Up Close Election Special: Closer look at the candidates for New York City mayor

The primary election for NYC Mayor will be held on Tuesday, June 24, 2025

ByBill Ritter and Eyewitness News

Saturday, June 21, 2025

On this special edition of Up Close, we break down the race for New York City mayor and take a closer look at the leading candidates ahead of the June primary election.

NEW YORK CITY (WABC) -- In this edition of Up Close, we break down the race for mayor of New York City and its leading candidates ahead of the June 24th primary election.

It might be one of the most unusual races for mayor of New York City.

It starts with incumbent Mayor Eric Adams facing federal charges for accepting gifts from Turkey in exchange for pressuring New York fire department officials to sign off on opening a high-rise consulate building in Manhattan. However, after President Donald Trump started his second term, the Justice Department dropped those charges against the mayor.

Critics claimed it was a quid pro quo in exchange for the city cooperating with the president's policies. Adams flatly denied those claims and later decided to skip the Democratic primary and instead run as an Independent in the November general election.

While the mayor was facing his court battles, one of New York's best-known Democrats, Andrew Cuomo, jumped into the race. Cuomo resigned as state governor back in 2021 after several female state employees accused him of sexual harassment. The former governor recently told The New York Times that he made a mistake by resigning and says he's the only one President Trump can't handle.

Statistically, there are more than 7.4 million registered voters in New York City. Based on the borough populations, 31% of the city's voters are in Brooklyn, 26% in Queens, nearly 21% in Manhattan, 15% in the Bronx and more than 6% in Staten Island.

These numbers are important because the politics of the biggest city in the country lean mostly one way in terms of party line. But talk to voters about part elections, and political diversity is abundant.

This is also the second mayoral election in New York City with ranked-choice voting. Voters must pick not only their top choice but several others in order of preference.

While we don't yet know how ranked-choice voting will alter the race for mayor, top candidates hope it will help put them over the top.

Nine people are running, including former Gov. Cuomo, City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams, City Comptroller Brad Lander, former Comptroller Scott Stringer, and NY State Rep. Zohran Mamdani. Polls show Cuomo and Mamdani have the top two candidate spots so far.

Andrew Cuomo

At 67 years old, he's the oldest son of former Gov. Mario Cuomo. Andrew served as New York's 56th governor between 2011 and 2021 before he resigned. Before becoming governor, Cuomo was the former Attorney General of New York and the former US Secretary of Housing and Urban Development under President Bill Clinton.

N.J. Burkett speaks with Andrew Cuomo about his mayoral campaign.

State Rep. Zohran Mamdani

The 33-year-old has been in the New York State Assembly since 2021 and has a big political platform. If elected, Mamdani would be the first Muslim mayor of New York City.

Kemberly Richardson has more from New York City.

City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams

The 64-year-old is the first African American to hold the speaker position and was first elected to the council in 2017.

Chanteé Lans speaks with Mayoral Candidate and City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams.

Comptroller Brad Lander

The 55-year-old was sworn in as comptroller back in January 2022. He was also a member of the city council from 2009 to 2017.

Tanya Rivero speaks with New York City Comptroller and Mayoral Candidate Brad Lander.

Scott Stringer

The 65-year-old was comptroller between 2014 and 2021 and previously served as Manhattan Borough President.

One of the ways Stringer says he will make the city more affordable if elected mayor is by proposing that families split the cost of child care with the city and their employer.

On the other side, Curtis Sliwa will again be the Republican candidate for mayor. Four years ago, the founder of the city's Guardian Angels lost in the election to Mayor Adams.

In this edition of Up Close, we also talk with former NYC Mayor Bill De Blasio, former mayoral candidate Christine Quinn, and former NY Gov. David Paterson about their thoughts on the race. We also speak with our political team, ABC News Washington Bureau Chief Rick Klein and political consultant Hank Sheinkopf, on the state of the race.