Here Are All The Candidates That Made The NYC Mayoral Ballot, In The Order They'll Appear
April 19, 2021, 3:03 p.m.
Yes, New Yorkers will be able to vote for Paperboy Prince. And he's higher up on the ballot than Andrew Yang.
Many New Yorkers may not be ready to cast their vote for mayor yet, but the election process is well underway. Following weeks of petitioning for signatures of support by the candidates, the city's Board of Election has determined the list and order of the candidates that will appear on the mayoral primary ballots.
Under state law, each candidate for mayor needs at least 2,250 signatures, and must be at least 18 years old and a resident of the city.
Following a suspense-filled livestreamed lottery drawing (complete with lottery ball machine), the city's Board of Elections drew up the list for the Democratic field, with the top slot going to a relatively unknown candidate. Two other lower-profile candidates—Paperboy Prince, a Brooklyn rapper, and Art Chang, a former JPMorgan Chase and city employee—landed squarely in the middle of the ballot.
- Aaron S. Foldenauer
- Dianne Morales
- Scott M. Stringer
- Raymond J. McGuire
- Maya D. Wiley
- Paperboy Love Prince
- Art Chang
- Kathryn A. Garcia
- Eric L. Adams
- Isaac Wright Jr.
- Shaun Donovan
- Andrew Yang
- Joycelyn Taylor
Meanwhile, the Republican primary ballot will feature only two candidates:
- Curtis Sliwa
- Fernando Mateo
Appearing first on the ballot is considered the most coveted spot because of the belief that undecided voters will be drawn to the most prominently positioned name on the list. Studies of elections and ballot order have supported this theory. However, another study found that high name recognition among the candidates offsets any advantage enjoyed by the candidate listed first.
Still, Foldenauer, a little known Democrat who a few years ago unsuccessfully ran for City Council in Lower Manhattan, celebrated his first-place standing with a dig at rival Andrew Yang, who has the most name recognition in the race according to multiple polls, but will appear last on the ballot.
I'm first on the ballot for Mayor, @AndrewYang, and I had to look quite far down the list to find your name!
— Aaron Foldenauer (@aaronfoldenauer) April 15, 2021
This is also like elementary school for me, given that my teachers often alphabetized by first name. The two A's in "Aaron" always put me first! https://t.co/WJpmz3MnRM
Yang took the order in stride, jokingly tweeting, "This feels like grade school where I was always last alphabetically."
This year, New Yorkers won't just be choosing one candidate on the ballot—with ranked-choice voting, voters select up to five candidates in order of preference. You can learn more about ranked-choice voting and see how that played out in our practice election featuring NYC mayors from the movies.