The New York City mayoral election will take place on November 4th, 2025. The election is held every four years, one year after the presidential election. There are currently 12 candidates running: one Republican, two Independents, and nine Democrats. 

This year’s candidates are Andrew Cuomo (former New York City Governor), Eric Adams (current New York City Mayor), Jessica Ramos (New York State Senator), Zohran Mamdani (New York State Representative), Zellnor Myrie (New York State Senator), Brad Lander (New York City Comptroller), Adrienne Adams (Speaker of the New York City Council), Jim Walden (Government Attorney), Whitney Tilson (author and Political Activist), Scott Stringer (former New York State Representative), Michael Blake (former New York State Representative), and Curtis Swila (executive officer of the Guardian Angels).

Four of these candidates — Adrienne Adams, Lander, Mamdani, and Myrie —  were endorsed by the Working Families Party with a new strategy to beat Cuomo. 

The Working Families Party is a small political party formed in New York in 1988. According to the Working Families Party website, they “believe that no matter where we come from or what our color, most of us want the same things. We want to earn enough to thrive, not just survive, and leave a better future for our kids. We want healthy food and clean water, safe neighborhoods, and a safe world.”

History Department Chair Virginia Dillon shared how “They’re essentially saying, if you don’t vote for me, at least vote for one of them.” All four of the democratic candidates are working together with the Working Families Party to ensure neither Cuomo nor current New York City Mayor Eric Adams wins the election.

Mayor Adams, according to the official US District Court indictment report, was accused of and federally charged with accepting bribes and “providing favorable treatment in exchange for the illicit benefits he received.” It is stated that “by 2018, Adams—who had by then made known his plans to run for mayor of New York City—not only accepted, but sought illegal campaign contributions to his 2021 mayoral campaign, as well as other things of value, from foreign nations.” (Adams denied these allegations.)

As of 2021, then governor Cuomo was accused of having sexually assaulted or harassed 11 different women, according to the official New York State Attorney General website. (Cuomo denied these allegations.)According to Eyewitness News, because of Cuomo’s sexual harassment allegations and after the Eric Adams investigation, other candidates in the election want to help ensure that New York City elects a mayor who can “stand up to Trump.” 

“If New Yorkers want a mayor who will stand up and protect them from these authoritarian assaults, they’re going to have to choose someone different from Eric Adams or Andrew Cuomo,” said New York City Comptroller Brad Lander.

“I need to say it, [Cuomo] is not the same man I knew as governor,” echoed State Senator Jessica Ramos in an interview with Eyewitness News. “His spine is not as strong as it once was. Andrew Cuomo won’t stand up to Trump because he’s too busy running away from his own record.”

This exact approach to the mayoral election has never occurred before. However, it is similar to a method used by 2021 mayoral candidate Andrew Yang, who formed an alliance with candidate Kathryn Garcia, stating, “rank me number one and then rank Kathryn Garcia number two,” according to the New York Times.

Because of the rank-choice voting system unique to the Mayoral election, voters will be able to place all four of these candidates on their ballots. “[The voters] can elect a new mayor who will stand up for working families, not [for] the billionaires,” the group wrote in a memo, according to the New York Times.

According to the New York Times, the group aims to create a city that is “safer, more affordable,” and has a better quality of life for everyone. In the end, their main goal is to keep Cuomo and Adams out of office to “leave behind the scandal and corruption of the past and lead with integrity.”

According to Eyewitness News, as of March 27, Cuomo is leading in the polls with 38% of voters saying they will vote for him, compared to Mamdani’s 10% and the others’ less than 10%, according to Eyewitness News. “People want to see Cuomo vs. Trump part two,” added Director of Service Learning Elijah Sivin. 

On AMNY, a free New York City newspaper, Adrienne Adams stated, “I’m not running for mayor for the power; I don’t need the power. I’m running for the people because I’m one of the people. I’m running to empower all of you, and as mayor, I can promise you there will be no drama, there will be no scandal, and there will be no nonsense. Ranked choice is an opportunity for us to advance our city, and we must take it.”