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After Winning Key Union Endorsements, Scott Stringer Hopes To Mobilize Progressive Democrats
By
Elizabeth Kim
Published Apr 26, 2021
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Elizabeth Kim / Gothamist
By
Elizabeth Kim
Published Apr 26, 2021
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On a clear blue-skied morning this past Saturday, Scott Stringer was basking in a love fest at City Hall Park. Standing less than a thousand feet away from the building he hopes to occupy as mayor next year, he was feted by a group of more than 100 energized supporters. One by one, union leaders and elected officials stepped up to the podium and belted out their praise for the 60-year-old Democratic city comptroller.
In making the argument that New York City is at a pivotal moment, they asserted that only Stringer, who has risen methodically in state and local politics over nearly four decades—from district leader to state assemblyman to Manhattan borough president and now city comptroller—can meet the challenge.
"This is, without doubt, the most consequential election in many decades," said Stuart Appelbaum, the president of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, which has 45,000 local members and was the first major union to endorse Stringer. "
"We need somebody who is prepared right now, armed with New York's progressive values to work for us," he added.
With roughly eight weeks until the mayoral primary, Stringer is hoping to build precisely that case to liberal voters in a crowded and still uncertain race where he is trailing the frontrunner Andrew Yang and Brooklyn borough president Eric Adams. In the latest NY1 poll, Yang led with 22% support of likely Democratic voters, followed by Adams with 13%.
Stringer, who last month was perceived as being a candidate in trouble, was the only other contender to climb to double digits, with 11% of likely voters saying he is their first choice.
Stringer has a sizable war chest; both he and Adams have raised the most money in the race thus far, over $9 million.
Should he eventually prevail in the race, his campaign may look to the last two weeks as a turning point. Yang recently suffered a series of missteps, beginning with a tweet suggesting that the city should increase its enforcement of unlicensed street vendors, a group of mostly low-income immigrants that have over the years garnered public attention and sympathy over various police crackdowns.
Stringer seized on the remarks, holding a press conference the following day surrounded by activists and elected officials in Queens.
"How can you claim to love New York City and want to throw hard-working New Yorkers in jail?" Stringer said.
According to Neal Kwatra, a political consultant, the display was "campaign 101."
"Mobilize your supporters to amplify Yang's mistake," he said, adding that at the same time, Stringer was able to reinforce that he was on the side of working class New Yorkers.
The following day, Stringer won the first-choice endorsement of the Working Families Party, which was viewed as a coveted seal of approval from progressives. The next week, the United Federation of Teachers, the 200,000-member teachers' union, endorsed him as its single candidate. In accepting their support, Stringer delivered a rare expression of excitement, one his press secretary described as a "double-fisted Tiger Woods action."
On Saturday, Stringer referred to his momentum, telling the crowd, "You know we're coming on right now, right? This is real."
He urged his supporters to "double down" in the coming weeks.
As the city comes out of one of its darkest periods, Stringer and other candidates have been caught flatfooted by Yang's optimism and mirthful approach to campaigning. Ester Fuchs, a Columbia University professor who advised prior mayors David Dinkins and Michael Bloomberg, said that she had initially been critical of Stringer for saving his energy in the race.
"He’s like the last runner who conserves it for the final sprint," she said. "The question is whether that kind of strategy can win when there are so many unknowns."
The unknowns include ranked-choice voting, in which primary voters will get to rank their preferred candidates for the first time, and the coronavirus crisis, which has amplified a host of concerns for voters: the economy and the survival of small businesses, public health, race and social justice, and housing.
"What is difficult about this race apart from ranked-choice voting is nobody really knows what issues will dominate in the vote calculus for New Yorkers. What in the end is going to be determinative for voters?" Fuchs said.
As Stringer was wrapping up his rally on Saturday, the Democratic Party's most prominent progressive, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, was kicking off her own event in Queens promoting her climate legislation, known as the Green New Deal. Several hundred people flocked to Astoria Park to hear her speak and waited more than a hour afterwards to take selfies with her.
One of the looming questions of the race has been whether the enormously popular congresswoman, whose district includes parts of Queens and the Bronx, will choose to back a candidate in the race, a decision which experts believe could shake up the race.
"I support all the values she supports," said Brian Cuartas, a 25-year-old Astoria resident who stood in line Saturday wearing a Bernie Sanders sweatshirt. "Knowing who she supports, and what she sees in the value of the candidates, I think that'd be really a big factor in my decision."
Stringer has come into the race armed with the lengthiest and most detailed plans. He has pledged to build more affordable housing for very low-income New Yorkers, in part by including a requirement that developers set aside 25% of units toward affordable housing for any as-of-right development with 10 or more units. His 40-page transportation plan, which called for buses and subways to run no more than six minutes apart, won plaudits from New York Magazine's architecture and urban planning critic Justin Davidson for being both a holistic and realistic vision for transforming city streets. His education plan laid out a 27-point list of sweeping changes to city schools, including requiring two teachers in elementary school classrooms and expanding city-funded childcare and after-school programs.
His jobs recovery plan includes a proposal to draw $1 billion in federal stimulus money towards funding up to $100,000 grants for small business owners.
Apart from a careful development of policy, he has also in recent years backed a group of insurgent women progressives in the state legislature, state senators Alessandra Biaggi and Jessica Ramos, and assemblywoman Yuh-Line Niou. In return, the trio endorsed him last fall for mayor. So did Bronx Congressman Jamaal Bowman, who Stringer supported in his upset victory over the establishment Democrat Eliot Engel.
Niou, who spoke at the rally on Saturday, described the work of distributing face masks and food that she and other elected officials, including Stringer, have done during the pandemic.
"We've been on the ground working every single day," she said. "The reason why we want Scott is because he's been with us."
In spite of support from young progressive lawmakers, Stringer faces a real challenge from the left from two candidates of color. Dianne Morales, a former nonprofit executive won the second place nod from the Working Families Party, followed by Maya Wiley, a civil rights attorney who served as counsel for Mayor Bill de Blasio.
Both are seeking to make history as the city's first woman mayor. Morales would be the first Afro-Latina elected to run the city, Wiley the first Black woman mayor.
Among progressives opposed to Stringer, it's not simply the poor optics of electing a white man, but also a debate around issues and his ties to the establishment and interest groups. Although he has refused to accept donations from developers, Stringer's independence from the real estate industry has been questioned. As comptroller he said he would favor a $1.1 billion cut over four years from the NYPD's annual $6 billion budget, but he did not specify a precise reduction in his policing plan.
Even a $275 million annual cut reoccurring over four years represents far less than what other candidates have proposed: Morales is calling for a $3 billion annual cut, while Wiley has said she would strip away $1 billion.
Shaun Donovan, the former housing secretary under President Barack Obama who has also positioned himself as progressive policy wonk, has said he would reduce the police budget by $500,000.
Meanwhile, on education, Stringer's desegregation plan falls short of removing all academic screenings for middle and high school students, which experts have advocated for remedying the longstanding racial inequity in the public school system.
Hank Sheinkopf, a veteran political consultant, said that ultimately, progressives represent a diverse group with a complicated set of demands. "The idea that they can all be walked into one position is not accurate," he said.
As for Ocasio-Cortez, she has been selective about local endorsements; most recently she announced her support for Brooklyn City Councilmember Brad Lander, a progressive favorite, in the city comptroller contest, where he faces Council Speaker Corey Johnson. She has also endorsed the heavily favored incumbent Jumaane Williams in the public advocate primary.
Her office did not respond to questions on whether she plans to endorse in the mayoral race.
For her legion of supporters, which includes members of the city's growing Latino electorate, an endorsement would most likely offer some much needed clarity in the race. Moreover, some progressives have grown increasingly alarmed over a potential victory by Yang, who has been moderate on issues like policing and schools, and favors a more pro-business approach to the recovery.
Several people who attended Ocasio-Cortez's event on Saturday expressed indecision over the mayoral candidates given the large field and introduction of ranked-choice voting.
Ethan Bernhardt, a 25-year-old from Bushwick, said he had done phone banking for both Morales and Wiley and was leaning toward ranking them as his first and second choice respectively.
Several Ocasio-Cortez supporters spoke skeptically of Yang. Suggesting that the attacks on Yang's authenticity as a New Yorker have had an impact, several voters had the impression that Yang had not lived very long in the city. He has in fact lived in Manhattan for 25 years.
"Andrew Yang makes me a little nervous," Bernhardt said. "We need a New Yorker for one, and a consistent progressive that has experience."
Scott Novak, who lives in Astoria, said of Yang, "There seems to be a detachment between him and the interests of the average New Yorker."
The 25-year-old said he is inclined to support Morales as his first choice.
Ramos, who represents the district and joined Ocasio-Cortez at the event, said she did not know if the congresswoman was planning to endorse any of the mayoral candidates. Asked if she was pressing her to back her candidate, she replied, "My job as a Scott Stringer supporter is to make my case to her like everyone else."
She said the Working Families Party and teachers union endorsements had been important building blocks for Stringer to win the race.
"I think now the wind is behind us," she said. "And it's up to us to keep the momentum going for the next eight weeks and make our case to New Yorkers."
Primary day is June 22nd.
Tagged
election 2021
mayoral campaign
Elizabeth Kim
Elizabeth Kim is a reporter on the People and Power desk who covers mayoral power. She previously covered the pandemic, housing, redevelopment and public spaces. A native of Queens, she speaks fluent Mandarin. Got a tip? Email [email protected]
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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