Mayor Mamdani opposes moving the election of New York City mayor to open primaries. And who could blame him. The current closed primaries work in his and the Democratic Socialists’ favor.
Open primaries allow all registered voters to voice their choice. They are not unusual. Most big American cities run such “all-candidate” primaries rather than party primaries, which limit voting for nominees to party members. New York is the exception.
We understand why Mamdani and the Democratic Socialists of America don’t want open primaries. Their formula for gaining power is to keep voting restrictive. They organize a march into thinly attended closed primaries and get their guy on the Democratic line with only a few votes.
Mamdani won the Democratic nomination on a sweltering, triple-digit day in June. Many potential voters, especially the elderly, feared going out in the heat. (My hair cutter Mika at Vartali Salon on E. 57th, told me that several customers canceled their appointments that day.)
Here’s a quote from my July 1 column for Creators Syndicate:
More attention must be paid to the weather on primary day. June 24 saw triple-digit heat and high humidity that made parts of the city feel like 126 degrees. Temperatures in Central Park broke a record set in 1888. No doubt many Cuomo supporters, comforted by polls showing their candidate with a commanding lead, thought they could take the day off from voting.
Only about 8% of the city’s registered voters showed up for the primary — and over a third of that 8% preferred Andrew Cuomo. When the general election was held, Mamdani received less than half the vote even though he was the official Democratic candidate in this very Democratic city.
Park Avenue in July
Another argument for open mayoral primaries: Over 21% of the city’s registered voters are “unaffiliated” and therefore were shut out of voting for nominees. Meanwhile, 11% of the city’s registered voters are Republican.
In May, the city’s Charter Revision Commission adopted an interim report that suggested letting voters decide in November whether to move New York to an open primary. That’s how Boston and Seattle do it. Under their system, all eligible candidates can be on the ballot, and all registered voters can participate. The top-two vote getters advance to the general election.
Mamdani opposes open primaries. “I am quite content with the system of primaries that we have thus far,” he said unsurprisingly.
Not content is John Opdycke, head of OpenPrimaries. “It’s ironic that Mayor Mamdani, who is raising important questions about the economic power of poor and working people, won’t advocate for their political power.” The group cites its own polling that finds even most NYC Democrats favor open primaries.
Gothamist reported that early last month another group called Unite NY had submitted more than 45,000 petitions supporting open primaries for city elections.
East Siders, speak up.