for him. If Mr. Youngkin loses, it will showcase the G.O.P.’s ongoing challenge in being associated with Mr. Trump, even without Mr. Trump on the ballot. But if Mr. McAuliffe loses, it will intensify pressure on Democrats to develop a new, proactive message.Control of the Virginia House of Delegates is also up for grabs. For now, Democrats have an edge of 55-45 seats that they built during the Trump years.In the New Jersey governor’s race, the Democratic incumbent, Philip D. Murphy, is up for re-election. Polls have shown Mr. Murphy ahead, but Mr. Biden’s weakening job approval rating in the solidly Democratic state — which stood at 43 percent in a recent Monmouth poll — is a cause of concern. The results will be watched for evidence of how much of the erosion in Mr. Biden’s support has seeped down-ballot.India Walton, left, has the support of progressives like Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in her bid to be the next mayor of Buffalo, N.Y.Libby March for The New York TimesBig mayoralties: Boston, Buffalo, Atlanta and moreIt is not the biggest city with a mayor’s race on Tuesday, but the City Hall battle in Buffalo, N.Y., may be the most fascinating.India Walton, who would be the first socialist to lead a major American city in decades, defeated the incumbent Democratic mayor, Byron Brown, in the June primary. But Mr. Brown is now running a write-in campaign. .css-1xzcza9{list-style-type:disc;padding-inline-start:1em;}.css-3btd0c{font-family:nyt-franklin,helvetica,arial,sans-serif;font-size:1rem;line-height:1.375rem;color:#333;margin-bottom:0.78125rem;}@media (min-width:740px){.css-3btd0c{font-size:1.0625rem;line-height:1.5rem;margin-bottom:0.9375rem;}}.css-3btd0c strong{font-weight:600;}.css-3btd0c em{font-style:italic;}.css-1kpebx{margin:0 auto;font-family:nyt-franklin,helvetica,arial,sans-serif;font-weight:700;font-size:1.125rem;line-height:1.3125rem;color:#121212;}#NYT_BELOW_MAIN_CONTENT_REGION .css-1kpebx{font-family:nyt-cheltenham,georgia,’times new roman’,times,serif;font-weight:700;font-size:1.375rem;line-height:1.625rem;}@media (min-width:740px){#NYT_BELOW_MAIN_CONTENT_REGION .css-1kpebx{font-size:1.6875rem;line-height:1.875rem;}}@media (min-width:740px){.css-1kpebx{font-size:1.25rem;line-height:1.4375rem;}}.css-1gtxqqv{margin-bottom:0;}.css-1g3vlj0{font-family:nyt-franklin,helvetica,arial,sans-serif;font-size:1rem;line-height:1.375rem;color:#333;margin-bottom:0.78125rem;}@media (min-width:740px){.css-1g3vlj0{font-size:1.0625rem;line-height:1.5rem;margin-bottom:0.9375rem;}}.css-1g3vlj0 strong{font-weight:600;}.css-1g3vlj0 em{font-style:italic;}.css-1g3vlj0{margin-bottom:0;margin-top:0.25rem;}.css-19zsuqr{display:block;margin-bottom:0.9375rem;}.css-12vbvwq{background-color:white;border:1px solid #e2e2e2;width:calc(100% – 40px);max-width:600px;margin:1.5rem auto 1.9rem;padding:15px;box-sizing:border-box;}@media (min-width:740px){.css-12vbvwq{padding:20px;width:100%;}}.css-12vbvwq:focus{outline:1px solid #e2e2e2;}#NYT_BELOW_MAIN_CONTENT_REGION .css-12vbvwq{border:none;padding:10px 0 0;border-top:2px solid #121212;}.css-12vbvwq[data-truncated] .css-rdoyk0{-webkit-transform:rotate(0deg);-ms-transform:rotate(0deg);transform:rotate(0deg);}.css-12vbvwq[data-truncated] .css-eb027h{max-height:300px;overflow:hidden;-webkit-transition:none;transition:none;}.css-12vbvwq[data-truncated] .css-5gimkt:after{content:’See more’;}.css-12vbvwq[data-truncated] .css-6mllg9{opacity:1;}.css-qjk116{margin:0 auto;overflow:hidden;}.css-qjk116 strong{font-weight:700;}.css-qjk116 em{font-style:italic;}.css-qjk116 a{color:#326891;-webkit-text-decoration:underline;text-decoration:underline;text-underline-offset:1px;-webkit-text-decoration-thickness:1px;text-decoration-thickness:1px;-webkit-text-decoration-color:#326891;text-decoration-color:#326891;}.css-qjk116 a:visited{color:#326891;-webkit-text-decoration-color:#326891;text-decoration-color:#326891;}.css-qjk116 a:hover{-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;}Ms. Walton has won the backing of progressives, such as Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and some party leaders, like Senator Chuck Schumer, but other prominent Democrats have stayed neutral, most notably Gov. Kathy Hochul, a lifelong resident of the Buffalo region.Policing has been a major issue. Though Ms. Walton has distanced herself from wanting to reduce police funding, Mr. Brown attacked her on the issue in a television ad.In Boston, the runoff puts two City Council members, Michelle Wu and Annissa Essaibi George, against each other, with Ms. Wu running as the progressive. Ms. Wu, who is backed by Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, finished in first place in the primary.In New York City, Eric Adams, the borough president of Brooklyn and a Democrat, is expected to win the mayor’s race and has already fashioned himself as a national figure. “I am the face of the new Democratic Party,” Mr. Adams declared after his June primary win.In Miami, Mayor Francis Suarez, a rare big-city Republican mayor, is heavily favored to win re-election and is lined up to become the president of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, giving him a national platform.And in Atlanta, a crowded field of 14 candidates, including the City Council president, Felicia Moore, is expected to lead to a runoff as former Mayor Kasim Reed attempts to make a comeback.In Minneapolis, voters will decide whether to replace the Police Department with a new Department of Public Safety.Jenn Ackerman for The New York TimesThe future of policing is front and centerOne recurring theme in municipal races is policing, as communities grapple with the “defund the police” slogan that swept the country following the police killing of George Floyd last year. The debate is raging inside the Democratic Party over how much to overhaul law enforcement — and over how to talk about such an overhaul.Perhaps nowhere is the issue more central than in Minneapolis, the city where Mr. Floyd was killed, sparking civil unrest across the country. Voters there will decide on a measure to replace the troubled Minneapolis Police Department with a new Department of Public Safety.Mayor Jacob Frey, who is up for re-election, has opposed that measure and pushed for a more incremental approach. His challengers, among them Sheila Nezhad, want a more aggressive approach.Policing is a key issue not only in the Buffalo mayor’s race, but also in mayoral contests in Seattle, Atlanta and in Cleveland, where an amendment that would overhaul how the city’s police department operates is on the ballot as well.The mayor’s race in Cleveland puts Justin Bibb, a 34-year-old political newcomer, against Kevin Kelley, the City Council president. Mr. Bibb supports the police amendment and Mr. Kelley opposes it.Shontel Brown, a Democrat, is expected to win a special election for a House seat in Cleveland.Michael M. Santiago/Getty ImagesHouse races and Pennsylvania’s court battleThere are two special elections for House races in Ohio, with Shontel Brown, a Democratic Cuyahoga County Council member, expected to win a heavily Democratic seat in Cleveland. Mike Carey, a longtime Republican coal lobbyist, is favored in a district that sprawls across a dozen counties.Mr. Carey faces Allison Russo, a Democrat endorsed by Mr. Biden. Mr. Carey’s margin in a seat that Mr. Trump carried by more than 14 points last year will be another valuable indicator of the political environment.In Florida, a primary is being held for the seat of Representative Alcee Hastings, who died earlier this year. The winner will be favored in a January special election.The only statewide races happening in Pennsylvania on Tuesday are for the courts. The most closely watched contest is for the State Supreme Court, which features two appeals court judges, the Republican Kevin Brobson and the Democrat Maria McLaughlin. Democrats currently hold a 5-2 majority on the court and the seat being vacated was held by a Republican, so the result will not swing control.But millions of dollars in advertising are pouring into the state, a sign not just of the increasing politicization of judicial contests, but also of the state’s role as a top presidential battleground. More
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Buffalo Mayor's Race: Rematch Between India Walton and Byron Brown
A victory in the Buffalo mayor’s race on Tuesday by Ms. Walton would make history on several fronts. The incumbent mayor, Mr. Brown, has mounted a write-in campaign against her.BUFFALO, N.Y. — If Byron Brown succeeds in his frantic quest for a fifth term as mayor of Buffalo, he may well have a rubber stamp to thank.First elected in 2005, Mr. Brown, 63, is currently running a write-in campaign against India Walton, a self-described Democratic socialist who stunned the political world in June by winning the Democratic primary here.A general-election victory by Ms. Walton would be history-making on several fronts: She would be the first socialist to lead a major American city in decades, and the first woman — and first Black woman — to lead Buffalo, New York’s second-largest city.Ms. Walton’s early success, however, did not assure her a hearty embrace by state party leadership, as Gov. Kathy Hochul and Jay S. Jacobs, the chairman of the New York State Democratic Committee, declined to endorse her, even as the race entered its final days.That lack of unified, institutional support has given hope to Mr. Brown, who is considered a formidable challenger because of his long presence on the city’s political scene.Still, Ms. Walton’s is the only name that will be printed on ballots; outnumbered in a heavily Democratic town, Republicans are not mounting a candidate nor are any other parties.As a write-in candidate, Mr. Brown faces numerous logistical challenges, including trying to get voters to correctly mark his name on ballots; serious misspellings could disqualify any votes intended for him.So Mr. Brown’s campaign has purchased tens of thousands of ink stamps bearing the mayor’s name, at a cost of approximately $100,000, and has distributed them to a variety of supporters across the city, according to the candidate. Under New York election law, using such a rubber stamp is legal. Mr. Brown has been aggressive about leaning on labor allies — including the powerful Civil Service Employees Association and the Transport Workers Union of America — to get the stamps to voters.Ms. Walton, 39, has been trying to press her inherent advantage of being the only candidate on the ballot, and has employed the help of progressive stars in the party, including Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who traveled to Buffalo on the first day of early voting to stump for her.“We want to show that postindustrial cities like the city of Buffalo can thrive with progressive policies,” Ms. Ocasio-Cortez, who represents parts of Queens and the Bronx, said in an interview with the Buffalo television station WIVB.“When you talk about capitalism, socialism, et cetera — these are very high-minded debates,” she said. “I think what’s important is we say ‘Where’s the beef?’ What are the policies each candidate is actually proposing?”The congresswoman’s rhetoric underscored some of the challenges that Ms. Walton faces in the general election, including a nonstop battering from Mr. Brown, who has argued that Ms. Walton is inexperienced and that her proposed policies are too extreme for Buffalo.Those attacks have been echoed by some Republicans who have found themselves in the peculiar role as potential kingmakers in a city in which their votes often have little impact.Ms. Walton, a registered nurse making her first run for public office, says that Mr. Brown — a former leader of the state party — has done little to benefit regular Buffalo residents in his four terms, favoring instead deep-pocketed developers who have built a series of projects along the city’s Lake Erie waterfront.She’s been assisted in making that argument by groups like the Working Families Party, which has regularly opposed moderate Democrats like Mr. Brown in favor of younger and more progressive candidates like Ms. Walton, whose campaigns are often invigorated by social justice issues.Ms. Walton has also drawn the support of other prominent national progressives, including Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, as well as downstate figures like the New York City public advocate, Jumaane Williams, who is now officially exploring a run for governor.In the campaign’s closing weeks, Ms. Walton has seen the pace of endorsements from establishment figures pick up, with both of the state’s U.S. senators — Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand — coming out for her.Still, Ms. Hochul’s lack of backing has been a glaring development considering that she is a lifelong resident of the Buffalo area, as well as a candidate for governor who will need to woo the very same left flank of the party that Ms. Walton has galvanized.And in mid-October, when being pressed as to why he would not publicly support Ms. Walton, Mr. Jacobs likened it to a scenario whereby the party would abstain from supporting David Duke, the former leader of the KKK, if Mr. Duke were to win a Democratic primary. His remarks drew a furious response from many elected Democrats, and calls for Mr. Jacobs’s resignation.Mr. Brown represents a more centrist faction of the New York state party, and corporate and business groups have been pushing for his re-election, including real estate interests, which have been pouring money into the campaign via independent expenditure groups.Mr. Brown, who was the city’s first Black mayor, has been unapologetic about accepting the support of Republicans, who are outnumbered nearly two to one in Erie County.Facing political oblivion, Mr. Brown has also mounted a much more aggressive stance in the general election campaign, hitting multiple polling stations last week, and rallying support from local leaders.During the early voting period, which ended Sunday, the Brown campaign also set up “voter education stations” near polling locations to offer guidance on how to write in Mr. Brown’s name.The vigor of Mr. Brown’s write-in campaign stands in stark contrast to his seemingly ambivalent primary bid, when he refused to debate Ms. Walton or truly acknowledge her challenge, apparently assuming that his name recognition and 16 years in office would carry the day.He was wrong: Ms. Walton won handily, riding a surge of support in middle-class neighborhoods, as well as progressive enclaves where her message of racial and economic equity played well.At a fractious debate last week, Mr. Brown blamed his poor performance in the primary on his being distracted by the coronavirus pandemic.He also directly challenged Ms. Walton’s political bona fides, accusing her of wanting to implement ideas that would derail progress in Buffalo, which has seen a surprising increase in its population over the last decade.“I don’t see Ms. Walton as a Democrat,” Mr. Brown said. “I think her ideas for the city of Buffalo are bad at best, and unworkable.”Ms. Walton quickly countered, noting that she had the party line on the ballot. “I won the Democratic primary. Secondly, I am a self-avowed democratic socialist. The first word in that is ‘Democrat.’”While the Buffalo race has garnered widespread attention in an off-year election, there is a very real possibility that Election Day will not result in a quick victory for either candidate.Officials will not be able to declare a winner on Tuesday unless Ms. Walton wins a majority of votes, said Jeremy Zellner, the chairman of the Erie County Democratic Party and a supporter of Ms. Walton who also serves as the Democratic commissioner of the Erie County Board of Elections.If the majority of ballots — particularly a slim majority — are marked with write-in candidates instead, the election could quickly pivot from polling stations to courtrooms, he said, as lawyers begin to challenge whether such ballots were valid or marked with discernible names.(Potentially complicating matters is a third candidate, Benjamin Carlisle, a former Democrat who is also running a write-in campaign.)Also adding to the uncertainty are absentee ballots which will not be counted until at least mid-November, Mr. Zellner said. He added that minor misspellings on ballots would likely not be disqualifying, though he expected many could be carefully scrutinized.“It basically has to do with the intent of the voter,” he said. “If someone writes ‘Gonzo Smith,’ that’s one thing. But if it is ‘B-I-R-O-N,’ most likely that will count” for Mr. Brown.Ms. Walton has been making sure voters know her name as well, telling her personal story with its compelling arc. She had a child as a young teenager, and later earned a GED while pregnant with twins, before serving as a representative for SEIU 1199, the health care union.Her platform in the primary leaned heavily on the notion that the city — which has had pockets of economic vitality under Mr. Brown — should share the wealth, and address its longtime problems with affordable housing, a subpar school system and income disparity, including more than a third of the city’s children living in poverty.She has also distanced herself from any suggestion that she wants to reduce funding to the police, something Mr. Brown has repeatedly accused her of.In the debate, Ms. Walton seemed to be striving to present herself as an able and moderate successor to Mr. Brown, rather than a left-wing alternative, saying she wanted to offer “viable solutions for the profound challenges we face.”“I am resilient,” she said. “Success is what you define it to be for yourself. I am a success. And I am ready.” More
