Cuomo Says He'll Have A Better Relationship With Whoever Succeeds De Blasio 'By Definition'
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) - New York City primary results are coming in rounds.
With ranked choice voting, we won't know who the next mayor will be until next month.
Susan Lerner, of Common Cause, defends ranked choice voting.
"In the old system, we'd be waiting two or three weeks for a runoff and spending an additional $15 million on it, so this is relatively in the same time line and $15 million cheaper," she said.
Right now, with the first round of votes counted, Eric Adams is in the lead, with Maya Wiley and Kathryn Garcia in a close battle for second.
On the Republican side, Curtis Sliwa is the projected winner. He beat out Fernando Mateo 72-28%. Since there were only two candidates in that race, ranked choice voting does not apply.
As CBS2's Marcia Kramer reports, you could call it a hallelujah moment in New York City politics. After nearly eight years of animosity between Albany and City Hall, Gov. Andrew Cuomo is ready to lay down the bazookas, pledging what appears to be a new era of cooperation with the next occupant of Gracie Mansion.
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"The relationship will be better by definition," Cuomo said.
Sound the trumpets and bang the drums, the 800 pound gorilla in Albany is so thrilled frenemy Bill de Blasio's tenure is almost up, he's pledging to work closely with his successor, whomever that is.
"I have a good relationship with Eric Adams. I know him when he was in Albany. We worked together. Andrew Yang, I have a casual relationship with but a good one. Ms. Garcia I don't know, but she seems like a professional," Cuomo said.
Watch: Gov. Andrew Cuomo News Conference
The only one of the top four finishers Cuomo didn't name was Maya Wiley, whose demand to defund the police is at odds with his policies. Although she trails Adams by over 75,000 votes, she's hoping that the rounds of ranked choice voting will boost her into first place.
"Now, we now must count every vote, every single person who showed up at these polls need to know their vote counts," Wiley said.
Cuomo had kind words for Adams, who, according to his campaign, was back to work as Brooklyn borough president while awaiting the final tally by the Board of Elections.
"I think he is a competent, competent individual. I think he's an individual who will instill confidence, and I think he is a person who will step in and show real leadership," Cuomo said.
But while the Democratic standard-bearer has yet to be decided, Guardian Angels founder Curtis Sliwa was declared the winner of the Republican primary.
"Most importantly, I'm a populist, because I've been in the places Democrats don't go," Sliwa said.
Sliwa got his campaign off with a bang by refusing to accept the NYPD police protective detail customarily given to party nominees.
"Today, respectfully, I will tell Dermot Shea... send those cops out into the streets where the shootings are taking place, the robberies, the absolute anarchy and mayhem. We need cops in the streets. We don't need cops protecting political candidates and elected officials," Sliwa said.
Watch: Curtis Sliwa Kicks Off Mayoral Campaign After Winning Republican Primary
He also slammed those gas-guzzling SUVs elected officials like de Blasio get around town in.
"Those sanctimonious hypocrites, those huge SUVs that ge t about eight miles a gallon. You know how Curtis Sliwa's gonna travel? Subways, city buses ... Uber, Lyft, lime green cab, yellow cabs, livery cars, do what average everyday people have to do," he said.
Speaking of de Blasio, Sliwa says that he intends to investigate THRIVE, the controversial mental health project of the mayor and his wife, Chirlane McCray.
"They took from the taxpayers $1.25 billion ... The day I get elected, the Department of Investigations will serve subpoenas. We want the books. We want the spreadsheets. I want to know, where's the money?" Sliwa said.
Sliwa may be a Republican in a heavily Democratic town, but he says he's a triple threat because he's going to run on two other party lines. He's also the candidate of the independents and the animal rights parties.
The Board of Elections isn't expected to declare a winner in the Democratic mayoral primary and other municipal races until the week of July 12, after counting absentee ballots and compiling the results of ranked choice voting.