Latest news with #rankedChoiceVoting
The Independent
11-07-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
‘Look who's talking': Fetterman told to look in mirror after he rips NYC's Mamdani as ‘not even a Democrat'
Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) received criticism online after he told Fox News that Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic nominee for mayor of New York City, was not even a Democrat. The Pennsylvania Democrat criticized Mamdani, who pulled off a surprise victory to win the Democratic nomination for mayor last month — in a ranked-choice voting system that saw him handily edge out ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo — in an interview with Fox News' Chad Pergram. 'Everything that I've read on him, I don't really agree with virtually any of it politically,' Fetterman said. 'That's just where I'm at as a Democrat. He's not even a Democrat, honestly.' That comment triggered a large number of responses about Fetterman on X, formerly known as Twitter. 'Look who's talking,' one online poster snarked. Aaron Reguenberg, a former member of the Rhode Island state house of representatives, also criticized Fetterman's remarks. 'Sorry John, I think you misspoke? I believe you meant to say, '*I'm* not even a Democrat, honestly,'' he wrote. Annie Wu, who worked on Fetterman's 2022 campaign, also criticized his remarks. 'and neither is Fetterman. (but in the other direction),' she posted on X. Fetterman has irritated Democrats since he won his 2022 race for Senate in Pennsylvania. Fetterman initially billed himself as a progressive Democrat who endorsed Bernie Sanders when he was mayor of Braddock. JJ Abbott, a Democratic consultant based in Pennsylvania, pointed to this. Since then, he pivoted to the center as a centrist on immigration, co-sponsoring legislation President Donald Trump signed that would require the Department of Homeland Security to detain undocumented immigrants charged with crimes before they are tried. But he's also become one of the most outspoken supporters of Israel in the Democratic Party, even as many Democratic voters have become disillusioned with the country amid its onslaught in Gaza in response to the October 7th attacks. By contrast, Mamdani has spoken vocally about the rights and the plight of the Palestinian people. That issue has led to Fetterman, who is Jewish, seeing a mass exodus of staffers and former allies from his office. Joe Calvello, who worked on Fetterman's campaign and in his Senate office when he first came to Washington, also criticized Fetterman. 'Zohran: I am running to make life more affordable,' Calvello tweeted. 'Fetterman: i agree with him on nothing.' Some Democrats have criticized Mamdani for his refusal in an interview with The Bulwark to condemn the term 'Globalize the Intifada,' which some consider to be a call for violence but Mamdani said is also a call to support the rights of Palestinians. Fetterman appeared on Fox News on Friday and again criticized Mamdani where he said that Mamdani identified as a socialist, which made him not qualify as a Democrat. 'I'm friends with many very, very left Democrats in the Senate, but again, we don't have those kinds of views as well,' he said. 'All I'm saying though, it's very clear the GOP are going to use him as their tentpole on their messaging.' Fetterman pointed to the fact that polling shows the Democratic Party has a weak image. 'I don't think that's helpful at this point to have that be someone that's been identified as one of the emerging faces of our party,' he said.
The Guardian
06-07-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
The other winner in New York's mayoral contest: ranked-choice voting
The polls did not look good for New York progressives this winter when the Working Families party began making its endorsements for city elections. An early February poll from Emerson College showed Andrew Cuomo with a 23-point lead in a hypothetical Democratic primary matchup. None of the four leading progressives even approached double-digit support – including the then unknown assemblyman Zohran Mamdani. He polled at 1%. In the days before ranked-choice voting, the Working Families party's endorsement process might have looked quite different. Like-minded candidates would have drawn sharp distinctions between each other. Party officials might have looked to nudge candidates toward the exits, behind closed doors. Before any votes had been cast in the primary, the party would consolidate behind just one choice. It would have been bloody and left a bitter taste for everyone. Instead, the opposite happened. Working Families, knowing that majorities rule and that no one can spoil a ranked-choice race, endorsed four candidates. Instead of a single endorsement that served as a kiss of death for other progressives, they backed a slate, allowing voters time to tune in and for candidates to make their pitches. Now Mamdani is the Democratic nominee and the overwhelming favorite to go from 1% all the way to Gracie Mansion. There are many reasons why this 33-year-old pulled off a seemingly unthinkable upset and soared from obscurity to the most talked about Democrat in the nation overnight. He energized young people, reached voters where they are on social media and built an unstoppable coalition. He and his volunteers talked to everyone, everywhere. Ranked-choice voting (RCV) encouraged and incentivized that joyous, barnstorming approach. And while Mamdani ultimately would have won a plurality contest or a ranked-choice one, his super-long-shot candidacy might have been squelched at the very beginning under the old system with its different electoral incentives. His victory shows how much more real power voters have under ranked-choice voting. To be clear: RCV is a party-neutral and candidate-neutral tool. Its job is to produce a majority winner with the widest and deepest support from any field of more than two candidates. It puts an end to spoilers and to the impossible, wish-and-a-prayer calculation that voters otherwise have to make when faced with multiple candidates, some of whom they really like and some of whom they do not. Liberals, conservatives, independents and moderates have run and won under RCV, from coast to coast. But while RCV might be strictly non-partisan, it is decidedly pro-voter – and almost always produces a more positive, issue-focused campaign that looks to drive up turnout and appeal to as many people as possible. A ranked-choice campaign rewards engagement and encourages coalitions; it's a race where instead of tearing down opponents, candidates point out areas of agreement and ask to be a voter's second choice. Voters love RCV and find it easy to use. According to a new SurveyUSA poll of New York voters, 96% said their ballot was easy to fill out. More than three-quarters of voters want to keep or expand RCV. And 82% said they had taken advantage of RCV and ranked at least two candidates. (These numbers are similar across RCV elections, and a powerful rejoinder to critics who insist, despite evidence to the contrary, that it's too confusing.) A remarkable number of New Yorkers saw first-hand how RCV makes our votes more powerful – they had the freedom to express themselves and rank a long-shot first, but still had their vote count for either Mamdani or Cuomo in the ranked choice tally. Perhaps the high marks are of little surprise: voters received a campaign unlike most any other. The tone remained positive and issue-based. Instead of cutting each other down, candidates lifted each other up: Mamdani and Brad Lander cross-endorsed each other, cutting joint ads, riding bicycles together to shared events, sharing the couch on Stephen Colbert, and even sharing a stage at Mamdani's victory party. Jessica Ramos and Whitney Tilson endorsed Cuomo and said that they would rank him second. Mamdani helped Adrienne Adams with fundraising. Sign up to Fighting Back Big thinkers on what we can do to protect civil liberties and fundamental freedoms in a Trump presidency. From our opinion desk. after newsletter promotion Voters always say that they want more choice at the polls, candidates who engage with them, and a genuine, issue-based campaign. They got exactly that in New York City because of ranked choice. And the historic turnout levels – more than 1 million New Yorkers cast ballots, the highest number since the 1980s – shows that when voters get that kind of elevated, engaging campaign, they show up and get involved. When voters have the opportunity to consider new candidates campaigning in creative new ways, the frontrunner with the early name recognition and largest donors can be eclipsed by a newcomer who started at 1%. And instead of going scorched-earth on each other before the general election, even some of the 'losers' seem to have had their status elevated: Lander finished third, and instead of being an asterisk, he has now expanded his base and likability for a future campaign. The majority winner in this race was Zohran Mamdani. But it's also easy to suggest the real winner might be ranked-choice voting. In a moment when so many of our elections are fraught and polarized, all of us looking for a more unified and hopeful path forward – the 'politics of the future', as Mamdani called it when he declared victory – should take a close look at what just happened in New York as proof that stronger elections are truly possible. Outside of Washington, cities and states are becoming laboratories of democracy once again. New York's adoption of ranked-choice voting led to just the kind of campaign our politics so desperately needs: a giant field of candidates presenting their vision of the future, building coalitions, without any time squandered on 'spoilers' or anyone pushed to drop out and consolidate early. In Portland, Oregon, meanwhile, voters modernized government and moved to proportional representation to elect the city council, broadening representation to groups and neighborhoods that have never before had a seat at the table. When voters make these changes, they like them, defend them, and expand them, as we have seen in New York, Maine and Alaska. And it won't take long for people to ask why they can't have ranked choice and proportionality in all their elections. David Daley is the author of Antidemocratic: Inside the Right's 50-Year Plot to Control American Elections as well as Ratf**ked: Why Your Vote Doesn't Count
Wall Street Journal
01-07-2025
- Politics
- Wall Street Journal
Zohran Mamdani Cements Stunning Upset in NYC Mayor's Race
Zohran Mamdani cemented his win over Andrew Cuomo in New York City's Democratic mayoral primary, notching a 12-point victory in ranked-choice voting results released Tuesday. Mamdani prevailed in the third round of the city's ranked-choice voting system, according to unofficial results from the city's board of elections. His victory vastly outpaced pre-election forecasts that he and Cuomo would battle it out until the eighth and final round. He wrapped the third round with 56% of the vote to Cuomo's 44%.
New York Times
01-07-2025
- Politics
- New York Times
What to Know About Ranked-Choice Results in the N.Y.C. Mayor's Race
Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani's strong performance in New York City's Democratic mayoral primary last Tuesday turned him into a national figure overnight, as his upstart campaign overtook that of the longtime front-runner, former Gov. Andrew Cuomo. But it was not enough to make him the official nominee. That victory is likely to come on Tuesday. Since Mr. Mamdani received less than 50 percent of the vote in the first round of counting, a runoff was triggered under New York City's relatively new ranked-choice voting system. The system allows voters to rank up to five candidates in order of preference. Now, the candidates with the least first-choice support will be eliminated, round by round, and their votes redistributed to voters' next choices. The Board of Elections will release the ranked-choice results on Tuesday, one week after the primary. Here's what to know: When will the results be available? The ranked-choice voting results are slated to be released online at noon, according to a news release from the Board of Elections. What will they include? The Board of Elections said it would report the tally of all the ballots that were counted during the city's nine days of in-person early voting and on Primary Day, as well as mail-in ballots received and processed by Primary Day. The board plans to release updated numbers weekly on Tuesdays until all ballots are counted and final results certified. The final results will include absentee ballots. There were 11 candidates in the race. With an estimated 93 percent of the vote counted last Tuesday, Mr. Mamdani had the support of 43.5 percent of the city's Democratic primary voters, leading Mr. Cuomo by about seven percentage points. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
New York Times
26-06-2025
- Politics
- New York Times
How Brad Lander Helped Push Zohran Mamdani Toward Victory
The night before Tuesday's Democratic primary in New York City, Zohran Mamdani and Brad Lander appeared on 'The Late Show With Stephen Colbert,' bringing their progressive bromance to a national viewership. Ostensibly running against each other to be New York's next mayor, their alliance showcased what parliamentary-style coalition politics could look like in the age of so much vitriol and polarization. Not long before early voting began, the candidates cross-endorsed each other in the name of an ideological victory and the defeat of the better-known, better-funded front-runner. 'We both agree that corrupt, abusive Andrew Cuomo should not be allowed anywhere near City Hall,' Mr. Lander, the city's comptroller, said on the show, as the studio audience cheered. And now it looks as if he won't. Against the predictions of nearly all polling, Mr. Mamdani is on track for a decisive win — and not after the tallying of several rounds of ranked-choice voting, assumed to be the only route to defeating an opponent with such an imposing advantage. Mr. Mamdani leads in the first round of counting by 7 percentage points, a margin significant enough that Mr. Cuomo quickly conceded on Tuesday night. The result could reasonably lead to the assumption that a still-novel method of ballot casting in New York had little to do with the outcome. But in fact, ranked-choice voting, now in place in at least 60 jurisdictions around the country, shaped the competition from the beginning. It rewards a campaign style that played to Mr. Mamdani's strengths: ever-present, on-the-street, nonstop voter engagement. Mr. Mamdani was doing everything — even jumping into the freezing cold ocean to call attention to his proposal for a rent freeze — and his many thousands of campaign volunteers were everywhere. All of this stood in sharp contrast to Mr. Cuomo's I've-got-this-locked-up strategy, one that relied heavily on big-money TV advertising, little noticed by voters under 70, and the conviction that there was no one well-known or formidable or experienced enough to beat him. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
