As the 2021 Democratic primary for New York City mayor hits the homestretch, one union is set to spend some serious bucks helping to elect Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams as the city’s next chief executive.
District Council 37 said on Thursday that it would embark on a $500,000 promotional campaign in the final weeks of the contest, spending most of those resources in support of Adams. The union released a new digital ad touting Adams as the “essential workers champion” and a protector of jobs in New York.
“This is the most consequential New York City election in modern history,” said Henry Garrido, executive director of District Council 37 AFSCME. “We’re giving everything we’ve got to get our candidates elected.”
The union’s push, altered due to the COVID-19 pandemic, will also focus on member-to-member phone banks, direct mailers, targeted digital ads and an email campaign. Along with Adams, the union will be boosting 52 other candidates on the ballot which it endorsed for city and local races.
DC37 boasted that its get-out-the-vote efforts have been successful in years past, with turnout for its membership generally 15% higher than regular voter turnout — and 88% of its members voting for the candidate that the union endorsed.
The latest Emerson College/PIX11 News poll released Tuesday had Adams in a statistical tie for first with former Sanitation Commissioner Kathryn Garcia, who surged in recent weeks buoyed by a number of key endorsements.
On Thursday, Garcia and fellow candidate, civil rights attorney Maya Wiley, earned endorsements from the National Institute for Reproductive Health Action Fund PAC.
“It is long past time that New York City elects a powerful, progressive, pro-choice woman as mayor,” said Andrea Miller, president of NIRH Action Fund. “We are thrilled to support these two candidates, who will use policy and innovation to make New York City a leader on a range of reproductive freedom issues.”
Both Garcia and Wiley said they were honored by the endorsement, and hoped to make history on primary day.
“Reproductive care is a right and the NIRH has been on the front lines for 40 years fighting for everyone to have the freedom and dignity they deserve,” Garcia said. “It’s time for new leadership at City Hall. After 400 years of the same, we need a mayor who understands the importance and urgency of reproductive justice for all New Yorkers.”
“In this moment where women yet again see their rights and their bodies under siege, the work of NIRH Action Fund is more critical than ever,” Wiley added. “As mayor, I will be a devoted and tireless champion for reproductive freedom and our rights as women to choose what we do with our own bodies.”
