The New York City Democratic primary for Mayor will take place on Tuesday, likely deciding the next mayor for the left-wing city populace.
Incumbent Mayor Eric Adams has faced backlash from his party after getting his indictment for corruption dismissed by a federal judge. Around this time he left the Democratic Party and registered independent.
Zohran Mamdani, an emerging candidate, who has a decent chance at winning the primary election, is a self-dubbed democratic socialist and state legislator from Queens. He is endorsed by Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, US Senator Bernie Sanders, and New York Attorney General Letitia James, among other left-leaning political figures. Mamdani’s policy proposals are primarily focused on housing and transportation issues in New York City.
However, his proposals regarding “gender-affirming care” appear extensive, aggressive, and costly to the NYC taxpayer. “Expanding and protecting gender-affirming care citywide” is one of Mamdani’s goals in this area. He seeks to invest over $60 million in gender-affirming care and hold accountable “private entities” adhering to President Trump’s policies on gender-affirming care.
“The Mamdani administration will protect gender-affirming care immediately by investing $65 million in public providers to provide gender-affirming care to New Yorkers who seek it and will hold private entities abetting Trump’s attacks to account,” a proposal says. Moreover, Mamdani would criminalize healthcare providers barring access to gender-affirming care. His administration would also “investigate and hold public hearings on hospitals that deny trans youth their rightful healthcare and hold them accountable to the law.”
The other frontrunner in the primary is former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, who leads slightly in most polls. According to an Emerson poll, as of June 20, Mamdani trails Cuomo by 3 percent, both being frontrunners far ahead of Brad Lander and Adrienne Adams.
