Adams claims victory in New York City’s Democratic mayoral primary

New York City, Jul 6 (EFE).- Former Brooklyn police captain Eric Adams on Tuesday night claimed victory in New York City’s Democratic mayoral primary.

The current Brooklyn borough president is now likely to be the heavily-Democratic city’s second Black leader.

“I’m honored to be the Democratic nominee to be the Mayor of the city I’ve always called home. Thank you, New York!” Adams tweeted.

Minutes earlier, the Board of Elections had announced the provisional results after the scrutiny of mail-in votes, according to which Adams obtained 50.5 percent (403,333), ahead of the former NYC Department of Sanitation commissioner Kathryn Garcia, with 49.5 percent (394,907 votes), only 8,425 votes behind.

Adams anticipated the official announcement of the results, given that the Board of Elections will give voters until Friday to fix any ballots filled out wrong, or deemed invalid.

“There are so many folks I need to thank, but tonight I want to thank the voters of NYC,” Adams wrote, adding that he will be proud to work with and for New Yorkers.

Winning in the Democratic primary elections is considered a huge step towards becoming the mayor of the city due to the heavy weight of the electorate of this party in New York, which is expected to tip the balance for Adams in the elections scheduled for November.

Adams, who for more than two decades served with the New York Police Department, presented himself during the campaign as the best prepared candidate to combat insecurity in the city, an issue that, as revealed by several polls, is ranked as the priority of New Yorkers.

“I grew up poor in Brooklyn & Queens. I wore a bulletproof vest to keep my neighbors safe,” the politician wrote.

The long scrutiny, which began after election day on July 22, has not been without controversy. On June 29 after announcing preliminary results, the Board of Elections admitted that it had mistakenly counted 135,000 test ballots, which sparked criticism against this body, whose modus operandi has been questioned for years by politicians and activists.

For these elections, a new voting system was launched, which allows voters to choose up to five candidates in preferential order. EFE

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