Ranked-Choice Voting: How It Led to Cuomo's NYC Mayoral Primary Concession

New York City, NY – Political Correspondent Steve Kornacki of NBC News has shed light on Andrew Cuomo's decision to concede in the New York City Democratic mayoral primary, despite the official vote tally not yet being finalized. The explanation centers on the city's ranked-choice voting system and strategic alliances among other candidates. Kornacki explained that while initial counts showed various candidates, the ranked-choice system allows voters to rank multiple candidates. Zohran Mamdani and Brad Lander, two of Cuomo's opponents, reportedly formed an alliance, encouraging their supporters to vote for one of them first and then the other second, explicitly advising against ranking Cuomo. This strategy aimed to pool their votes effectively in later rounds of the ranked-choice tabulation. According to Kornacki, Cuomo's initial lead was not substantial enough to withstand the reallocation of votes from eliminated candidates. As lower-ranked candidates were eliminated, their votes were redistributed based on voters' subsequent choices. It became evident that a significant portion of these reallocated votes would favor Mamdani and Lander, rather than Cuomo, ultimately preventing him from securing a win. This understanding of the ranked-choice dynamics led to Cuomo's early concession, recognizing the inevitable outcome once all preferences were tabulated.