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46% of likely voters plan to choose Mamdani in NYC’s mayoral race, poll finds

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News 12 Staff

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Thanks for being with us on this episode of Power and Politics. I'm Amanda Bosser. We are crunching the numbers when it comes to campaign finances, where the money is coming from and who's it's going to. Let's get back to our political expert Christopher Malone with a closer look at that and the overall impact it could have on who wins. I also want to touch on the role that money plays in politics of course elections included. I did look at some of the numbers on the campaign finance board website. From what I could see, Eric Adams has actually raised the most money out of all of the candidates in the outer boroughs in each of the outer boroughs over the course of these campaigns. What do you make of that? Is that an indication of how people ultimately are going to vote? Uh, not necessarily. Money doesn't equal votes in terms of where the money comes from and where the votes come from. It doesn't surprise me that Adams leads the money chase in the outer boroughs. Keep in mind he's from Brooklyn. Keep in mind that Mamdani, you know, represents Queens in the in the state assembly. Uh, you know, Manhattan usually is the, the, uh, the, the, the bank teller when it comes to elections, uh, local elections, that is, but, um, the outer boroughs has played, uh, have played a, a, a, a more recently a more defined role because our candidates, our mayors, that is, have come from the outer boroughs, boroughs. um, you think of Bill de Blas. the most recent mayor before Adams, you know, he was a Brooklynite as well. So you would expect that the money for Adams and even Mamdani would come from the outer boroughs because that's where their their base of support is, where the votes would come from. Certainly votes are going to come from Brooklyn should Adams remain in the race, but the You know, the translation of where the money is and where the votes are isn't necessarily a 1 to 1, you know, exchange of scenario. And then when you look at the breakdown by Burrow, it seems like Brooklyn really outraises the Bronx when it comes to this mayor's race. I believe more than $4 million raised overall in Brooklyn across candidates and then barely $50 million in the Bronx overall. What does that tell you? Yeah, it's, it's an interesting dichotomy and disparity. Um, it tells me, first of all, um, the Bronx is for, for what it's worth, um, unfortunately, the poorest borough in the city. Um, but again, um, you know, Brooklyn has a lot of very well-off affluent neighborhoods and, um, Many of the candidates here, um, have more connections to Brooklyn than the Bronx. So perhaps we're at a point in the campaign where they, they feel more comfortable. Money from there and they haven't made their way to the Bronx, but I will guarantee that if the interest in the Bronx is waning in the sense that they're not translating the money that they're raising wherever it's coming from into campaigning on the ground in the Bronx, then they're making a big mistake. So wherever the money's coming from, if, if the money is not flowing in from the Bronx, but the campaigns are not, you know, Translating that money back into the campaigns on the ground in the Bronx, then that's a tremendous mistake that they're making. Yeah, visibility is a big part of all of this. Real quick before you go, Professor Malone, I just want to touch on the impact that matching funds has in a race like this. There are a number of candidates that haven't been given access to the full amount of matching funds, if any, for a variety of reasons. How much of an impact can that have in the overall scheme of things? Well, look, the, the, the, the campaign matching system is what, almost 3 decades old now. Um, and the intent of it, Amanda, has been to level the playing field for all candidates, so that someone who's not wealthy, who's not well connected, could get in, raise a relatively small amount of money from small donors, play by the rules, and then they get this large match. When I was managing campaigns a quarter of a century ago locally, it was 4 to 1, you know, it's, it's, it's, it's, uh, you know, been raised in terms of the matching. System considerably and so it allows a candidate to not spend a whole heck of a lot of time raising money on the phone dialing for dollars. It allows them to get out on the streets, get knocking doors, and so the the matching system really has democratized elections in the sense that it levels the playing field and it allows candidates to spend most of the time campaigning and not, you know, begging for money. So in that sense it really does matter, but in the end if you don't have a message, if you don't have a campaign operation, if you don't have enthusiastic volunteers, the money doesn't matter. And I think what you saw when when Cuomo in the primaries had all of this money, you know, flowing in because Mamdani was surging in the polls and people were fearful of him, or at least a segment of the, you know, moneyed interest in in. New York City was fearful of him. He, um, he had his money, he had his matching funds, and he won very handily. So the matching funds are important, but really what matters here is enthusiasm, a message, and a whole army of volunteers. Uh, that are out on the doors knocking and, uh, you know, spreading the message and we'll see where each of those takes each of these candidates between now and November. Christopher Malone, always a pleasure to have you on and thank you so much for your insight into what's going on in this race. Always a pleasure to be with you. Thanks so much. Still ahead, the murder of a conservative activist is sparking reaction from both sides of the aisle as calls are made to turn down the temperature in politics, the impact this tragedy is having here at home when power and politics returns in just a few minutes.

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Welcome back to Power and Politics. Lawmakers here at home and across the country are denouncing what's being called a political assassination of a conservative activist. Charlie Kirk was shot and killed Wednesday during a college event in Utah. Investigators say the 31 year old was struck by a single bullet fired from a rooftop on campus. The gunmen escaped as students fled, and authorities later recovered a high-powered rifle nearby with a controversial mayoral race upon us, the political violence raises the question of how safety at campaign events will be handled going forward. News Twelve's Lindsay Tanny joins us from the digital Center with those details, Lindsay. Amanda, there is no doubt this is a dark day in our country. No matter what you believe in, an American was shot and killed while exercising his right to freedom of speech. Now here in New York, we're less than 8 weeks away from election day. Public safety is at the top of mind to protect candidates and the public from violence. Oh my gosh, the shot that killed Charlie Kirk, sending. In Utah into a frenzy scarring our nation on the local level, 4 major candidates are fighting to be New York City's next mayor. We reached out to see how this political violence will impact their campaigns. While none have yet to comment on that, we spoke with experts to see how political events may be impacted. Unlike a presidential candidate, Lindsay. Mayoral candidates don't have Secret Service. They will have NYPD around them, certainly, and I'm sure the NYPD will make sure that rallies and political campaign events will have more heightened security. Professor Christopher Malone says crime and public safety will come to the forefront of this race if it wasn't already for campaign events. Detective Phil Grimaldi says it's smart to move them inside. You. You can now use magnetometers. You can use, uh, you know, a lot of different areas. You can search bags if they come in with bags, or you could prohibit anything that they're bringing into the location. All of the mayoral candidates have been seen recently in public outside. Detective Vrimaldi says what he would do if he led security at an outdoor political event have a counter sniper team in place that can Uh, you know, cover all of those ros to, uh, secure those robes, uh, that would have been very important and I think we're gonna, that's the lessons that's going to be learned from this particular tragedy. When I was speaking with Professor Malone, he brought up an interesting point. He says public opinions may shift. This tragedy may drive viewers towards a candidate that's tougher on crime. He also says candidates' viewpoints may shift. Now all we do is wait to see what unfolds, as we all hope for a safe and smooth election. Amanda, back to you. Indeed, Lindsay, thank you. That's all this week here on Power and Politics on News 12. Thanks for watching.

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Political expert Christopher Malone joins the show to discuss all aspects of November's election. 

Power & Politics: Polls, money and new developments in the NYC mayoral race

Political expert Christopher Malone joins the show to discuss all aspects of November's election.

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