NYC Mayoral Showdown: Andrew Yang and Eric Adams. Does Authenticity Make a Difference?
Photo from NY Post
By Sam Gartner
Starting every Monday, the Daily Deli will be releasing our grades of two candidates running for New York City Mayor. The grading system is simple, it is out of 100 with five weighted categories. This week, we take a look at the two leaders in the latest polls; Andrew Yang and Eric Adams. After each week, there will be an updated standing list.
In just under three months, New York City residents will be casting votes for their next Mayor but it’s going to look very different this year. For the first time in the City’s history, ranked-choice voting is being implemented. The question of who will replace term-limited incumbent de Blasio is still up in the air as dozens upon dozens of candidates are campaigning in efforts to become New York City’s 110th Mayor.
The only safe assumption is that the next Mayor of New York City will all but certainly be coming from the crowded Democratic field. However, in a recent poll from Fontas Advisors and Core Decision Analytics, the front-runner in the Democratic primary is still largely undecided. Fifty percent of likely Democratic voters are still unsure who they want leading the City out of the Pandemic’s wake.
The lead dog is still in question as we head into the June 22 primary, so let’s have some fun by having a Mayoral Standings List.
For our rankings, the total amount of points up for grabs is 100 divided out into five categories; social media presence, policy issues, polling numbers, fundraising, and endorsements.
The total points up for grabs in each category are as follows:
Social Media Presence– 15
Policy Issues– 20
Fundraising– 20
Endorsements–20
Polling– 25
Once the totals for each category are added together, each candidate will receive a total score out of 100. Let’s begin with probably the most recognizable candidate in the field, Andrew Yang.
Andrew Yang
Social Media Presence- In the 2020 Presidential Race, Yang stuck around longer than expected. This was mainly the result of his cult-like following on the internet. In 2021, it is impossible to ignore the power and leverage a broad reach on social media has for a candidate and Yang is the poster child for how to do it successfully without being banned. Unlike one Republican adversary in the 2020 Presidential Election, Yang uniquely utilizes his social media.
Instead of using social media as a channel to shove his agenda down the throats of the people who already agree with him, Yang engages in dialogue that is meaningful and non-adversarial. Along with Twitter, Yang benefits from sitting in on podcasts with huge followings. This increases Yang’s visibility in New York City’s 2021 mayoral race.
Score: 14/15
Policy Issues- Yang’s trademark policy is the idea of universal basic income – which is a program that would send an average of $2,000 per year to New York City residents living in extreme poverty. But who would pay for this? According to Yang’s website, this program will cost $1 billion a year. The City’s residents will likely not want to pay even more in taxes to make this happen. Yang proposes that going after large tax-exempt landlords, like Madison Square Garden, will help alleviate the burden on everyday taxpayers.
“MSG’s tax breaks are $40 million a year, alone,” Yang said in an interview on CNBC. “If you look at that money and you get it back into the City’s hands, plus you invest some level of the City’s resources, we can alleviate extreme poverty here in New York City.”
Yang’s most prominent plan with COVID has nothing to do with vaccine rollout. According to Yang’s website, one of his primary plans in COVID recovery is to “host the biggest post-COVID celebration in the world with a party in every borough.”
Yang has impressive policy issues and, unlike the White House, his ideas could be implemented in the City quite easily. The question is, do New Yorkers want to be the test rabbits for his ideas? For his inability to address this question and for his weak responses to the uptick in anti-Asian hate crimes, Yang loses a few points here.
Score: 16/20
Fundraising- In the latest financial disclosure deadline, Yang received $2.1 million in donations from 14,758 contributors which averaged out to be $145 per donation. The $2.1 million is an impressive number but since Yang is eligible for 8-to-1 matching funds, the $2.1 million is expected to grow to $6.5 million once the matching funds are counted.
The telling number is the nearly 15,000 contributors, outpacing the rest of the field by 5,000 contributors. This shows that, like in his presidential bid, Yang is leveraging his grassroots support, and his name recognition is high.
Expect big numbers from Yang as candidates start to drop out and the matching funds are counted.
Score: 16/20
Endorsements- The most prominent organizational endorsement Yang has received so far comes from the Freelancers Union, an endorsement he shares with another Democrat candidate, Maya Wiley. Yang is having a hard time scooping up notable organizations to endorse him but he did also receive the endorsement from the Uptown Democratic Club, a progressive organization based in Harlem.
Not only is Yang missing out on major union endorsements, but he is also shooting himself in the foot with his press photo-ops. In March, Yang posed for a photo with the infamous Naked Cowboy street performer in Times Square. The Naked Cowboy is a well-known avid Trump supporter who reportedly participated in the insurrection on January 6th at the U.S. Capitol. Not a terrific look for Yang but one that could be fixed with a strong union endorsement.
Score: 10/20
Polling- The most important thing Yang has done to improve his odds of becoming the 110th NYC Mayor was running for U.S. President in 2020. As the latest polls prove, he has been riding the wave of his name recognition ever since. If there were a front-runner in this race, it would be Yang.
With half of the likely Democratic voters undecided, Yang has plenty of people to try and convince before the June 22nd primary. Yang currently sits in first place in the latest poll, garnering 16% of likely Democratic voters. He is currently six percentage points ahead of Eric Adams.
Yang will want to improve his 16% before the debates begin in May. However, with such a crowded field, no matter the percentage points, sitting in first with less than three months to go should be comforting.
Score: 19/25
Yang receives a total score of 76 which is good enough for a strong C but has some weaknesses. As of now, Yang is lacking in endorsements but with strong polling numbers and high grassroots support, he should have no problem being the first choice on many ballots this summer.
Total Score: 75/100
Eric Adams
Social Media Presence- The 2021 Election is proving to be a campaign nightmare. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, door-to-door campaigning and swarming subway stations with clipboards have become nearly impossible for candidates. One would think the importance of social media engagement would be a priority for an outspoken individual like Eric Adams. However, his social media presence is as large as a C-level Tik Tok star.
On Twitter, Adams only has 33.7K followers. On Instagram, it looks even grimmer for Adams. There, he only has 5K followers. The value of social media cannot be overstated when it comes to elections.
In a study on the 2020 Presidential Election, Pew Research found that highly engaged voters were more likely to have been contacted by campaigns. What does this mean for Adams? Well, he has strongly established himself as the working-class candidate who has reached far into the union groups and older voters. However, he could swing a few more young votes away from Yang if he invested more time in engaging on social media.
Score: 9/15
Policy Issues- Adams has been very vocal about the disparity in COVID-19 resources for Black, Hispanic, and Asian communities in Brooklyn. Other than that, Adams hasn’t been totally clear on where he stands and what he will do as Mayor in regards to COVID-19 response and healthcare overall.
He does have one very interesting idea though. Adams recently unveiled a plan that intends to use a portion of the federal stimulus funding to open an additional one hundred COVID-19 vaccination sites in locations that formerly housed retail stores. Once the COVID-19 vaccination sites begin to phase out, Adams wants to turn these locations into permanent healthcare sites in areas serving underprivileged portions of the population.
Adams has long been a champion of police reform and has held firm on not wanting to defund the police even as the notion gained popularity in the summer of 2020. Adams has a strong action plan for reforming the New York City Police Department which is a hot topic issue for voters this summer. Police reform and crime are both in the top five issues that voters are thinking about leading up to June 22.
Score: 17/20
Fundraising- Simply put, Adams has outpaced and lapped the field so far in fundraising, even considering Yang’s impressive 2.1 million in only two months. Adams sits on an estimated balance of $7.6 million while raising $8.5 million. Unlike Yang, Adams is relying on higher average donations from his contributors. Of the 6,816 contributors to the Adams Campaign, the average donation is $440.
Adams will surely have enough money to last until the primaries but the jury is still out as to whether these swimming pools of cash will enable him to surpass Yang in June.
Score: 18/20
Endorsements- Another strong area for Adams is the support he has received from most of the city council members representing Brooklyn. Along with many local leaders in Brooklyn, several unions are extending an olive branch and supporting the former police officer.
In the middle of March, Adams accepted the endorsement from 32BJ SEIU–the union represents private-sector building service workers and includes 85,000 members across the city. Adams has also received support from the Hotel Trades Council, a union representing 31,000 hotel workers.
The largest and most significant union to send their support Adam’s way is District Council 37, a union that represents 150,000 members in various jobs. DC 37 is the largest municipal labor union in New York City. This is a massive catch for Adams.
Adams covers a large spread of voters with his huge union endorsements. He gained these by campaigning as the “first blue-collar mayor” of New York City.
Score: 18/20
Polling- Adams’ most recent endorsement from DC 37 came only days ago on March 25, after the most recent polling numbers came out. Regardless, Adams is hanging strong and holding his own in the polls.
Coming in at 10%, Adams is only six points back from Yang. Unless Yang starts to pull away, expect Adams to be the most likely candidate to overtake him as the front-runner.
Score: 16/25
Total Score: 78/100
Next week we will be taking a look at Maya Wiley and Scott Stringer and updating our standings. Be sure to stay up to date on our Twitter & Instagram.
Current Standings
Eric Adams—78
Andrew Yang—75