Mayoral Candidate Assessments

On June 22, 2021, voters across New York City will vote in the primaries for…well, just about everything.

Unfortunately, most people won’t be there. Just 3% of New Yorkers chose the current mayor. And this June, voters won’t just be choosing a new mayor—they’ll also be choosing a new Comptroller, at least 35 new Council Members, four new Borough Presidents, two new District Attorneys, and more. And they’ll be doing it through Ranked Choice Voting, which the majority of voters don’t yet fully understand or even know about!
All of this creates particular challenges for prospective first time voters—along with powerful opportunities. Research demonstrates that citizens who vote in their first two eligible elections are more likely to be voters for life, but most young New Yorkers DON’T vote. And, they vote even less in off-year cycles, which makes THIS is a critical year to work hard to reel them in. Voting is a vital on-ramp to broader forms of civic and voter participation, so the stakes are high. The time for young people to be prepared and fully engaged is now, as we work towards transformational change on the other side of the pandemic.

In order to equip young voters–and all voters–to feel prepared and informed to vote in this year’s Democratic Mayoral primary, groups of YVoters assessed each of the top eight candidates’ platforms with regard to how well they addresses policy recommendations developed in response to the Youth Ask Youth (YAY) Census 2020 with Y indicating that the candidate addresses the recommendation, N indicating that the candidate doesn’t address it, and U indicating that the candidate’s response is Unclear, Unaddressed, or Incomplete. The assessments are based on each candidate’s website, debates and public speaking events, and articles in Gotham Gazette, New York Magazine, New York Times, NY Daily News, Rolling Stone, and The City. Check out snippets below and download each candidate’s Matrix. Want an at-a-glance version across all eight candidates? Scroll to the bottom but we STRONGLY recommend investing the time to read through each candidate’s matrix thoroughly and thoughtfully!