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      Joe Biden Is as Puzzled by the Senate as You Are

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      Gail Collins: Bret, it’s been a while between conversations and although I’ve been on vacation I have noticed a lot of … stuff. Particularly the frozen Senate. Tell me, who’s your hero? Action-stopping Joe Manchin? Perpetually plotting Mitch McConnell? Let’s-all-get-along Mitt Romney?Bret Stephens: Welcome back from holiday, Gail. Years ago I won a minor journalism award on the strength of my mockery of Mitt Romney’s presidential bid. But how can you not love a Republican who voted to convict Donald Trump of high crimes and misdemeanors not once, but twice?Gail: Yeah, I’ve certainly gotten over that dog on the roof of his car.Bret: That said, my hero of the hour is the gentleman from West Virginia. Everybody hates the filibuster until they find themselves in the minority, and Manchin is doing his fellow Democrats a favor, which they can thank him for when they lose the majority. I really don’t understand how some liberals attack the filibuster as some kind of emblem of white supremacy when both Barack Obama and Joe Biden were defending its sanctity during a period of Republican control of the Senate. Come to think of it, as Democratic senators past and present go, I think I like Manchin almost as much as I like the other Joe — Lieberman, that is.But how about you? Who is your senator of the hour?Gail: Oh gosh, I’m fascinated by the Lieberman-Manchin coupling. I think you’re the first one who’s suggested to me it might be a … welcome development. We’ve divided on the Lieberman issue before. I’ve blamed him for everything from Al Gore’s loss of the presidency to the flaws in Obamacare, but I won’t torture you on that front today.Bret: Shouldn’t you blame, um, Ralph Nader, or Antonin Scalia, or those earth-tone suits for Gore’s loss? Sorry, go on.Gail: There are two reasons Manchin keeps holding up the Biden agenda. One is that he’s from a very Republican state and has to keep reminding his voters he isn’t like those other Democrats. Perfectly understandable, but not exactly heroic.Bret: Well, you can have a conservative Democrat from West Virginia who votes with his party roughly 62 percent of the time. Or you can have a Trumpist Republican who votes with her party 100 percent of the time. I think liberals should give their red state Democrats a little more respect lest they be tempted to defect like Colorado’s Ben Campbell, Alabama’s Richard Shelby and Texas’ Phil Gramm.Gail: Manchin also just seems like he thinks it’s cool to be the one guy who can stop every bill in its tracks. But in this kind of situation, being the big “no” vote isn’t heroic, it’s posturing.As to my senator of the hour, don’t know if I have a good nominee, but I am very, very tempted to drive you crazy and say Chuck Schumer.Bret: Ideological differences aside, I genuinely like the senator and his wonderful wife Iris. So I’ll refrain from suggesting that the Senate majority leader would ever stoop to any political posturing of his own. What is it that you’re liking about him so much lately?Gail: These days, Senate majority leader isn’t exactly a pleasant gig. Rounding up the votes to get anything done in a 50-50 chamber is godawful. But Schumer’s been doing pretty well at holding things together. You can tell he really gets a kick out of having the job.And admit it, he’s more likable than Mitch McConnell.Bret: Gail, that’s like setting the bar at the bottom of the Dead Sea.Gail: Meanwhile, there’s that movement by conservative Catholic bishops to deny Biden the right to take communion because he supports abortion rights.I’m pretty confident where you’ll come down on this one, but let me hear your thoughts.Bret: Well, as a friend of mine pointed out to me the other day, if the bishops are going to deny Joe Biden communion for his pro-choice views, shouldn’t they also deny communion to pro-death penalty conservatives? Last I checked, the Vatican wasn’t too keen on lethal injections, either. This seems pretty, um, selective in its opprobrium.But, hey, as a member of the original Abrahamic faith, what do I know about all this Catholic stuff? I’m more interested in your view of the subject.Gail: When I went through Catholic schools, we were taught abortion was murder, period. I stopped believing that a very long time ago, but I do understand people who have personal moral reservations.Bret: Fair enough, but I’ve always had strong reservations about the “abortion is murder” school of thinking.If it’s murder, then the tens of millions of American women who have had abortions over the decades are, at a minimum, accomplices to murder, if not murderers themselves. If that’s the reasoning, then the logic of the argument leads you to conclude that they ought to be in prison. Alternatively, if abortion is murder but the women who get abortions don’t deserve to be treated as criminals, then you are devaluing the moral gravity of the act of murder. Either way, the position strikes me as intellectually indefensible.Sorry. I’m ranting. Go on.Gail: I could appreciate where the anti-abortion forces are coming from — except that they’re often the ones who do so little to provide services that help poor women avoid unwanted pregnancies in the first place. Or provide job protection for new parents. Or day care for their infants.Bret: I think this is yet another good argument for keeping religion out of politics as much as possible. I’m not a fan of many aspects of the welfare state, but I don’t understand conservative politicians who invoke their Christianity — the original version of which is basically socialism plus God — only to take less-than-Christian positions.Gail: Joe Biden is the guy who’s crusading to expand services that would make it easier for struggling young women to keep their babies and raise them happily. But he’s supposed to be the conservative bishops’ villain. Sort of ironic, huh?Bret: Ironic, too, that he’s only the second Catholic president in American history, after Jack Kennedy, and probably the most religious Democrat in the White House since Jimmy Carter. And he’s the guy the church wants to censure?Gail: One last thing before we sign off: Tuesday’s our big Primary Day in New York City. And the debut of our new preferential voting system. It’s the same thing Maine did in the 2020 presidential election.Bret: No idea why it didn’t occur to someone that what happens in Maine should stay in Maine. Like Moxie soda.Gail: So I went to vote early, having painfully prepared to choose five — five! — mayoral contenders in order of preference.Bret: I realize it’s a secret ballot, though I’d love to know who you picked last.Gail: Then I proudly moved on to the next section and discovered I was supposed to pick just as many people for comptroller. Have to admit this one threw me. Really, do you think even the most avid student of local government can tell you who the third-best comptroller contender is?Bret: I barely even know what a comptroller is, if I’m being honest. But I’ve gotta assume the third-best one must be Scott Stringer, since that’s the job he currently has.Gail: Not really sure this preferential voting system is my, um, preference. Any thoughts?Bret: Being the knee-jerk conservative that I am, my instinct is to oppose it on the “just-cuz” principle. Other countries that tinker with their voting procedures never seem to meaningfully change the quality of governance, even if it can shift the dynamics of a race. But, as you pointed out, ranked-choice voting does confuse a lot of voters who sensibly decide that they don’t have to become experts on secondary electoral races in order to make a political choice.On the other hand, advocates of the system argue that it tends to work in favor of more moderate, consensus-choice candidates, while cutting down on negative campaigning, which America could surely use these days. I also read somewhere that the Australians have been using the ranked-choice system for a century or so, and the universe Down Under didn’t come to a screeching halt. So I’m happy to be persuaded either way on the issue.Gail: We’ll see. But preferential voting certainly isn’t on my top five things to worry about. So many more worthy candidates.Bret: One last thing, Gail. If you haven’t already, read our colleague Nicholas Casey’s moving and elegant magazine essay about his father. I hope our readers do, too. It’s a reminder that all of us, at some level, spend a part of our lives searching for our dads — and, sometimes, even finding them.Gail: Amen.The Times is committed to publishing a diversity of letters to the editor. We’d like to hear what you think about this or any of our articles. Here are some tips. And here’s our email: letters@nytimes.com.Follow The New York Times Opinion section on Facebook, Twitter (@NYTopinion) and Instagram. More

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      Why We May Not Know Who Won the Mayoral Primary for Weeks

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      Although the primary is being held on Tuesday, an official winner is unlikely to be named before the week of July 12.The New York City primary election is this Tuesday, but it could be weeks before we find out who won the top contest — the Democratic primary for mayor.Given the electoral makeup of the city, the winner of that contest is highly likely to be elected mayor in November. On Tuesday night, we should find out which candidate is leading among the ballots cast in-person on Primary Day and during nine days of early voting.But election officials must then wait for tens of thousands of absentee ballots to arrive, and those will need to be counted as well.And there is a new wrinkle this year that makes the timeline more complicated: The city is using ranked-choice voting for the first time in a mayoral race. Only New Yorkers’ first-choice votes will be counted right away, but their other choices could potentially be decisive.Here’s what to expect.When we will know who won the Democratic primary for mayor?We might not have an official winner until the week of July 12. But we will find out some information before that.If a candidate wins more than 50 percent of the first-choice votes, he or she wins outright. But with 13 Democrats on the ballot this year, that is highly unlikely. If no one wins a majority, the rankings come into play.In ranked-choice voting, the last-place candidate is eliminated, and his or her votes are reallocated to whichever candidate his or her supporters ranked next. This continues until there are just two candidates left, with the winner being the one who receives the majority of votes.The city’s Board of Elections plans to reveal the first round of ranked-choice results on June 29, and it will release updated results once a week after that as absentee ballots are counted.The results posted on July 6 are expected to include some absentee ballots, according to the Board of Elections, but more complete results should arrive the week of July 12.Why will it take so long to find out the winner?Absentee ballots are not due until a week after Primary Day, and voters have time after that to “cure” any problems that arise.The city’s Board of Elections has received about 210,000 requests for absentee ballots, and in a closely fought race like this one, those votes could make a difference. More than 68,000 people have filled out and returned their absentee ballots so far.And perhaps more significantly, we cannot assume that the candidate who is winning after first-choice votes are counted on primary night will end up victorious. Another candidate could win more second- and third-choice votes and overtake that candidate.That’s why proponents of ranked-choice voting are urging New Yorkers to be patient.“Democracy takes time, and every vote counts,” said Susan Lerner, the executive director of Common Cause New York, a good government group. “Accurate and fair election results are worth waiting for.”Is the candidate who is ahead on primary night likely to win?Ranked-choice voting is used in other cities like San Francisco, and the candidate who is ahead after the first round usually prevails.But there have been exceptions, including the 2010 mayoral election in Oakland, Calif., in which Jean Quan won despite placing second in the first round. Ms. Quan collected more second- and third-choice votes than her top rival, boosting her to victory..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-w739ur{margin:0 auto 5px;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-w739ur{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-w739ur{font-size:1.6875rem;line-height:1.875rem;}}@media (min-width:740px){.css-w739ur{font-size:1.25rem;line-height:1.4375rem;}}.css-9s9ecg{margin-bottom:15px;}.css-uf1ume{display:-webkit-box;display:-webkit-flex;display:-ms-flexbox;display:flex;-webkit-box-pack:justify;-webkit-justify-content:space-between;-ms-flex-pack:justify;justify-content:space-between;}.css-wxi1cx{display:-webkit-box;display:-webkit-flex;display:-ms-flexbox;display:flex;-webkit-flex-direction:column;-ms-flex-direction:column;flex-direction:column;-webkit-align-self:flex-end;-ms-flex-item-align:end;align-self:flex-end;}.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;}So be wary of any candidate who tries to declare victory on Tuesday night.What should voters look for as election results arrive?The campaigns will look at two key figures on election night: voter turnout and the gap between the two candidates who get the most votes.There are about 3.2 million registered Democrats in New York City. In the last competitive mayoral primary, in 2013, about 700,000 Democrats voted.More than 191,000 people cast their ballots during the early voting period that ended Sunday.If overall turnout is high, that could help someone like Andrew Yang, the former presidential candidate, who is courting new and disengaged voters.If turnout is low, that could help a candidate like Eric Adams, the Brooklyn borough president, who has support from unions and party leaders who are highly likely to show up at the polls.The campaigns will also examine the gap between the top two candidates and whether the person in first place on primary night is winning by a wide margin. If that is the case, even a strong showing by another candidate as voters’ second and third choices might not make up the difference.What about the Republican primary?The Republican primary for mayor is much simpler. There are only two candidates: Curtis Sliwa, the founder of the Guardian Angels, and Fernando Mateo, an entrepreneur.We should know the winner on primary night based on who has a majority of votes.The winner of the Republican primary will face off against the winner of the Democratic one in the general election on Nov. 2.Democrats outnumber Republicans by more than six to one in New York City, meaning it is likely, though not guaranteed, that the Democratic candidate will win in November. More

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      Adams Clashes With Rivals on Last Weekend of Mayoral Campaign

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      Eric Adams and Andrew Yang tussled on questions of race in a frenetic day of campaigning, two days before the June 22 primary.The leading candidates for mayor of New York City barreled into a frenzied final day of early voting on Sunday, a swirl of primary campaign activity marked by creative retail politicking and deepening acrimony between the race’s presumed front-runner, Eric Adams, and the rest of the field.While the campaign trail was studded with lighthearted moments — Kathryn Garcia did yoga in Times Square; Maya D. Wiley hula-hooped — there were also serious clashes stemming from Ms. Garcia’s late alliance with Andrew Yang, leading Mr. Adams and his surrogates to question the integrity of the election, with two days until the June 22 primary.Allies of Mr. Adams, the Brooklyn borough president, went so far as to baselessly claim that the appearance of an alliance between Ms. Garcia and Mr. Yang amounted to voter suppression — even though such alliances are common in elections with ranked-choice voting.This is the first mayoral election in New York City that is using ranked-choice ballots, allowing voters to support up to five candidates in order of preference.Ms. Garcia, a former sanitation commissioner, made another appearance with Mr. Yang, a former presidential candidate, on Sunday, but insisted again that did not mean she was backing his campaign.Rather, she suggested, their joint appearances, on campaign literature and in person, were a calculated attempt to get Mr. Yang’s voters to rank her second.Maya Wiley takes a circular diversion on Sunday from a day of campaigning.Hilary Swift for The New York TimesIn contrast to a number of her rivals who began the day in church, Ms. Garcia started with yoga in Times Square, and then visited Zabar’s on the Upper West Side and a greenmarket near Central Park, a schedule that might resonate with many a well-heeled Manhattanite.The schedule reflected the importance of Manhattan to Ms. Garcia’s strategy, but it also underscored her challenge: to draw voters from beyond Manhattan and Brownstone Brooklyn. She has openly acknowledged that her appearances this weekend with Mr. Yang represented one tactic to expand her support. She spent time later Sunday in the Bronx, the borough with the largest Latino population.With early voting winding down Sunday evening in preparation for Tuesday’s primary, voters streamed into polling sites in the five boroughs.As of Sunday evening, 192,000 New Yorkers had participated in early voting.Among them was Tom Werther, a retired police officer who carries a gun and thinks crime is the dominant issue of the day. On Sunday, he turned up to vote at the YMCA in Rockaway, Queens, but his first choice for mayor was not Mr. Adams, a retired police officer who also carries a gun and thinks crime is the dominant issue.It was Ms. Garcia who impressed Mr. Werther as “articulate” during a recent meet-and-greet nearby. He ranked Mr. Yang second, and Mr. Adams third.The final day of early voting happened to coincide with Father’s Day. Mr. Yang, a father of two, could be found tapping into his natural exuberance while posing for selfies on Sunday morning in Forest Hills, Queens.Andrew Yang campaigned in Forest Hills, Queens.Andrew Seng for The New York TimesThroughout his campaign, Mr. Yang has seemed happiest when he has been campaigning in person, surrounded by selfie seekers — a testament to the national name recognition and powerful social-media game that he hoped would drive him to City Hall.But as he withstood the natural scrutiny accorded to front-runners, his standing in the polls diminished, and his tone darkened. In recent weeks, he has spoken ominously about the perils of voting for Mr. Adams, someone whom Mr. Yang considers ethically dubious and who is now leading the polls.On Sunday, Mr. Yang’s original, crowd-pleasing spirit, the one he exhibited while vowing to be New York City’s cheerleader, was again on display.Matthew Rubinstein, 19, attributed his vote for Mr. Yang to that energy.“You see Andrew Yang going here, Andrew Yang going there,” said Mr. Rubinstein, who grew up in Forest Hills. “He’s on my TikTok, he’s on my Instagram. He’s everywhere, you know? He’s just more for the people.”Kathryn Garcia started the day doing yoga in Times Square.Michelle V. Agins/The New York TimesMr. Adams and his allies continued to voice concern that by aligning their campaigns, Ms. Garcia and Mr. Yang were trying to disenfranchise Black and Latino voters.Outside of a church in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn, Mr. Adams said it was disrespectful for Ms. Garcia and Mr. Yang to campaign together on Juneteenth.“While we were celebrating liberation and freedom from enslavement they sent a message and I thought it was the wrong message to send,” Mr. Adams said. “Yes, Andrew, you are a person of color and the Asian community realizes that I am the strongest voice for people of color in this city.”.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-w739ur{margin:0 auto 5px;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-w739ur{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-w739ur{font-size:1.6875rem;line-height:1.875rem;}}@media (min-width:740px){.css-w739ur{font-size:1.25rem;line-height:1.4375rem;}}.css-9s9ecg{margin-bottom:15px;}.css-uf1ume{display:-webkit-box;display:-webkit-flex;display:-ms-flexbox;display:flex;-webkit-box-pack:justify;-webkit-justify-content:space-between;-ms-flex-pack:justify;justify-content:space-between;}.css-wxi1cx{display:-webkit-box;display:-webkit-flex;display:-ms-flexbox;display:flex;-webkit-flex-direction:column;-ms-flex-direction:column;flex-direction:column;-webkit-align-self:flex-end;-ms-flex-item-align:end;align-self:flex-end;}.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;}At a campaign stop in the Inwood neighborhood of Manhattan, Mr. Adams was asked to respond to the voter disenfranchisement some of his boosters have claimed and he declined, even though his campaign sent out the statements.Mr. Yang and Ms. Garcia both disputed Mr. Adams’s assertion, and so did Ms. Wiley, who is Black. She said that candidates were going to make different decisions about strategy under ranked-choice voting.“I will never play the race card lightly unless I see racism, and I’m not calling this racism,” Ms. Wiley said.She also defended the ranked-choice voting system after Mr. Adams again raised concerns about it. Good-government groups praise the new system as an advance for democracy, by no longer allowing candidates to split the vote and by eliminating the need for costly runoffs. Mr. Adams has long condemned the new system and his allies filed a suit to forestall its implementation that failed in court. Many voters have also expressed confusion about the system.Eric Adams visited with parishioners at St. George’s Episcopal Church in Brooklyn.James Estrin/The New York TimesMs. Wiley, who supports ranked-choice voting, said Mr. Adams must be afraid of her momentum if he was complaining about the system.“I believe that ranked-choice voting is better for democracy, period — whoever people vote for,” Ms. Wiley said.For his part, Mr. Yang suggested he was in fact campaigning with Ms. Garcia to prevent an Adams victory. He has repeatedly cast doubt on Mr. Adams’s moral probity as the borough president has faced residency questions and scrutiny over tax and real estate disclosures. Later in the day, the central argument of Mr. Adams’s campaign — that the rise in street violence necessitates someone with his level of experience in policing — appeared to hit home in a personal way. The campaign used Twitter to announce that one of its volunteers had been stabbed; a week ago, the campaign said that a handgun was discarded in front of Mr. Adams’s campaign office in Brooklyn after a fight.Scott M. Stringer, the city comptroller, kept a relatively low profile on Sunday, though he did make an afternoon appearance with his wife and two sons on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, and again in the Park Slope neighborhood of Brooklyn.Scott Stringer, the city comptroller, campaigned in Park Slope with his wife and children in Brooklyn on Sunday.Sarah Blesener for The New York TimesMr. Stringer’s campaign faltered after two women accused him of sexual misconduct from decades ago.Still, as he stopped to talk to voters on Sunday, many of them greeted him enthusiastically, and he sounded optimistic about his path to victory.“As you can see on the streets, the reaction is great,” he said.Reporting was contributed by More

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      A Full Guide to Voting in NYC's Mayoral Primary

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      What you should know about casting your ballot if you still want to do it early or are heading to the polls on Tuesday.After a campaign season full of Zoom forums, television ads and fliers stuffed in mailboxes, voting in New York City’s municipal primary has begun.Here’s what you should know before you cast your vote.When is Primary Day again?This is a good place to start! It’s Tuesday, June 22. Polls will be open from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. (If the date seems unusually early to you, it’s probably because the primary used to be in September.)Can I vote early?You sure can. Early voting started June 12 and runs through Sunday. Voting hours vary depending on the day.This year is the first time that New York City voters have been able to vote early in a mayoral election. Karsten Moran for The New York TimesWhere do I go to vote?You can check your polling place on the Board of Elections website. Read carefully: Where you cast your ballot for early voting may differ from where you’re supposed to go on Election Day.Is it too late to register?Yes. Check to see if you’re already registered. Remember: You need to be registered with a political party to vote in a primary in New York.Can I vote absentee?Yes. If you still need an absentee ballot, you can apply in person at a county board of elections office until Monday.If you’re mailing in an absentee ballot, it needs to be postmarked on or before Monday. You can also drop absentee ballots off at a polling place or a Board of Elections office on Tuesday.Miriam Centeno, a poll worker, in the Bronx this month. This year’s primary will be the first to use a ranked-choice voting system. Desiree Rios for The New York TimesWho are the main candidates for mayor?The mayor’s race is the most important one on the primary ballot. Thirteen Democrats and two Republicans are running.Out of the baker’s dozen, eight Democrats have emerged as leading candidates and have taken part in official debates. They are:Eric Adams, the Brooklyn borough presidentShaun Donovan, a former federal housing secretaryKathryn Garcia, a former city sanitation commissionerRaymond J. McGuire, a former Wall Street executiveDianne Morales, a former nonprofit executiveScott M. Stringer, the city comptrollerMaya Wiley, a former counsel to Mayor Bill de BlasioAndrew Yang, a former presidential candidateIn the Republican primary, the candidates are Fernando Mateo, a restaurateur, and Curtis Sliwa, the founder of the Guardian Angels, a street patrol group.Where do the candidates stand on the issues?That’s a bit complex for this guide. But we interviewed the eight leading Democratic contenders and asked them their views on the issues of concern to New Yorkers.We’ve also published articles examining the candidates’ opinions on policing, affordable housing and public transportation.What else is on the ballot?Most voters in the city should expect a long list of races.There are citywide elections for comptroller and public advocate, and voters in each borough will elect a borough president.There are also primary races in most City Council districts; in many cases, the races are stuffed with candidates. Democratic voters in Manhattan will also choose a nominee to become the next district attorney..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-w739ur{margin:0 auto 5px;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-w739ur{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-w739ur{font-size:1.6875rem;line-height:1.875rem;}}@media (min-width:740px){.css-w739ur{font-size:1.25rem;line-height:1.4375rem;}}.css-9s9ecg{margin-bottom:15px;}.css-uf1ume{display:-webkit-box;display:-webkit-flex;display:-ms-flexbox;display:flex;-webkit-box-pack:justify;-webkit-justify-content:space-between;-ms-flex-pack:justify;justify-content:space-between;}.css-wxi1cx{display:-webkit-box;display:-webkit-flex;display:-ms-flexbox;display:flex;-webkit-flex-direction:column;-ms-flex-direction:column;flex-direction:column;-webkit-align-self:flex-end;-ms-flex-item-align:end;align-self:flex-end;}.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;}You can look at a sample ballot for your district before you head to the polls.What is ranked-choice voting?New York City has introduced a ranked-choice voting system this year for all citywide primary races and special elections. Instead of simply picking one favorite candidate, voters choose up to five, ranking them in order of preference.The rankings come into play if no one candidate has more than 50 percent of the votes after the initial tally. Here’s how it works and how it might affect the mayor’s race.The Manhattan district attorney’s race will not use ranked-choice voting, because district attorney is a state office.When will we know who won?It will probably take a while.After the polls close on Tuesday, the Board of Elections will release a preliminary tally of votes cast during the early voting period and on Primary Day. The count will not include absentee ballots, and will only reflect first-choice picks in the ranked-voting races.With so many candidates in the Democratic primary for mayor, it is unlikely that anyone will get more than 50 percent of the votes in the first-round. The Board of Elections has said it will begin to run the ranked-choice voting system a week later, on June 29, and provide unofficial results as the process continues.The unofficial counts will still not include absentee votes. New York State has laws governing absentee ballots that will delay a full, official accounting until sometime in July. More

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      N.Y.C. Mayoral Primary: How and Where to Vote, Early Voting and More

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      What you should know about casting your ballot if you still want to do it early or are heading to the polls on Tuesday.After a campaign season full of Zoom forums, television ads and fliers stuffed in mailboxes, voting in New York City’s municipal primary has begun.Here’s what you should know before you cast your vote.When is Primary Day again?This is a good place to start! It’s Tuesday, June 22. Polls will be open from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. (If the date seems unusually early to you, it’s probably because the primary used to in September.)Can I vote early?You sure can. Early voting started June 12 and runs through Sunday. Voting hours vary depending on the day.This year is the first time that New York City voters have been able to vote early in a mayoral election. Karsten Moran for The New York TimesWhere do I go to vote?You can check your polling place on the Board of Elections website. Read carefully: Where you cast your ballot for early voting may differ from where you’re supposed to go on Election Day.Is it too late to register?Yes. Check to see if you’re already registered. Remember: You need to be registered with a political party to vote in a primary in New York.Can I vote absentee?Yes. If you still need an absentee ballot, you can apply in person at a county board of elections office until Monday.If you’re mailing in an absentee ballot, it needs to be postmarked on or before Monday. You can also drop absentee ballots off at a polling place or a Board of Elections office on Tuesday.Miriam Centeno, a poll worker, in the Bronx this month. This year’s primary will be the first to use a ranked-choice voting system. Desiree Rios for The New York TimesWho are the main candidates for mayor?The mayor’s race is the most important one on the primary ballot. Thirteen Democrats and two Republicans are running.Out of the baker’s dozen, eight Democrats have emerged as leading candidates and have taken part in official debates. They are:Eric Adams, the Brooklyn borough presidentShaun Donovan, a former federal housing secretaryKathryn Garcia, a former city sanitation commissionerRaymond J. McGuire, a former Wall Street executiveDianne Morales, a former nonprofit executiveScott M. Stringer, the city comptrollerMaya Wiley, a former counsel to Mayor Bill de BlasioAndrew Yang, a former presidential candidateIn the Republican primary, the candidates are Fernando Mateo, a restaurateur, and Curtis Sliwa, the founder of the Guardian Angels, a street patrol group.Where do the candidates stand on the issues?That’s a bit complex for this guide. But we interviewed the eight leading Democratic contenders and asked them their views on the issues of concern to New Yorkers.We’ve also published articles examining the candidates’ opinions on policing, affordable housing and public transportation.What else is on the ballot?Most voters in the city should expect a long list of races.There are citywide elections for comptroller and public advocate, and voters in each borough will elect a borough president.There are also primary races in most City Council districts; in many cases, the races are stuffed with candidates. Democratic voters in Manhattan will also choose a nominee to become the next district attorney..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-w739ur{margin:0 auto 5px;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-w739ur{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-w739ur{font-size:1.6875rem;line-height:1.875rem;}}@media (min-width:740px){.css-w739ur{font-size:1.25rem;line-height:1.4375rem;}}.css-9s9ecg{margin-bottom:15px;}.css-uf1ume{display:-webkit-box;display:-webkit-flex;display:-ms-flexbox;display:flex;-webkit-box-pack:justify;-webkit-justify-content:space-between;-ms-flex-pack:justify;justify-content:space-between;}.css-wxi1cx{display:-webkit-box;display:-webkit-flex;display:-ms-flexbox;display:flex;-webkit-flex-direction:column;-ms-flex-direction:column;flex-direction:column;-webkit-align-self:flex-end;-ms-flex-item-align:end;align-self:flex-end;}.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;}You can look at a sample ballot for your district before you head to the polls.What is ranked-choice voting?New York City has introduced a ranked-choice voting system this year for all citywide primary races and special elections. Instead of simply picking one favorite candidate, voters choose up to five, ranking them in order of preference.The rankings come into play if no one candidate has more than 50 percent of the votes after the initial tally. Here’s how it works and how it might affect the mayor’s race.The Manhattan district attorney’s race will not use ranked-choice voting, because district attorney is a state office.When will we know who won?It will probably take a while.After the polls close on Tuesday, the Board of Elections will release a preliminary tally of votes cast during the early voting period and on Primary Day. The count will not include absentee ballots, and will only reflect first-choice picks in the ranked-voting races.With so many candidates in the Democratic primary for mayor, it is unlikely that anyone will get more than 50 percent of the votes in the first-round. The Board of Elections has said it will begin to run the ranked-choice voting system a week later, on June 29, and provide unofficial results as the process continues.The unofficial counts will still not include absentee votes. New York State has laws governing absentee ballots that will delay a full, official accounting until sometime in July. More

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      A Very Specific Guide to Ranking Candidates for N.Y.C. Mayor

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      New York City has embarked on the biggest ranked-choice voting election in American history with the Democratic primary for mayor on Tuesday. Plenty of New Yorkers are looking for advice on how to fill out their ballots to help their favorite candidates — or to try to block other candidates they don’t want in City Hall.As a longtime planner and champion of ranked-choice voting, I’ve pulled together some guidance for marking your ballot for a variety of scenarios involving the mayoral candidates, in particular Eric Adams, Maya Wiley, Kathryn Garcia, Andrew Yang and Scott Stringer. But first, the good news for voters: This is not rocket science.The system is designed for voters to express themselves and arrive at a consensus candidate. Because voting to get the results you want is so intuitive, ranked choice has become the nation’s most popular new electoral reform after successful uses in elections in Maine for president and Congress, mayoral elections in more than a dozen cities and elections for leaders of many major associations.Among the upsides: In Tuesday’s primaries, races up and down the ballot have multiple candidates of color and women, and in ranked-choice voting, none of them have to worry about split votes. That term describes what often happens when two or more candidates appealing to the same voters run in an election and the votes are divided, causing neither to win. This helps to explain why RepresentWomen and FairVote show sharply rising success for underrepresented candidates.The best advice is simple: Rank your favorite candidate first, your second favorite second and so on until you reach New York’s maximum of five ranked candidates. If you rank five, you’ll have cast your most expressive ballot ever.But for voters who want to think strategically, here are a few scenarios to keep in mind.‘I want Adams to win and Wiley to lose.’ More

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      What’s at Stake for the Mayoral Candidates in the Final Debate

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      The two-hour debate on Wednesday will be one of the last opportunities for the candidates to redefine the New York City mayor’s race.As the candidates for mayor of New York City barrel into the final stretch of an unpredictable contest, time is running short for standout moments and efforts to redefine the race.Indeed, one of the last chances to reorder the contest arrives on Wednesday night, as eight candidates gather for the final debate ahead of the June 22 Democratic mayoral primary that is almost certain to determine the city’s next mayor.Eric Adams, the Brooklyn borough president, is widely regarded as the front-runner and is expecting to be a focus of attacks again, allies say.He has strong support among Black voters and is connecting across the city with New Yorkers who are motivated by fears of crime, polls show. Kathryn Garcia, a former sanitation commissioner; Maya Wiley, a former counsel to Mayor Bill de Blasio; and Andrew Yang, a former presidential candidate, are also considered among the top candidates, and one of them could still pull ahead in the final days of a turbulent and rancorous race.Mr. Adams has come under growing scrutiny over issues from his fund-raising practices to questions of residency. The debate is one of the last opportunities for his rivals to offer a counternarrative about his candidacy.The top four candidates are expected to share the debate stage with Raymond J. McGuire, a former Citi executive; Shaun Donovan, a former federal housing secretary; Scott M. Stringer, the city comptroller; and Dianne Morales, a former nonprofit executive.Each of the leading candidates has different mandates headed into the debate, which is co-sponsored by WNBC-TV.Maya Wiley has emerged as the favorite of left-wing Democrats.Jonah Markowitz for The New York TimesMs. Wiley’s allies say that she has a clear lane to herself: She has emerged as the favorite of left-wing Democrats with a message focused on combating social and racial inequities.Her challenge in the race is to build a coalition that is broad enough to win in a vast city that is not uniformly progressive, even in a Democratic primary. She is seeking to win over voters of color across the ideological spectrum as well as white progressives.Mr. Adams, Mr. Yang and Ms. Garcia, along with Mr. McGuire, have often taken a more expansive view of the role of police in promoting public safety than Ms. Wiley has, and issues around criminal justice and combating crime have been central flash points in previous debates.In a recent Spectrum News NY1/Ipsos poll, Mr. Adams had a lead on the question of which mayoral candidate is most trusted to handle issues of crime and public safety, and some of his opponents hope to undercut his standing on that subject.“We want to be contrasting with the other candidates, especially with Eric Adams, but also talking about a safe New York and a positive vision for New York,” said Chris Coffey, Mr. Yang’s co-campaign manager.Andrew Yang has slipped in public polling.Karsten Moran for The New York TimesMr. Yang also said Tuesday he intended to focus on public safety. He has slipped in public polling amid scrutiny of his knowledge of municipal government, as well as voters’ growing focus on the importance of combating crime. The debate is an important, if imperfect, chance to make another pitch.Mr. Yang this week also began airing negative advertisements on television against Mr. Adams, according to the ad tracking firm AdImpact — a move that could open the floodgates to a barrage of broader negative advertising.Ms. Garcia on Monday suggested she intended to stay above the fray onstage, but she has also signaled she is increasingly willing to draw contrasts with Mr. Adams on questions of experience and ethics.She is performing well in Manhattan, according to a new Marist poll and interviews with voters in neighborhoods like the vote-rich Upper West Side. But she must also diversify her coalition in the final stretch. And given her rise in the polls, she may find herself a target of criticism in the debate in a way that she has not previously experienced in the race, setting up an important test under public pressure.Reflecting Ms. Garcia’s standing, Mr. Adams held an event this week focused on her record, in a possible preview of clashes to come..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-w739ur{margin:0 auto 5px;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-w739ur{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-w739ur{font-size:1.6875rem;line-height:1.875rem;}}@media (min-width:740px){.css-w739ur{font-size:1.25rem;line-height:1.4375rem;}}.css-9s9ecg{margin-bottom:15px;}.css-uf1ume{display:-webkit-box;display:-webkit-flex;display:-ms-flexbox;display:flex;-webkit-box-pack:justify;-webkit-justify-content:space-between;-ms-flex-pack:justify;justify-content:space-between;}.css-wxi1cx{display:-webkit-box;display:-webkit-flex;display:-ms-flexbox;display:flex;-webkit-flex-direction:column;-ms-flex-direction:column;flex-direction:column;-webkit-align-self:flex-end;-ms-flex-item-align:end;align-self:flex-end;}.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;}But even the strongest — or weakest — debate performance may ultimately have limited impact: Early voting is already underway, and a crowded stage will make it more challenging for any one candidate to dominate.Still, the candidates who are trailing in polls see chances to stand out.In a recent Marist College poll, Kathryn Garcia, right, was in second place behind Mr. Adams.Seth Wenig/Associated PressMr. Stringer once appeared poised to be the left-wing standard-bearer himself, but he has struggled amid two accusations this spring that he made unwanted sexual advances decades ago. He has denied wrongdoing. Mr. Stringer, a well-funded candidate and sharp debater, is “going to continue to make the case that he’s the best progressive candidate who can govern well and be ready on Day 1,” said Tyrone Stevens, a Stringer spokesman.Ms. Morales will be back in the spotlight after a campaign implosion where dozens of workers were fired amid a unionization attempt.And Mr. McGuire and Mr. Donovan, despite being aided by outside spending, have demonstrated little traction in polls. The debate is one last chance to stand out.The Marist poll found Mr. Adams at 24 percent among likely Democratic voters, when including voters who leaned toward him. Ms. Garcia followed at 17 percent; Ms. Wiley was at 15 percent and Mr. Yang, who had consistently led sparse polling for much of the race, landed 13 percent.Voters may rank up to five candidates in order of preference, and when several rounds of ranked-choice voting played out in the poll, Mr. Adams came out ahead of Ms. Garcia. But other surveys found different results, and polling is never predictive, much less in a relatively untested ranked-choice scenario.Gale Brewer, the Manhattan borough president, said voters are still navigating how to order their ballots. She described New Yorkers sitting in Central Park for long conversations with neighbors, trying to reach conclusions.“They know who their first is, and then they have no clue after that,” she said. “A debate can help with that.”In theory, ranked-choice voting was supposed to mitigate attacks, because candidates are hoping to have broad appeal and would not want to alienate voters by trashing their first-choice candidates.Yet the race has seen its share of negative campaigning. Lee M. Miringoff, the director of the Marist College Institute for Public Opinion, reached for an old saying — “the enemy of my enemy is my friend” — to explain how candidates make determinations about which candidates to attack and where to make overtures.“They have to sort of demonstrate, ‘If you’re with me, stay with me,’” he said. “‘If you’re not with me, here’s why you should join my campaign. If you’re not going to do that, at least put me into the running so I can get into a later round.’”Emma G. Fitzsimmons and Michael Gold contributed reporting. More

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      Garcia and Wiley Try to Shift Momentum From Adams as Primary Draws Near

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      A week before the primary and a day before the final debate, Kathryn Garcia and Maya Wiley vied to be seen as the strongest alternative to the race’s front-runner, Eric Adams.One week until the end of a bitterly contested mayoral primary, and a day before the race’s final debate, Kathryn Garcia and Maya D. Wiley both tried on Tuesday to establish themselves as voters’ best alternative to the race’s apparent leader, Eric Adams.“I’ve been a public servant, and that means that I have been serving the people of New York City,” Ms. Garcia, a former sanitation commissioner, said in an interview at noon at her campaign office in Brooklyn. “And that’s what we need right now, not a politician who has curried favors.”“New York wants a different kind of leadership,” Ms. Wiley, a former counsel to Mayor Bill de Blasio, said in front of the Brooklyn Public Library’s central location an hour later. “No tinkering around the edges of problems that we have failed to solve, but actually stepping up and being bold and transformational.”The messages echoed the pitches the two candidates, both seeking to be the first woman elected mayor of New York, have been making to voters for months. But they have taken on a new urgency as time to court supporters is running out and polls show more city residents coalescing around Mr. Adams, the Brooklyn borough president.A poll released on Monday by the Marist Institute for Public Opinion found that Mr. Adams had the support of 24 percent of likely primary voters. Behind him, nearly neck and neck, were Ms. Garcia, at 17 percent, and Ms. Wiley, at 15 percent. (The poll had a margin of error of 3.8 percent.)At a campaign event, Mr. Adams exhibited the confidence of a front-runner heading into the final stretch.“The more New Yorkers hear my story and my vision, they just seem to like me,” he said, speaking at a rally with Mexican American leaders in Brooklyn’s Sunset Park neighborhood.But that same survey that showed strength for Mr. Adams also reflected gains for Ms. Garcia, whose campaign has surged after major newspaper endorsements, and for Ms. Wiley, who has endeavored to consolidate support from left-leaning voters as other candidates have stumbled.It also showed some overlap in their bases: Among the voters who ranked Ms. Garcia as their first choice, Ms. Wiley was the most common second-choice pick. For Ms. Wiley’s supporters, the most popular No. 2 was Ms. Garcia.Yet for weeks, as both candidates have tried to chip away at their rivals’ bases, they have largely stayed away from attacking — or even mentioning — each other.They have also refrained from making statements of outright support for each other, even in an election using a ranked-choice system where being a voter’s second choice could theoretically help a candidate win.Maya D. Wiley, who has shown signs of strength after a string of endorsements from progressive leaders, framed the coming election as a chance for New Yorkers to make history.Mary Altaffer/Associated PressAs the campaign enters its final stretch, Ms. Garcia, one of the more moderate candidates in the primary field, has sought to woo voters across the broad political spectrum of New York’s Democrats.At times, she has seemed to try to thread the needle between progressive voters and centrist ones on a range of issues, particularly public safety.On Monday in Lower Manhattan, she told progressive voters — one of whom complained that she “comes across as a defender of the police” — that she would rein in police brutality and, if necessary, fire defiant police officials.That afternoon, in southern Brooklyn, she took a slightly different tone with small-business owners clamoring for more police officers on patrol. “I’ve been very clear,” she said “Everyone needs to be safe and secure, regardless of where they live or the color of their skin. I lived through the ’70s and ’80s in New York, and I don’t want to go back.”On Tuesday, Ms. Garcia sought to frame her pragmatic approach to city government — one that focuses on day-to-day operations over ideology — as a left-leaning stance. When asked about her stance on climate change, she said that “there is literally nothing more progressive than getting it done, the really hard work.”She has frequently made personal appeals to voters through canvassing or small events. On Tuesday, she held a round-table discussion with young people about how to improve the city’s foster care system.The issue is far from the center of the mayoral campaign, but it gave Ms. Garcia — who was adopted and whose sister was in foster care for seven years — a chance to connect with voters on an emotional level while highlighting her desire to cut through entrenched bureaucratic tangles.“This is a very personal issue,” Ms. Garcia said. “But also, this is the type of thing where we know it’s not working. And there’s another way of thinking about it that works so much better.”Elsewhere on the campaign trail, Ms. Wiley was again trying to unite progressives behind her, announcing a mutual endorsement with Crystal Hudson, a City Council candidate in central Brooklyn who is seeking to be the first out gay Black woman on the council.“There is a real choice for New Yorkers on the ballot,” Ms. Wiley said. “We, in an historic crisis, have historic choices. And one of them is to make history by, in fact, voting for the most qualified to lead, in a historic crisis.”Eric Adams, the Brooklyn borough president, dismissed the city’s new ranked-choice voting system at a rally. Michael M. Santiago/Getty ImagesMs. Wiley focused on affordable housing, which has been a major issue in Ms. Hudson’s race. She reaffirmed her commitment to spending $2 billion to repair and expand public housing and to expanding housing subsidies to cover more New Yorkers.“This isn’t a crisis,” Ms. Wiley said of the city’s housing crunch. “This is an impending catastrophe.”.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-w739ur{margin:0 auto 5px;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-w739ur{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-w739ur{font-size:1.6875rem;line-height:1.875rem;}}@media (min-width:740px){.css-w739ur{font-size:1.25rem;line-height:1.4375rem;}}.css-9s9ecg{margin-bottom:15px;}.css-uf1ume{display:-webkit-box;display:-webkit-flex;display:-ms-flexbox;display:flex;-webkit-box-pack:justify;-webkit-justify-content:space-between;-ms-flex-pack:justify;justify-content:space-between;}.css-wxi1cx{display:-webkit-box;display:-webkit-flex;display:-ms-flexbox;display:flex;-webkit-flex-direction:column;-ms-flex-direction:column;flex-direction:column;-webkit-align-self:flex-end;-ms-flex-item-align:end;align-self:flex-end;}.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. Wiley also dismissed earlier comments by Ms. Garcia, who has sought to frame the race as a two-person contest between Mr. Adams and herself.But she did not explicitly criticize either Ms. Garcia or Mr. Adams, saying instead that she was focusing on New Yorkers’ desire for a “different kind of leadership.”Though Ms. Wiley and Ms. Garcia have both cast their ballots, neither has divulged her rankings.Of the top five mayoral candidates, only Andrew Yang, whose support has slipped in recent weeks, has been willing to name his second choice: Ms. Garcia.On Tuesday, Mr. Yang, who came in fourth in the Marist poll, reiterated that support, responding to a question about whether he would serve in a Garcia administration by saying, “I’d be excited to work with Kathryn in any capacity.”Mr. Yang sounded upbeat while speaking to voters in Kew Gardens in Queens. He said he was looking forward to Wednesday’s debate, where he planned to focus on public safety, an issue that has dominated the last month of the race.Mr. Adams, for his part, appeared to dismiss the value of the ranked-choice voting system, calling the process “complicated” and asserting that the city’s Board of Elections had failed to properly inform residents about it.“You go to the average inner-city New Yorker, and you say, ‘What is ranked-choice voting?’ And they have no idea,” Mr. Adams said at his rally. “I’m concerned about that, but I want people to rank their candidates based on their choice, but the first thing I want them to rank is Eric Adams as their No. 1.”Supporters of ranked-choice voting say that it gives voters more sway in a race’s overall outcome by allowing them to back a top pick but still voice their opinions on other candidates in the race.Lurie Daniel Favors, the interim executive director of the Center for Law and Social Justice at Medgar Evers College, criticized Mr. Adams’s comments, likening them to efforts around the country to question the integrity of elections.“Ranked-choice voting has the potential to give Black voters more power at the ballot box by allowing them to select and rank candidates that address their concerns in order of preference,” Ms. Favors said. “Any attempts to frame ranked-choice voting as too complicated or to discourage voters from fully exercising their rights to vote are wrong and harmful to our community.”Jeffery C. Mays and Emma G. Fitzsimmons contributed reporting. More