NEW YORK — The path to victory in New York City’s mayoral race is paved through the West Side of Manhattan for many candidates. That path is narrowing for lifelong politician Scott Stringer, who is losing support in his backyard as he fights in a crowded field looking to unseat Mayor Eric Adams.
Five political clubs on the West Side of Manhattan — a mix of affluent, predominantly white neighborhoods with large Jewish populations and sky-high voter turnout — are backing opponents to Stringer after endorsing him in his unsuccessful mayoral bid four years ago. That amounts to a vote of no confidence in someone so entrenched in that area that he already won the backing of its political elder, Rep. Jerry Nadler.
The shift in loyalty has mostly benefited City Comptroller Brad Lander, another candidate taking on the embattled incumbent. As Lander, Stringer and others scrap on that coveted turf, the race remains in relative stasis until Gov. Andrew Cuomo enters and Adams’ federal legal case is finally settled. The race unofficially kicks off Tuesday, when candidates begin collecting signatures to get on the ballot for the June 24 primary.
“Everybody likes Scott. But they want to move on,” said City Council Member Gale Brewer, a Manhattan political institution herself, who has been on the scene since working in the council in the 1970s. “And Brad is in office now. So they know him.”
Lander spokesperson Dora Pekec was bullish about her team’s wins, saying in a statement, “When it comes to grassroots excitement and support, it’s increasingly clear that Brad Lander has taken over the west side of Manhattan.”
Not content with just the endorsements, Lander is kicking off petitioning Tuesday outside of the iconic Upper West Side grocery store Zabar’s — a shop so quintessential to Stringer’s political brand that his last campaign spoofed its logo for merch.
Stinger hasn’t been totally shut out. He won the endorsement of the West Side Dems — a major club of which he’s a member — and the Downtown Independent Democrats. But the turn of fortune suggests his pitch to voters as the experienced, trusted alternative to the scandal-scarred Adams and Cuomo and a crop of younger progressive challengers isn’t taking, which could leave him shut out from City Hall once again.
Nevertheless, the former city comptroller was the first candidate to qualify for $2.8 million in public matching funds, leading his campaign to downplay the defections.
“Scott Stringer has gotten the club endorsements he needs to get on the ballot and will have hundreds of volunteers deployed starting (Tuesday) in every corner of the city,” Eric Hyers, general consultant for the Stringer campaign, said, referring to the start of petitioning for ballot access Tuesday. “Stringer vs. Cuomo is not going to be decided by a few small Democratic clubs.”
Lander won the endorsement of two Upper West Side political clubs — the Broadway Democrats and Three Parks Independent Democrats — that endorsed Stringer’s mayoral bid in 2021. Lander also won the local Indivisible affiliate, Upper West Side Action Group. And he picked up the Hell’s Kitchen Democrats and Village Independent Democrats, which both endorsed Stringer four years ago.
Another mayoral candidate, state Sen. Jessica Ramos, flipped the Chelsea Reform Democratic Club in her favor.
“We were very positive about Brad and his ‘progressive and pragmatic’ platform,” said Paula Diamond Roman, a Democratic district leader on the Upper West Side and longtime member of the Broadway Dems.
As for Stringer, “sometimes people have just lost their window. There’s just this feeling around Manhattan,” that he can’t win, Diamond Roman added.
Everyday voters may not follow their local club’s endorsements, but members of political clubs are among the most involved and committed Democrats, who will gather signatures for candidates, hand out flyers and get people out to rallies and fundraisers.
Stringer’s recent losses were most notable in Manhattan. But two clubs representing high-turnout areas of Brooklyn, the Independent Neighborhood Democrats and the Central Brooklyn Independent Democrats, also endorsed the Brooklynite Lander after backing Stringer last time.
This marks the second time Stringer has lost support from political clubs.
He was a leading progressive contender in the race for mayor in 2021, before his campaign was derailed by accusations that he sexually harassed a campaign volunteer 20 years earlier. Stringer vehemently denied wrongdoing and is suing the woman who accused him for defamation, but the damage was done. Many clubs and elected officials that endorsed him pulled their support, while others stuck by him as he ended up finishing fifth in the Democratic primary.
It was an ignoble result for the then-61-year-old Stringer, who’s been involved in city politics for more than 50 years, since working on his distant cousin Bella Abzug’s congressional campaign. He has been an aide for Nadler, an assemblymember representing the Upper West Side and the Manhattan borough president. He was elected to comptroller in 2013, foiling former Gov. Eliot Spitzer’s comeback attempt from a prostitution scandal.
Stringer references that win in his pitch to voters — he beat a well-known governor who resigned in a sex scandal before, and he can do it again. A person close to Stringer who was granted anonymity to discuss internal strategy said that the politician worked really hard for club endorsements in 2021, flattering members and making phone calls — “and it didn’t matter one bit.” Stringer finished fifth in the Upper West Side Assembly district he once represented.
“We’re fine with Lander running a very unsuccessful Stringer ‘21 playbook,” the person added. “We’re focused on a playbook against Cuomo. We’re not doing the full dog and pony show on clubs that don’t matter.”
CORRECTION: A previous version of this report misstated the relationship of Eric Hyers to the Stringer campaign. He is a general consultant.
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