Ranked Choice Voting, flawed candidates, un-ventilated priorities, and the mayor's race

Yes, it's an interesting time, as the Democratic primary votes approaches tomorrow. Are people voting policy, personality, ethnic/gender representation, politicking style, or strategy?

One friend asked me, "If I don't like X candidate, do I rank them fifth, or not at all?" 

Not at all is the answer--but you have to rank one of the other four front-runners, likely all three, to have a meaningful vote, even if that means holding your nose and choosing the "least bad" candidate. 

Because all have their flaws and no one has a big idea on the par of Bill de Blasio's universal pre-K. Also, so many issues (land use, post-COVID recovery, transportation) haven't been sufficiently ventilated, with the tabloid-driven focus on crime and policing.

What a tale of (at least) two cities on the front pages just ahead of the election here pic.twitter.com/t3G0UJ1FMn

— Harry Siegel (@harrysiegel) June 21, 2021

Errol Louis, NY1 anchor and typically a Daily News columnist, observed in a rare New York Times column:

Ideally, the next mayor will blend both of their approaches. A Mayor [Eric] Adams would have to take seriously the public’s demand to fundamentally change the mission and mind-set of the N.Y.P.D. in ways that go beyond bureaucratic tinkering. A Mayor [Maya] Wiley would quickly discover that a much wider range of tasks than she imagined requires the use of force and must be entrusted to the cops we have, not the cops we wish we had.

Note that the other two leading candidates, former city Sanitation Commissioner Kathryn Garcia and tech entrepreneur Andrew Yang, are closer to Adams on policing.

Questions

Does (NY Post-endorsed) Adams' biography, (complicated) police experience, and years of service, coupled with his pledge to tackle crime, trump his ethical dubiousness and cynical politics?

Does (NY Times- and NY Daily News-endorsed) Garcia's willingness to campaign with (if not quite reciprocally cross-endorse) Andrew Yang, he of the absent city resume, betray an unseriousness about the city? (More on Garcia's flaws.)

Does Wiley's "unapologetically progressive" focus meet the moment--and the next one? (More on her flaws.)

Can Yang, with his lack of engagement with the city and knowledge gaps, really serve as mayor? 

As to strategy, can those recommending ranking Adams after Wiley (as does Rep. Hakeem Jeffries), or, say, Wiley and Garcia at the top square that with their manifestly contrasting policy proposals, at least on the NYPD?

Closing arguments

The Daily News gave all four leading candidates essay space to make their case.

Adams wrote:

And that is why personal experience is so important. Because of my struggles and my work, I have the unique ability to be a bridge between the NYPD and our communities, restoring confidence and accountability in policing that is essential to our recovery.
...So I will take on this inequality directly with our People’s Plan that will deliver automatic monthly cash assistance, free or subsidized child care, and more efficient city assistance through a single digital platform.

Garcia wrote:

I believe the most progressive thing we can do is to make the government work for everyone. But especially for those who need it most.

...And in that time, spanning two mayoral administrations, I have served New Yorkers’ everyday needs, from clean drinking water, getting trash picked up and snow plowed — to our greatest challenges.

Wiley wrote:

I also have a plan to keep us all safe — from crime and police violence — by creating a balanced approach that shifts $1 billion from our bloated police to our communities to respond to crises and problems that don’t require a badge and a gun with the right responders... I am the only one of the final four candidates who believes we should hold our police officers to the highest standards of the rule of law and entrust final disciplinary decisions to independent civilian oversight...

Yang wrote:

My plans start with tackling the gun violence epidemic....We’ll start by launching a $1 billion cash relief program to get the poorest New Yorkers $2,000 checks every year. 

...Sticking to the same playbook and the same bureaucrats and politicians who got us into this mess won’t cut it. New Yorkers deserve a better city, not the one we’ve been forced to settle for.

What next

What's clear is that we won't know the presumptive next mayor after the vote on Tuesday, because it will take a while to rank the candidates.

What we do know is that it would've been wise to 1) ensure that more topics got fully ventilated, 2) get ranked choice voting better understood sooner (so, for example, Adams and his supporters wouldn't claim nefariousness), and 3) have the primary closer to the end of the year, so we don't have a mayor-in-waiting for so long.