The final votes are set to be cast Tuesday in New York’s party primaries, where mayors, prosecutors, judges and city and county legislators will be on the ballot, along with other municipal offices. The contests include one likely to decide who becomes the district attorney in Manhattan and inherits an ongoing investigation of former President Donald Trump. New York City’s mayoral primary is using ranked-choice voting, a system that lets voters rank up to five candidates instead of choosing just one. Voters are also deciding whether to stick with Rochester’s incumbent mayor, who has been buffeted by personal and political scandals. Here’s a look at key races: NEW YORK CITY MAYOR The leading Democratic 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, former de Blasio administration attorney Maya Wiley and Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer. Crime and policing issues have dominated the race following an increase in shootings during the COVID-19 pandemic. Adams, a former police captain running on his public safety record, has led most recent polls, but by a margin that could easily evaporate in the ranked-choice voting system, where people’s second, third, fourth and fifth choices for mayor could all make a difference in the final outcome. He would be the city’s second Black mayor. Two candidates who would make history as the city’s first female mayors, Garcia and Wiley, have been rising in polls during the campaign’s final weeks. Stringer faced calls from some of his foes to drop out of the race after two women accused him of sexual harassment. Under ranked-choice voting, which New York City adopted by referendum in 2019 and is using in a mayoral primary for the first time, candidates can form alliances and encourage their supporters to rank another candidate second. Yang and Garcia surprised some onlookers with joint appearances over the campaign’s final weekend. “Rank me No. 1 and then rank Kathryn Garcia No. 2,” Yang told supporters at a rally in Queens on Saturday. Adams, who is Black, accused Yang and Garcia of trying to prevent a “person of color” from winning the race. “For them to come together like they are doing in the last three days, they’re saying we can’t trust a person of color to be the mayor of the city of New York when this city is overwhelmingly people of color,” Adams said. Yang responded that he is a person of color as well. If elected, he would be the city’s first Asian-American mayor. “I would tell Eric Adams that I’ve been Asian my entire life,” he said. The Republican mayoral primary pits Guardian Angeles founder Curtis Sliwa against Fernando Mateo, a businessman who has led organizations that advocate for car service drivers and bodega owners. MANHATTAN DISTRICT ATTORNEY Eight Democrats are running to succeed District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr., who has been leading a probe of Trump’s business dealings. Vance leaves office at the end of the year. In heavily Democratic Manhattan, Tuesday’s primary is expected to decide the winner. The candidates include experienced prosecutors who say they’ll keep the streets safe, while building on reforms such as reducing drug prosecutions, and outsiders who say the office with a staff of 500 lawyers […]

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