Photo: Spencer Platt/Getty
Eric Adams haswon New York City’s Democratic mayoral primaryfollowing a tight race with Kathryn Garcia.
The Brooklyn borough president, 60, was declared victorious Tuesday night after more than 125,000 newly-counted votes showed him maintaining his narrow lead over the former Department of Sanitation commissioner, 51, in the city’s first instance of ranked-choice voting.
Eric Adams.Andrew Burton/Getty
Adams, a former police officer of 22 years, could make history following his primary success. The politician would be just the second Black mayor in the city’s history should he win. (Former lawyer David Dinkins was first to do so in 1990.)
In an interview with PEOPLE last month,he opened upabout growing up Black while living in Queens in the ’60s and ’70s and the impact it had on his future political aspirations.
“The next mayor really must be someone who has gone through a lot, so they can help people who are going through a lot,” Adams said in June. He also called his life “a New York story.”
Adams, who co-founded the 100 Blacks in Law Enforcement Who Care advocacy group, has highlighted a platform featuring police reform and crime reduction throughout his campaign. He fought for reform as an officer and told PEOPLE of plans to use his expertise to continue that fight should he become mayor.
“We need to be more proactive at preventing crimes instead of creating crime,” Adams said.
Eric Adams.Susan Watts/NY Daily News Archive via Getty
His campaign wasn’t without criticism though, and some skeptics have claimed Adams is not a resident of New York City. Many believe he actually resides in Fort Lee, New Jersey.
But Adams has gone to great lengths to prove he is indeed a New York City resident. He even gave the press a tour of the home (which was itself asource of controversy) in June following the rumors.
“How foolish would someone have to be to run to be the mayor of the city of New York and live in another municipality,“he told reportersduring the tour.
Adams is expected to square off against Guardian Angels founder Curtis Sliwa, a Republican, in the general election on November 2.
source: people.com
