Your guide to the June 2025 NYC primary elections

Hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers will vote in the Democratic mayoral primary this month, but one name won’t be on the ballot: Mayor Eric Adams.

Adams’ decision to run as an independent is just one of the many developments in this consequential – and at times bizarre – election.

Adams’ corruption scandal created a literal and figurative opening for challengers who want to make him the first incumbent mayor to lose re-election since David Dinkins. The candidates include Andrew Cuomo, a former governor and frequent Trump adversary who’s seeking to make a comeback after resigning amid sexual misconduct allegations. Left-leaning candidates, led by democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani, are promoting themselves as scandal-free alternatives to Cuomo and Adams.

The stakes are high. A vote for mayor has implications for your daily life. City officials are responsible for the basic services that make New Yorkers’ lives livable, from child care to trash pickup. Gothamist is here to help you make an informed choice about who should be in charge.

There are three citywide positions on the ballot in the June primary: mayor, comptroller and public advocate. If you’re a registered Democrat or Republican, your vote will help your party choose whom to nominate for the general election in November. Below you’ll find key dates, how to optimize your ranked-choice ballot, and how to understand the city’s byzantine campaign finance system, which funnels taxpayer dollars to the candidates.

Beyond the citywide contests, you should also be aware of the upcoming primaries for City Council races. To find your district and view a sample ballot, just click here.

Having trouble figuring out who to vote for mayor? Take this “Meet Your Mayor 2025” quiz, which Gothamist built with The City.

Here’s our guide to the race. Happy voting.

Jump to…

• Key dates
• How to rank your vote
• How public funding works
• Your options
  • For mayor
  • For comptroller
  • For public advocate

Key dates and deadlines

June 9: Deadline for a registered voter to file a change of address with the Board of Elections for the primary.
June 14: Last day to register in-person or online to vote in the primary. Mailed applications must be received by this date, so get them in the mail a few days earlier.

June 14-22: Early voting. Find your polling site here.

June 24: Election Day. Vote in-person or put your ballot in the mail. Mailed ballots must be postmarked by this date. Find your polling site here – it will likely differ from your early voting site! Polls are open 6 a.m. to 9 p.m.

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Ranking your vote

Ranked-choice voting allows voters to select up to five candidates for city offices in order of preference. It’s only used for primary and special elections. The system is designed to encourage voters to pick the candidate they support, as well as their next-best options.

You can only vote for each candidate one time, so there is no benefit to selecting a candidate more than once. You risk spoiling your ballot if you rank more than one candidate for the same spot. If there is a candidate you do not want to support, do not select that candidate anywhere on your ballot. To maximize your vote, fill out all five slots.

In order to win the nomination, a candidate must receive more than 50% of the vote. If no candidate wins a majority after the first tally, the candidate who comes in last place will be eliminated. Any ballots where the eliminated candidate was ranked first will be redistributed based on those voters’ second choice. Candidates will continue to be eliminated, and counting will continue down the ballot, until there are two candidates left and one gets more than 50%.

The marquee ranked-choice contest in June is the Democratic primary for mayor, but voters will also be able to rank candidates for city comptroller, public advocate, borough president and the City Council.

This is only the second citywide election cycle to use ranked-choice voting. Voters adopted the system through a ballot referendum in 2019, and used it for the first time four years ago. The city Board of Elections had some technical snafus last time, but officials say they are working to ensure things run more smoothly this year.

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Who’s paying for this?

You are. The city provides funding from our tax dollars to the New York City Board of Elections to administer the voting process. Candidates can also receive public funds through the city’s campaign finance matching funds program.

The New York City Campaign Finance Board’s more than three-decades-old matching funds program is designed to help amplify small contributions, so candidates have an incentive to reach out to regular people in their district, not just deep-pocketed donors.

Candidates for citywide office who opt to receive matching funds can see contributions up to $250 matched $8-to-$1. For example, with matching funds, a contribution of $250 is worth $2,250. But that big boost comes with some strings.

A candidate must meet two thresholds, designed to measure voter enthusiasm, in order to qualify for matching funds. If they’re running for mayor, they have to raise at least $250,000 in matchable contributions from a minimum of 1,000 donors in the city. Candidates must also agree to specific contribution and spending limits.

Even if a candidate does not take public matching funds, all candidates for city office must file regular disclosures that show how they are raising and spending money.

Candidates are also prohibited from coordinating with independent expenditure groups, New York City's version of super PACs. (Andrew Cuomo, the race's front-runner, is facing an ongoing investigation over this issue.)

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Your options

Mayor Eric Adams and attorney Jim Walden are running as independents and will not appear on primary ballots. The candidates listed below have said they qualified for matching funds, were included in independent mayoral polls or are their party’s presumptive nominee.

The lists of candidates’ priorities and endorsements are not comprehensive.

Mayor

The Democrats

Adrienne Adams

• Policy Priorities: Creating guaranteed basic income for 21,000 homeless children and young adults, filling vacancies at NYPD, violence intervention and trauma support services for crime victims.
• Resume: Elected City Council speaker in 2022. City councilmember representing southeast Queens since 2017. Previously worked as a corporate trainer.
• Key Endorsements: New York Attorney General Letitia James, DC 37, The Stonewall Democrats of New York City, Working Families Party, Rep. Nydia Velázquez, Public Advocate Jumaane Williams.
• Quote: " No drama. No scandal. No nonsense. Just competence and integrity."

Michael Blake

• Policy Priorities: Implementing a guaranteed income for New Yorkers, subsidizing green tech jobs and employers that relocate to the city, providing tax breaks to homeowners, freezing rent on stabilized units.
• Resume: Vice chair of Democratic National Committee, New York state assemblymember representing part of the Bronx from 2015-2020. Previously ran for U.S. Congress, public advocate.
• Quote: "Your block won't block your blessing and your ZIP code won't deny your destiny."

Andrew Cuomo

• Policy Priorities: Combating antisemitism, hiring 5,000 more NYPD officers, building more housing in all neighborhoods, reducing class sizes, raising minimum wage to $20 by 2027.
• Resume: Governor from 2011-2021. Resigned in August 2021 amid an impeachment inquiry for sexual harassment and his administration’s handling of nursing home deaths during the pandemic. Served as state attorney general from 2007-2010.
• Key Endorsements: Reps. Adriano Espaillat, Ritchie Torres and Greg Meeks; Queens Democratic Party; Brooklyn Democratic Party Chair and Assemblymember Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn; 32BJ; 1199 SEIU; Hotel and Gaming Trades Council.
• Quote: " We know New York is in crisis. But we know something else. We know that we can turn this city around."

Brad Lander

• Policy Priorities: Building affordable housing, including on city-owned golf courses, ending street homelessness, expanding affordable childcare to 2 year olds.
• Resume: Elected city comptroller in 2022, represented Park Slope in the City Council from 2010-2021, co-founded the Council’s progressive caucus, urban planner.
• Key Endorsements: Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso, Working Families Party, Rep. Nydia Velázquez, Public Advocate Jumaane Williams.
• Quote: “Everyone will like being in a city that doesn't have folks sleeping on the street who are a danger to themselves and to others."

Zohran Mamdani

• Policy Priorities: Freezing rent for rent-stabilized tenants, free buses, city-owned grocery stores, expanding free child care.
• Resume: Elected state assemblymember from Queens in 2021
• Key Endorsements: Working Families Party, Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso, Rep. Nydia Velázquez, state Sen. Gustavo Rivera, former Rep. Jamaal Bowman.
• Quote: "The cost of living is the real crisis."

Zellnor Myrie

• Policy Priorities: Building and preserving 1 million homes, providing universal after-school, making streets and subways safer.
• Resume: Elected to state Senate representing Central Brooklyn in 2018, state Senate elections committee chair, City Council legislative director.
• Key Endorsements: Rep. Dan Goldman, Zephyr Teachout, Working Families Party.
• Quote: "We can't keep nipping all around the edges. We have to be bold in our vision."

Jessica Ramos

• Policy Priorities: Enhancing tenant protections, expanding child care access, enhancing public safety while holding law enforcement accountable.
• Resume: Elected to state Senate in 2018 representing Queens neighborhoods including Corona, East Elmhurst and Jackson Heights. Chair of Senate labor committee.
• Quote: "We need leadership that puts people first."

Scott Stringer

• Policy Priorities: Hiring more police officers, extending school hours, redeveloping public land for housing.
• Resume: City comptroller from 2014-2021, Manhattan borough president from 2006-2013, state assemblymember from 1993-2005
• Key Endorsements: Rep. Jerry Nadler, state Assemblymembers Deborah Glick and Micah Lasher
• Quote: "I know where the problems are at City Hall, and I know exactly how to start fixing them."

The Republican

Curtis Sliwa (presumptive nominee)

• Policy Priorities: Hiring 7,000 more police officers, increasing policing on subways, involuntarily committing homeless people, repealing Mayor Adams' zoning overhaul.
• Resume: Founder of the Guardian Angels, unsuccessful mayoral candidate.
• Key Endorsements: Republican parties from each of the five boroughs, NYC Organization of Public Service Retirees.
• Quote: "We must understand that we cannot shift the cause of our problems or its cure upon anyone but ourselves."

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Comptroller

The Democrats

Justin Brannan

• Policy Priorities: Creating a public integrity unit that publishes list of worst city contractors, divesting city pensions from Tesla, reinvesting city pensions to expand affordable child care
• Resume: Elected to City Council in 2018, chair of finance committee, punk rock band member
• Key Endorsements: Rep. Nydia Velázquez, Local 32BJ, Working Families Party
• Quote: "As comptroller, I will fight like hell to ensure every dime of our city budget works for you, your family, and the neighborhoods we all call home."

Mark Levine

• Policy Priorities: Creating or preserving 75,000 affordable homes in the next decade, adding $1 billion to the city's reserves to prepare for federal budget cuts.
• Resume: Elected Manhattan borough president in 2021, city councilmember from 2014-2021, high school teacher.
• Key Endorsements: 1199 SEIU; DC 37; Civil Service Employees Association; Reps. Jerry Nadler, Ritchie Torres, Adriano Espaillat and Dan Goldman; Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso
• Quote: "I'll root out corruption and protect our money from Donald Trump and Elon Musk."

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Public advocate

The Democrats

Jenifer Rajkumar

• Policy Priorities: Addressing quality of life issues, use tech to help address housing affordability.
• Resume: Elected state assemblymember from Queens in 2021
• Key Endorsements: City Councilmember Robert Holden, state Sen. Joseph Addabbo, and Assemblymember David Weprin.
• Quote: "It is time to take our city back from the extremists and the incompetents."

Jumaane Williams

• Policy Priorities: Increasing police accountability and reform, expanding mental health outreach, reducing gun violence, reducing housing costs.
• Resume: New York City public advocate starting in 2019, city councilmember from 2010-2019, community organizer. Unsuccessful candidate for lieutenant governor in 2018 and governor in 2022.
• Key Endorsements: SEIU 1199, Make the Road Action, Working Families Party, City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams, Queens Borough President Donovan Richards.
• Quote: "I will continue to combine activism and legislation to help make our city a truly progressive beacon."

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