3 Women More Qualified Than Andrew Yang to Be NYC’s Next Mayor
Have you ever come across a tweet that made you say “YES THIS IS SO TRUE,” out loud?
That happened to me a couple of weeks ago, when I came across a tweet about the New York City mayoral race and all of the attention candidate Andrew Yang has received. Yang, who has never worked in government and is currently one of the frontrunners, has received all this media attention while qualified candidates like Dianne Morales and Maya Wiley are pushed to the side. Lee Sova Claypool’s tweet sums up my feelings very eloquently:
There are six qualified female candidates who are running for mayor and a slew of other candidates who have worked within the New York City government or within the city’s communities. Meanwhile, Yang has never voted in a New York City election, controversially supported Israel in its ongoing battle with Palestine and says his favorite subway station is Times Square. (I bet his favorite store is M&M World too)
Despite all of the attention Yang has received, the Democratic female candidates have earned some pretty big endorsements. Morales was endorsed by the Working Families Party and immigrant rights group Make the Road Again, Politico reported. Wiley and Morales received split endorsements from housing advocacy group Tenants PAC, according to the publication. Earlier this month, Kathryn Garcia received an official endorsement from The New York Times Editorial Board.
As New York City prepares to vote in the primary election on June 22 to replace groundhog killing Mayor Bill de Blasio, these are the top three Democratic female candidates who are running for New York City mayor:
Dianne Morales (D): The first Afro-Latina candidate to run for mayor was a non-profit executive. Morales is a Brooklyn native and spent her career working in the non-profit sector. On her website, she notes that she “is the only former NYC public school teacher in this race.” Morales claims her platform “is built on the belief that politics should work for all the people and that we are stronger and better positioned to grow when every New Yorker is prioritized, oppressive systems are eliminated and barriers are removed.”
In her first hundred days, if elected mayor, some of Morales plans include advocating for basic income relief, defund and decrease the power of the NYPD, implement a new unit called the COVID-19 Equity & Data Response Unit and implement a citywide rent moratorium.
Learn more about Morales’ campaign.
Maya Wiley (D): Civil rights lawyer Maya Wiley, who announced her run for mayor back in October 2020, has quite the resume. The lawyer, professor, former MSNBC analyst, counsel to Mayor Bill de Blasio and former chairwoman of the Civilian Complaint Review Board has already been endorsed by key congressional representatives. She also received an endorsement from Local 1199 of the Service Employees International Union, the largest labor union that represents 200,000 health care workers, according to The New York Times.
Wiley has big plans if she is elected New York City mayor. She already proposed a “New Deal” for the city, which would create 100,000 new jobs. Her plans also include ending evictions, universal community healthcare and saving the city’s small businesses.
Learn more about Maya Wiley’s campaign.
Kathryn Garcia (D): Former city sanitation commissioner Kathryn Garcia has been a public servant in New York City for over 14 years. During Super Storm Sandy in 2012, she was able to get 42 pump stations back up and running just 72 hours after the storm hit, according to her website. Four weeks ahead of the primary election, a new Emerson College and PIX11 News survey found that Garcia is in the lead of the Democratic candidates, Politico reported.
If elected mayor, some of Garcia’s plans include universal broadband for all, a plan for small businesses to reopen and stay open following the pandemic, converting Rikers into a renewable energy zone and creating 50,000 units of affordable housing.
Learn more about Kathryn Garcia’s campaign.
Other female contenders who are running for mayor are Joycelyn Taylor (D), Stacey Prussman (L) and Quanda Francis (I). To learn more about these candidates and other contenders running for New York City mayor, The City has a great tool to learn more about each campaign’s platforms.