An election for the mayor of New York City was held on November 2, 2021. Incumbent mayor Bill de Blasio was term-limited and ineligible to run for re-election. Democratic Brooklyn Borough president and former police officer Eric Adams won the election in a landslide, defeating Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa. Adams became the city's second Black mayor.

Primary elections took place on June 22, 2021. Rather than the plurality voting of previous primaries, the elections were the first to use ranked-choice voting. Sliwa, founder of Guardian Angels, handily won the Republican primary over New York State Federation of Taxi Drivers founder Fernando Mateo. Polling showed businessman Andrew Yang as the frontrunner as of May 2021, but his lead later shrank as Adams emerged and eventually won in the final round of the Democratic primary over former New York City Department of Sanitation Commissioner Kathryn Garcia.

In the general election, Adams maintained a sizable lead over Sliwa and was heavily favored to win. On election day, Adams won easily, receiving 66.99% of the vote to Sliwa's 27.76%. He was sworn in on January 1, 2022.

Background In the 2017 mayoral election, lncumbent Bill de Blasio was re-elected mayor of New York City for a second term, defeating Republican nominee Nicole Malliotakis. New York City used proportional representation (single transferable voting) from 1937 to 1947. Such a system produced benefits to voters and elected a more diverse city council than had been produced under first-past-the-post voting before and after.

In 2019, New York City voters passed Ballot Question #1 to amend the City Charter to "give voters the choice of ranking up to five candidates in primary and special elections for mayor, public advocate, comptroller, borough president, and city council beginning in January 2021". The first election in the city to use ranked-choice voting (Instant-runoff voting) was in the 24th council district in Queens, which took place on February 2, 2021. This was the first time ranked-choice voting was used in the New York City mayoral election.

In 2019, journalists and political commentators predicted several potential 2021 mayoral candidates, including Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams, Bronx Borough President Rubén Díaz Jr., NYC Council Speaker Corey Johnson, NYC Comptroller Scott Stringer, and NYC Public Advocate Jumaane Williams.

By May 2021, thirteen candidates had qualified for the Democratic Party primary, and two for the Republican Party primary. There are also minor party and independent campaigns for the general election in November.

Democratic primary

Polling in late January and early February 2021 showed businessman Andrew Yang as the Democratic primary frontrunner, with Adams in second place and Stringer in third place.

In April, Scott Stringer was accused of sexual abuse by Jean Kim. Stringer denied the allegations, claiming that the relationship had been consensual. In June, a second woman accused him of sexual misconduct.

On May 5, 2021, Politico reported that a recent poll found that Eric Adams was leading the Democratic primary contest; this marked the first time since January that any Democratic candidate other than Yang had led in a public poll. On June 7, Spectrum News reported that Adams had maintained a lead in the Democratic primary.

On July 6, the Associated Press reported that Adams had won the Democratic primary. The Guardian stated that Adams, a "former police captain", had prevailed "after appealing to the political center and promising to strike the right balance between fighting crime and ending racial injustice in policing". An earlier report from The New York Times asserted that Adams had run as a "working-class underdog" and had "hammered away at the message that he was the only candidate who could tackle both crime and police reform".

Candidates Nominee Candidate Experience Announced Borough President, former NY State Senator from the 20th district (2007–2013), former NYPD captain)

Eliminated in primary Art Chang, former JPMorgan Chase managing director, founder of NYC Votes Shaun Donovan, former Director of the US Office of Management and Budget (2014–2017), United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (2009–2014), former Commissioner of the NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development (2004–2008) Aaron Foldenauer, attorney Kathryn Garcia, former Commissioner of the NYC Department of Sanitation (2014–2020), former Interim Chair and CEO of the NYC Housing Authority (2019), former Chief Operating Officer of the NYC Department of Environmental Protection (2012–2014) Ray McGuire, former Citigroup executive Dianne Morales, former social services non-profit CEO, former schoolteacher Paperboy Love Prince, Brooklyn rapper Scott Stringer, New York City Comptroller, former Manhattan Borough President (2006–2013), former assemblymember for the 67th district (1993–2005) Joycelyn Taylor, CEO of TaylorMade Contracting Maya Wiley, The New School professor, former chair of the New York City Civilian Complaint Review Board (2016–2017), former counsel to Bill de Blasio, former ACLU and NAACP Legal Defense Fund attorney Isaac Wright Jr., lawyer Andrew Yang, candidate for President of the United States in 2020, former Presidential Ambassador for Global Entrepreneurship (2015–2017), founder of Venture for America

Write-in candidates who did not qualify for ballot access Nickie Kane, web designer, entrepreneur and paralegal student at City University of New York Eddie Cullen, tech entrepreneur and professor at Purdue University Thomas Downs, restaurant worker Guiddalia Emilien, real estate agent and small business owner Garry Guerrier, paramedic and nurse Max Kaplan, director of social media at Talent Resources Barbara Kavovit, CEO of Evergreen Construction and former Real Housewives of New York City cast member Ira Seidman, data scientist Ahsan Syed, candidate for NYC Mayor in 2017

Withdrawn Michael DeName, former independent US presidential candidate Rubén Díaz Jr., Bronx Borough President (20092021), former NY State Assemblymember (19972009) (endorsed Eric Adams) Quanda S. Francis, president of Sykes Capital Management (withdrew to run as an independent) Zach Iscol, entrepreneur, United States Marine Corps veteran (running for NYC Comptroller; lost election) Corey Johnson, Speaker of the NYC Council (2018present), NYC Councilmember for the 3rd district (2014present) (running for NYC Comptroller) Carlos Menchaca, NYC Councilmember for Brooklyn's 38th district (2013–present) (endorsed Andrew Yang) Julia Qing Reaves, LGBT+ activist Stephen Bishop Seely, actor Loree Sutton, former Commissioner of the NYC Department of Veterans' Services (20172019), former US Army brigadier general (endorsed Kathryn Garcia)

Declined Andy Byford, former president of the NYC Transit Authority (20182020) Melinda Katz, Queens County District Attorney (2020present), Queens Borough President (20142020), NYC Councilmember for the 29th district (20022009), NY State Assemblymember for the 28th district (19941999) Melissa Mark-Viverito, former NYC Council Speaker (20142017) Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, US Representative for New York's 14th congressional district (2019present) (endorsed Maya Wiley) Christine Quinn, former NYC Council Speaker (20062013) Max Rose, former US Representative for New York's 11th congressional district (20192021) (formed exploratory committee but did not run) Ritchie Torres, US Representative for New York's 15th congressional district (2021present) (endorsed Andrew Yang) Jumaane Williams, NYC Public Advocate (2019present), former NYC Councilmember for the 45th district (20102019) (running for re-election as NYC Public Advocate) (endorsed Maya Wiley) Jeff Zucker, chairman of Warner Media News & Sports (2019present)

Results by round

2021 New York City mayoral Democratic primary election Candidate Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 Round 4 Round 5 Round 6 Round 7 Round 8 Votes % Votes % Votes % Votes % Votes % Votes % Votes % Votes %

289,403 30.7% 289,603 30.8% 290,055 30.8% 291,806 31.2% 295,798 31.7% 317,092 34.6% 354,657 40.5% 404,513 50.4%

184,463 19.6% 184,571 19.6% 184,669 19.6% 186,731 19.9% 191,876 20.5% 223,634 24.4% 266,932 30.5% 397,316 49.6%

201,127 21.4% 201,193 21.4% 201,518 21.4% 206,013 22.0% 209,108 22.4% 239,174 26.1% 254,728 29.1% colspan=2 style="text-align:center;"

115,130 12.2% 115,301 12.2% 115,502 12.3% 118,808 12.6% 121,597 13.0% 135,686 14.8% colspan=4 style="text-align:center;"

51,778 5.5% 51,850 5.5% 51,951 5.5% 53,599 5.7% 56,723 6.1% colspan=6 style="text-align:center;"

26,495 2.8% 26,534 2.8% 26,645 2.8% 30,157 3.2% 30,933 3.3% colspan=6 style="text-align:center;"

25,242 2.7% 25,272 2.7% 25,418 2.7% 26,361 2.8% 27,934 3.0% colspan=6 style="text-align:center;"

23,167 2.5% 23,189 2.5% 23,314 2.5% 24,042 2.6% colspan=8 style="text-align:center;"

7,742 0.8% 7,758 0.8% 7,819 0.8% colspan=10 style="text-align:center;"

7,048 0.7% 7,064 0.8% 7,093 0.8% colspan=10 style="text-align:center;"

3,964 0.4% 4,007 0.4% 4,060 0.4% colspan=10 style="text-align:center;"

2,662 0.3% 2,683 0.3% 2,780 0.3% colspan=10 style="text-align:center;"

2,242 0.2% 2,254 0.2% colspan=12 style="text-align:center;" Write-ins 1,568 0.2% colspan=14 style="text-align:center;" Inactive ballots 0 ballots 752 ballots 1,207 ballots 5,314 ballots 8,062 ballots 26,445 ballots 65,714 ballots 140,202 ballots

Republican primary

Candidates Major candidates

Two candidates appeared on the Republican primary ballot.

+ Republican primary candidates Candidate Experience Announced Fernando MateoFounder of the New York State Federation of Taxi Drivers (Website ) Curtis SliwaFounder of the Guardian Angels Radio talk show host (Website Archived April 22, 2021, at the Wayback Machine)

Sliwa ran on a platform opposing the Defund the Police movement, supporting a property tax overhaul so that wealthy citizens pay more in comparison to working-class residents, keeping in place the Specialized High School Admissions Test while increasing opportunities for vocational training in charter schools, and focusing on fiscal restraint. He also opposes the killing of unwanted animals and supports making all animal shelters no-kill shelters.

Failed to qualify for ballot access Abbey Laurel-Smith, businesswoman Adam Oremland, attorney and social media personality Bill Pepitone, retired NYPD officer (ran as the candidate for the Conservative Party) Sara Tirschwell, CFO of Foundation House

Withdrawn Cleopatra Fitzgerald, activist Christopher Scott Krietchman, entrepreneur

Declined Nicole Gelinas, fellow at the Manhattan Institute Andrew Giuliani, son of Rudy Giuliani, former special assistant to the president, former associate director of the White House Office of Public Engagement (ran for governor in 2022) Randy Levine, president of the New York Yankees Kelly Kennedy Mack, president of Corcoran Sunshine Marketing Group Scherie Murray, businessperson, candidate for NY State Assembly in 2015, candidate for NY District 14 David B. Samadi, urologist Eric Ulrich, NYC Councilmember (2009present)

Endorsements

Opinion polling Poll source Date(s)administered Samplesize Marginof error FernandoMateo CurtisSliwa UndecidedEmerson CollegeJun 7–8, 2021250 (LV)± 6.2%27%33%40%

Debates + 2021 New York City mayoral election Republican primary debates Date Host Moderator Link ParticipantsKey: Participant   Absent   Non-invitee   Invitee Withdrawn Curtis Sliwa Fernando Mateo 1 March 31, 2021 WABC Dominic Carter Video 2 June 3, 2021 PIX11 Ayana HarryDan MannarinoHenry Rossoff Video

Results

Third parties Conservative Party Nominee Bill Pepitone, retired NYPD officer

Working Families Party Candidate No candidate nominated

Declined