Adele Mayers was getting on the subway in Queens on Monday and on her way to work when she met one of the mayoral candidates she was considering ranking first on her ballot: Kathryn Garcia.

Ms. Mayers, 38, told Ms. Garcia she still had research to do, particularly with regard to education and the uptick in crime, her top issues. She said she was still considering ranking Andrew Yang No. 1 because she felt he understood the technology industry. And with ranked-choice voting, she felt like no matter what, she would not be throwing her vote away.

“I didn’t like that it had to be all or nothing,” she said of the old voting system.

With Primary Day just ahead, Ms. Mayers, who works in a jewelry store, was part of a large pool of undecided voters that candidates like Ms. Garcia are still trying to woo, even if not for a first-place rank.

Ms. Garcia and Mr. Yang have prominently courted each other’s supporters, a move that continued to provoke a backlash on Monday from another leading contender, Eric Adams, and his supporters.

Allies of Mr. Adams, the Brooklyn borough president, have claimed without evidence that the alliance between Ms. Garcia and Mr. Yang amounted to an effort to weaken the voices of Black voters, even though such alliances are common in elections with ranked-choice voting.

“If they feel based on their perception that this suppressed the votes, then I respect their feelings,” Mr. Adams said on CNN Monday morning.

Ms. Garcia and Mr. Yang plan to campaign together for a third straight day Monday evening.

“I have no idea how I could be suppressing votes when I’m asking people to go vote,” Ms. Garcia said. “I don’t understand that message at all.”

She said her goals on Monday were to increase turnout and to convince voters that “making government work for everyone is actually progressive.”

Ms. Mayers, who is Black, said she did not understand the criticism of Ms. Garcia and Mr. Yang for campaigning together. “They came up with that, good for them,” she said.

Ms. Mayers also objected to the suggestion from Adams supporters that the strategy was a form of voter suppression.

“No, Black and Hispanic voters are not a monolith,” she said.

Source: Read Full Article