STATEMENT ON 2021 NYC DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY

Now that ranked choice votes have been tabulated and most absentee ballots counted, it is clear New York City made significant progress towards correcting the gender imbalance in local government.

Amplify Her endorsed Maya Wiley for Mayor, Amoy Barnes, Crystal Hudson, Sandy Nurse, Pierina Sanchez, Felicia Singh and Marjorie Velázquez for City Council. Our endorsement is not a rubber stamp - in addition to hosting daily phone banks and canvasses for all of our candidates, we launched Amplify Her PAC, a robust six-figure independent expenditure committee, to support our slate. The PAC funded field organizers in each borough as well as mailers and digital ads across the City. Through these efforts we were able to reach hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers about ranking our slate of endorsed candidates first.

New York City has had 109 Mayors, and all of them have been men. We’re proud of our early endorsement of Maya Wiley, who ran a grassroots, progressive campaign against candidates with deep ties to the establishment and status quo politics. Maya Wiley had the second highest number of #1 votes from primary voters with 22% in a 13-candidate field, beating career politicians despite this being her first run for office, and not having the the funding from special interests that many of her opponents did.

Women currently hold just 27% of City Council seats, but Amplify Her is thrilled that it appears women will soon make up the majority of the Council, winning 29 of the 51 seats in this year’s election. 83% of our endorsed City Council candidates won their primaries. Sandy Nurse, who we endorsed in her 2020 run in the District 37 special election, this year toppled the incumbent, holding 65.3% of the votes. Former Amplify Her Queens Borough Director Felicia Singh won a tight race for City Council District 32, and the election saw a historic increase in voter turnout in the district. She will now move ahead to the general election where she could flip Queens’ last remaining Republican City Council district. After winning her race for District 35, Crystal Hudson will be the first openly gay Black woman to serve in the Council. 33 year old Afro-Dominicana Pierina Sanchez won her race for City Council District 14 with 62.3% of the votes. Marjorie Velázquez, who handily won her race for City Council District 13, was a Bronx Borough Director with Amplify Her before stepping away to run for office. Amoy Barnes came in second in the crowded race for City Council District 49, behind the establishment-backed candidate.

This strong showing demonstrates what we’ve always known: progressive women are a force to be reckoned with. Grassroots female candidates, like those Amplify Her endorsed, have proven they can lead and can win - encouraging voters to reject business as usual, male-dominated politics and inspiring more women to run!