{"id":921727,"date":"2026-07-08T21:38:19","date_gmt":"2026-07-08T21:38:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/921727\/"},"modified":"2026-07-08T21:38:19","modified_gmt":"2026-07-08T21:38:19","slug":"mamdani-quite-content-with-nyc-primary-system-as-open-primary-battle-rolls-on","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/921727\/","title":{"rendered":"Mamdani \u2018quite content\u2019 with NYC primary system as open-primary battle rolls on"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mayor Zohran Mamdani said Wednesday he is \u201cquite content\u201d with New York City\u2019s current primary system, offering a cool reception to open-primary proposals<\/a> as a separate court fight seeks to put the issue before voters this fall.<\/p>\n

Asked after a transit-related briefing<\/a> for his position on open primaries \u2014 and whether he believes they are intended to prevent candidates like himself from winning office \u2014 Mamdani defended the city\u2019s existing rules and argued they do not stand in the way of broader voter participation.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am quite content with the system of primaries that we have thus far,\u201d Mamdani said. \u201cI think that we\u2019ve seen it\u2019s a system that\u2019s been in effect for quite some time, and it\u2019s also a system that doesn\u2019t preclude greater participation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mamdani pointed to his own election last year, saying he received more than 1 million votes, \u201cthe first time a mayoral candidate had done so in decades.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

\u201cIt shows that the system of primaries that we have, and more and more New Yorkers participating in them, are not a contradiction or in any way at odds,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The mayor did not directly address whether he believes open-primary proposals are aimed at preventing candidates like him from winning office.\n<\/p>\n

His comments come as open-primary advocates and the Adams-appointed Charter Revision Commission that Mamdani disbanded continue pushing to overhaul how the city conducts municipal primaries, with the commission asking courts to revive its authority and clear the way for a November ballot measure.<\/p>\n

In a June 30 filing<\/a> in Manhattan Supreme Court, the Adams-appointed commission asked a judge to grant judicial preclearance under the New York Voting Rights Act for a proposed charter amendment that would create open primaries\/nonpartisan local elections in New York City.<\/p>\n

Under the proposal described in the petition, primary elections would be \u201copen to all voters and all candidates, regardless of party membership or independent status.\u201d It would replace the current system of party primaries, in which voters generally must be enrolled in a political party to vote in that party\u2019s primary.<\/p>\n

The commission says the proposal must be transmitted to the city Board of Elections by Aug. 3 in order to appear on the November ballot.\n<\/p>\n

In a separate Staten Island Supreme Court filing<\/a>, the Adams-appointed commission and several individual plaintiffs are seeking to void the state budget provision Mamdani used to disband the panel. The petition argues the law was an unconstitutional maneuver that retroactively targeted the commission, and asks a judge to bar Mamdani from interfering with the panel; compel the city clerk to transmit the open-primary ballot materials; and require the city Board of Elections to place the proposal on the November ballot.<\/p>\n

That Richmond County petition says the commission unanimously approved the proposed amendment on May 27, the same day Mamdani moved to disband the commission and nullify its work. The commission argues that Mamdani\u2019s action and the state law he relied on were illegal.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Mamdani moved in May to dissolve the commission appointed by former Mayor Eric Adams on Dec. 31, 2025, Adams\u2019 final day in office. The mayor then created his own charter panel, the Commission on Government Efficiency, known as COGE<\/a>, which his administration has framed as an effort to modernize city government, improve service delivery, and streamline outdated rules.<\/p>\n

The Adams-appointed commission had listed nonpartisan elections and open primaries as a top issue for consideration before Mamdani moved to shut it down. Mamdani, when asked in May why he created a new commission rather than taking over the existing one, said voters had made clear they wanted a break from the prior administration.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn taking this decision, we are bringing what was an extension of that prior administration to an end,\u201d Mamdani said at the time.\n<\/p>\n

COGE\u2019s own preliminary report, released last week<\/a>, focused largely on government efficiency proposals rather than election reform. The report outlined possible charter changes involving public space and infrastructure improvements, permitting and contracting, outdated city systems and fiscal stability. Among the ideas listed were streamlining outdoor dining approvals, creating a centralized permitting system, modernizing procurement, speeding up street redesigns and bus- and bike-lane projects, and setting clearer rules for the city\u2019s rainy day reserve fund.<\/p>\n

Open-primary advocates, however, have continued pressing the issue at COGE hearings and in public testimony.\n<\/p>\n

More than 1 million New York City voters are registered without a political party, making them the city\u2019s second-largest voting bloc after Democrats, according to the city Campaign Finance Board. Under New York\u2019s closed primary system, those voters cannot participate in party primaries unless they enroll in a party.<\/p>\n

Supporters of open primaries argue<\/a> that the current system excludes unaffiliated voters from elections that often determine the city\u2019s political leadership, particularly in heavily Democratic districts where the Democratic primary is often decisive. But the push remains controversial. <\/p>\n

Critics argue that political parties should be able to choose their own nominees and warn that opening primaries could allow voters from outside a party to influence its candidate selection.<\/p>\n

The Adams-appointed commission\u2019s petition argues the proposed change would not diminish the ability of protected-class voters to participate in the political process or elect their preferred candidates. It says unaffiliated voters in New York City are disproportionately voters of color, citing prior analyses finding that a majority of unaffiliated voters are minority voters.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Mayor Zohran Mamdani said Wednesday he is \u201cquite content\u201d with New York City\u2019s current primary system, offering a…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":921728,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5122],"tags":[5229,372071,340876,5708,405,403,5226,5225,5228,5227,51002,75294,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":["post-921727","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-america","tag-charter-review-commission","tag-coge","tag-mamdani","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-newyork","tag-newyorkcity","tag-ny","tag-nyc","tag-open-primaries","tag-randy-mastro","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-unitedstates","tag-unitedstatesofamerica","tag-us","tag-usa"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116886523497938130","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/921727","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=921727"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/921727\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/921728"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=921727"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=921727"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=921727"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}