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Sharpton Opts To Stay Neutral In Primary Election, Advocating For Early Voting Instead
By
David Cruz
Published Jun 12, 2021
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David Cruz
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David Cruz
Published Jun 12, 2021
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On the first day of early voting for the June 22nd primary, Reverend Al Sharpton announced he won’t endorse any candidate for any race, including those running for mayor, despite having told reporters late May he would. Instead, Sharpton joined top mayoral candidates to press upon members of his National Action Network to vote and do so early.
“I said that I would make a decision by early June and I would decide whether I was going to endorse and who I was going to endorse,” Sharpton told Gothamist/WNYC Saturday at his headquarters in Harlem. “There’s no one here who’s saying something so egregious that I had to come in and had to stop somebody, so I decided to put my time in ranked-voting."
Sharpton, who previously said he wants a mayor who can "bring the city back and bring it back more fairly," plans to release a series of television ads and hold events ahead of primary day encouraging everyone to vote. Sharpton said some of the candidates will join him on his small tour, but did not disclose who.
Sharpton held a lengthy mayoral forum on May 25th with seven of the the top eight candidates who outlined their experience. At the time, Sharpton said a decision would come two weeks before the June 22nd primary.
Instead, Sharpton said he called the candidates on Friday saying he would be staying out of the race.
Five candidates came to his Saturday event—Maya Wiley, Eric Adams, Andrew Yang, and Ray McGuire—to make their pitch to the audience on Saturday while also pushing New Yorkers to vote early. Scott Stringer, Kathryn Garcia, Shaun Donovan, and Dianne Morales were not on hand. Donovan was invited in the last minute, but couldn't make it due to scheduling conflicts.
Sharpton said part of his focus on early voting stems from an attempt to build a greater case for Congress to pass the For the People Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, a series of voting reform measures. He said portions of the bill version named after the late representative and civil rights activist would restore a provision of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which was removed by the Supreme Court in 2013. The rule ensured counties across the country with a history or racial discrimination would need to have their voting laws cleared by the federal government. Sharpton said if the laws in certain states are passed it would restrict states from repealing early voting procedures.
"This is the first time, believe it or not, New York has early voting and ranked voting. Therefore if New York does not come out--if the Black and brown community does not come out [for] early voting they will use New York as an example of why they don't need early voting," Sharpton said. "They will say even in the Big Apple they didn't want to come out and vote."
Speaking to reporters shortly after making his case to an audience, which was live streamed and to the in-person audience, Adams was respectful of Sharpton’s neutrality. Adams stressed that he was endorsed by Sharpton's daughter, Ashley, recently.
“You heard her powerful inflection of what I have done and no one can tell your resume better than a person who brings their clear message of what I have represented,” Adams said. “Ten more days to go.”
Yang was just as gracious, telling reporters he understood the importance of early voting over receiving an endorsement.
“I agree with his message of getting out the vote and championing ranked-choice voting. We should get everyone to the poll starting today and we should make ranked-choice voting is a success,” Yang said.
McGuire did not explain whether he was surprised over the lack of an endorsement, saying you "never expect an endorsement until they come."
Wiley and Stringer were not available for comment.
Sharpton had ultimately stayed neutral during the open Democratic primary for mayor in 2013 between then candidate Bill de Blasio and rival William Thompson.
Early voting began Saturday, with a long list of races on the ballot. On top of the mayor’s race, there are contests for comptroller, borough president, public advocate, and Council races.
While Sharpton emphasized he will not endorse, he did made a plea for voters to pay attention to the issues impacting the city and not the sideshows. He specifically cited the controversy surrounding Adams and whether he really lives in Brooklyn.
“When you have record homelessness, that somebody got a girlfriend in Jersey it has nothing to do with what’s going on,” Sharpton. “And we know when people are playing a game and throwing dog whistles.”
Early voting ends on June 20th.
Tagged
al sharpton
national action network
early voting
scott stringer
Maya Wiley
Ray McGuire
harlem
andrew yang
election 2021
eric adams
David Cruz
David is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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