Yang and Garcia Join Forces on Campaign trail

NEW YORK (Hamodia/Daily News/TNS) —

New York City mayoral candidates Andrew Yang and Kathryn Garcia linked up on the campaign trail Saturday in advance Tuesday’s ranked-choice voting Primary Day, but while Yang explicitly endorsed Garcia for Number 2, she did not return the favor.

On a Zoom call with reporters Friday, the Yang campaign had hinted that a cross-endorsement may be coming over the weekend. Yang had previously said publicly he would vote for Garcia second.

But, asked by a Hamodia reporter at a campaign appearance in Brooklyn later Friday afternoon whether she would reveal her second choice, Garcia sad, “I am not. Everyone asks, but no.”

On Friday evening, the Yang and Garcia campaigns announced that they would campaign together Saturday. “Ahead of NYC’s first ranked-choice election,” the announcement read, two candidates would “kick off GOTV [Get Out The Vote] weekend together on the trail,” leading to the presumption that they would cross-endorse.

At the events, Yang indeed reiterated his support for Garcia, according to media reports.

“Kathryn Garcia is a true public servant,” he said. “For anyone listening to my voice right now, if you support me, you should rank Kathryn number two on your ballot.”

But Garcia didn’t explicitly endorse Yang.

“Let me be very clear, I am not are not co-endorsing,” said Garcia. “We are campaigning together. We are promoting ranked-choice voting.”

 

The latest polls show both Garcia and Yang trailing frontrunners Eric Adams and Maya Wiley, with other candidates far behind.

All surveys show a big chunk of New Yorkers remain undecided. Adams on Saturday lashed out at Garcia over the new alliance as a “backroom deal” and noted that she once complained Yang treated her in a condescending manner. “We just found out who Kathryn Garcia is — she’s as big a fraud as Andrew Yang,” said Adams. “She’s making a backroom deal to drown out black and brown voices in this election.”

On Sunday, Garcia and Yang announced they would walk together at rally commemorating the recent spate of hate crimes against Asian Americans.

Given that no candidate has broken away from the pack, it’s likely that New Yorkers will have to wait until next month to find out who won. Mail-in ballots can be received as late as a week after the June 22 election day, and the No. 2 through No. 5 choices won’t be tallied until all the ballots are counted.

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