Primary Day 2021: NYC mayoral, comptroller, Manhattan DA races and more

NYC Primary Day

New York voters reacted to ranked-choice voting in the city's primaries.

NEW YORK - Voters across New York were casting their final ballots in party primaries Tuesday, including a hotly contested mayoral race in New York City.

With no presidential or congressional races at stake, turnout was expected to be a fraction of what the state saw last November. Yet even with fewer votes to count, results in some races could take time to emerge. New York's pandemic-era expansion of mail-in voting is still in effect, and many absentee ballots won't be counted until a week after the election.

Results could take longest in New York City, which is using ranked-choice voting to decide the winners in many contests, including the Democratic race for mayor.

That's a system in which voters rank up to five candidates in order of preference and the lowest performers are eliminated in a series of computerized rounds of vote tallying until only two candidates remain.

Candidates cast their ballots

From the East Village to Co-Op City, the candidates in New York City's primary race for mayor cast their ballots and made their final pitches to voters.

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The leading candidates to succeed term-limited New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio include Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams, former presidential candidate Andrew Yang, former city sanitation commissioner Kathryn Garcia and former de Blasio administration attorney Maya Wiley.

NYC Primary Day preview

New Yorkers will head to the polls to choose their candidates for mayor, comptroller, public advocate and several other races. This is the first time ranked-choice voting will be used in citywide races.

Also in the city, several Democrats are running to succeed Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr., who has been leading a probe of former President Donald Trump's business dealings.

The winner will take over both that investigation and an office with a staff of 500 lawyers and a $125 million budget.

In Rochester, Mayor Lovely Warren is facing a tough challenge in the Democratic primary from City Councilmember Malik Evans.

She is running while under indictment for alleged campaign finance violations. Her husband also recently pleaded not guilty to being part of a drug trafficking ring.

Warren has been bruised by criticism of her handling of the death of a Black man, Daniel Prude, who stopped breathing as he was being held to the pavement by police officers.