Campaign 2021: Garcia In Second Place, Behind Adams, In New NYC Mayoral Race Poll
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- A new mayoral race poll has Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams in the lead and Kathryn Garcia surging.
On Monday, the two traded jabs, another sign that the entire campaign has taken a turn to the dark side, CBS2's Marcia Kramer reported.
Adams held a press conference with a single goal -- to slam former Department of Sanitation Commissioner Garcia for turning a deaf ear on pay equity. He charged that she presided over a two-tiered system that funneled women and minorities into lower-wage enforcement jobs, while white men got higher pay and better benefits.
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Maria Figaro is one of 13 sanitation enforcement agents who has filed suit against the city.
"She knew she was aware of our issues, our problems, the discrimination, everything. The work conditions, she was aware of it, but, unfortunately, she did nothing," Figaro said.
"You can't say that you're a good manager. If your going to manage inequities, if you're going to manage a dysfunctional city, that is not the management that we want," Adams said.
The charges here prove how negative the campaign has gotten as voters are going to the polls for early voting.
Adams' decision to single out Garcia with his big bazookas may be because of a new poll by WNBC/Marist, which shows Garcia is his nearest competitor. However, it was taken before the CBS2 debate late last week.
Watch CBS2's leading contenders debate --
It has Adams at 24%, Garcia at 17%, Maya Wiley at 15%, Andrew Yang at 13% and Scott Stringer at 7%.
According to the poll, under the ranked choice voting system, Adams would win the nomination over Garcia, 56 to 44.
"I'm not a politician. This is really about his starting to throw dirt. What he must be seeing is that he knows that this is a race between him and I down to the finish," Garcia said.
Garcia got another boost Monday, picking up the endorsement of Crain's New York Business. She's also endorsed by the New York Times and the Daily News.
Meanwhile, Yang pulled his own punches against Adams, nailing the endorsement of the Captains Endowment Association. Adams was an NYPD captain and has based his campaign on his ability to fight crime.
"The officers that have worked with him for years have chosen to endorse me. This, to me, should tell New Yorkers all that they need to know," Yang said.
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Wiley voted early in Brooklyn, but apparently had difficulty filling out the ranked choice voting section and had to ask for another form.
"Sometimes you don't do the line-up right. You realize it and then you gotta scratch it out, and then you have to go back and get a fresh ballot," Wiley said.
Meanwhile, in the Republican mayoral primary, Curtis Sliwa picked up the endorsement of Rudy Giuliani.
Early voting continues through Sunday, June 20. The election is Tuesday, June 22.
