Democratic frontrunner Eric Adams, the Brooklyn borough president and former police chief, has defeated Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa in the race for mayor of New York City.
With 43 percent of precincts reporting, Adams has garnered about 66.5 percent of the vote, meeting expectations for the overwhelmingly Democratic city.
Adams’ win was declared by the Associated Press only ten minutes after polls closed at 9:00 p.m. He succeeds Mayor Bill de Blasio, who earned a reputation during his two terms for spearheading more radically progressive policies than the broader Democratic party establishment.
While Sliwa promised to cancel COVID mandates, Adams indicated at the first mayoral debate that he would largely preserve de Blasio’s pandemic strategy, including the requirement that patrons be vaccinated in order to enter restaurants and other venues.
In the past, Adams has acknowledged that the business environment in New York City has greatly deteriorated over the course of the pandemic. Crime and gun violence have surged in recent months, driving many residents to flee to other states. Adams has advocated for more firearms control, saying that the city must “go after the guns” with joint gangs and guns task force with federal, state and city coordination.
As a veteran of the police force, Adams believes he can bridge the confidence and trust gap between the New York City community, including African Americans, and those wearing the badge. While Adams generally opposes stop-and-frisk police stops, which its critics believe disproportionately target minorities, he is not expected to support substantially shrinking the size of the city’s police department like his mayoral counterparts in other urban areas, such as Portland.
Source: National Review
