Kathryn Garcia and Maya Wiley Concede Democratic Mayoral Primary

  By Yehudit Garmaise

     Kathryn Garcia, New York City’s former sanitation commissioner and mayoral candidate, conceded the Democratic primary to Eric Adams, whom she called to congratulate this morning.

     “Yesterday, we received the nearly final results of the Democratic primary election for mayor, and while it is only by a razor-thin margin, Eric Adams will be the winner of the Democratic primary,” Garcia said of the race that Adams won by 1% of the vote or 8,400 ballots.

     On July 2, Adams, Garcia, and Maya Wiley, a former lawyer to Mayor Bill de Blasio, were reported to all have filed lawsuits to seek the right to review the ranked-choice vote tally, which was briefly sent into chaos on June 30, when 135,000 test ballots were accidentally included in the BOE’s tabulations.

     In her concession speech, Garcia reflected on how close she came to becoming the first woman to be elected New York City’s mayor of New York City.

     “This campaign has come closer than any other moment in history to breaking that glass ceiling in selecting New York City’s first female mayor,” Garcia said, echoing the concession speech of Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential election.

      Garcia was never a frontrunner in the primary, however her candidacy gained momentum after she was endorsed by The New York Times and The Daily News, and a late alliance with Andrew Yang, likely helped her to draw second-place votes from his supporters.

    The Associated Press called Adams’ victory last night: two weeks after Primary Day.

    Up until Tuesday night, the race remained too close to call, as Adams maintained what seemed to be ever-narrowing lead over Garcia and Wiley,  who, after coming in third, has also conceded the election.

     "I stand here to day to congratulate Eric Adams on his victory," Wiley said today.