The race for the next mayor of New York City got another big shakeup Saturday as Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez threw her support behind civil rights attorney Maya Wiley.
Ocasio-Cortez's backing, and support from others in the progressive arm of New York City politics, could help Wiley stand out among a still crowded pack of Democratic candidates. With a few weeks left before polls close on June 22, the endorsement from Ocasio-Cortez and other left-wing groups may help Wiley break out from behind the current frontrunners: Eric Adams, Kathryn Garcia and Andrew Yang.
“We cannot afford a future where New York becomes a playground for the wealthy,” AOC said at a rally outside City Hall on Saturday. “That’s why I think it’s so important that we as a movement come together to make sure we send a progressive candidate to Gracie Mansion this month.”
"I'm putting Maya No. 1," AOC said. "Maya Wiley is the one. She will be a progressive in Gracie Mansion."
Get Tri-state area news and weather forecasts to your inbox. Sign up for NBC New York newsletters.
Saturday's endorsement comes on the heels of two other big gets for the civil rights attorney and former aide to Mayor Bill de Blasio. On Friday, the Working Families Party delivered its endorsement of Wiley, as did the 1199 union.
NYC Mayoral Race
The growing support by the left to back Wiley may cement her lead atop other progressive candidates still in the race. Competitors Scott Stringer and Dianne Morales have each suffered controversies in recent weeks that seemed to shake the sturdy support they'd gathered up to that point.
The primary election is on June 22, but early voting starts June 12 and runs through June 20.
For the first time, New York City will be using ranked-choice voting, which lets voters pick up to five candidates and rank them in order of preference. That means a candidate could still win even if trailing in an initial round if enough people selected them as their second choice.
