Campaigns & Elections

You know the presidential candidates. What about the mayoral?

Each of the 2021 candidates has a presidential equivalent.

Senator Bernie Sanders and Mayor Bill de Blasio during the de Blasio campaign in 2017.

Senator Bernie Sanders and Mayor Bill de Blasio during the de Blasio campaign in 2017. AP/Shutterstock

By Jeff Coltin

|

We’re six debates deep in the Democratic presidential primary, so you probably know the cast of characters pretty well by now. But we municipal maniacs here at City & State are already focused on the 2021 New York City mayoral race, and we want our readers to know those Democratic contenders just as well.

So here’s a quick rundown of the top mayoral contenders – and their presidential primary equivalents.

Corey Johnson is Pete Buttigieg

New York City Council Speaker Corey Johnson.
Amy Lombard

They’re both gay millennials leading a city, but left-leaning Democrats are skeptical of their progressive credentials.

Scott Stringer is Bernie Sanders

New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer.
Office of the New York City Comptroller

They may be old, white, Jewish, left-leaning New Yorkers, but they’re also the darlings of a young, female, multi-racial “squad.”

Eric Adams is Cory Booker

Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams.
a katz/Shutterstock

These bald-headed health nuts are proud of putting down roots in tough neighborhoods, and love charter schools almost as much as they love riding bikes.

Ruben Diaz Jr. is Joe Biden

[[{"fid":"9087","view_mode":"default","fields":{"format":"default","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr.","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":"Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr."},"type":"media","field_deltas":{"4":{"format":"default","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr.","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":"Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr."}},"attributes":{"alt":"Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr.","title":"Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr.","style":"height: 400px; width: 300px;","class":"media-element file-default","data-delta":"4"}}]]

As Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s favorite in the race, these two guys love touting their middle-class roots, and get a lot of mileage from their cool personas and aviator sunglasses.

Loree Sutton is Tulsi Gabbard

Retired Army general and former head of the city veterans' affairs department, Loree Sutton.
a katz/Shutterstock

They’re charming military veterans with questionable allegiance to the Democratic Party.

Dianne Morales is Julián Castro

2021 Mayoral hopeful Dianne Morales.
Kris Graves

Impressive credentials and a Harvard degree may not be enough to make a blip in the polls.

Christine Quinn is Hillary Clinton

Former Speaker of the New York City Council, Christine Quinn.
lev radin/Shutterstock

They aren’t running. But that isn’t stopping moderate Democrats from looking to them as saviors.

Bill de Blasio is Michael Bloomberg

Mayor Bill de Blasio.
a katz/Shutterstock

It’s technically possible that de Blasio will bribe the City Council into giving him a third term. It’s happened before!

New york Case Studies
Powered By
Browse The Atlas full case study database or read more case studies about New york.
Natural gas alarm system enhances public safety, quickens emergency response
New York, NY
New York City Initiates $1.5 Billion Flood Resilience Project after Hurricane Sandy
Manhattan, New York, NY
Technical upskilling program streamlines modernization project delivery across NYC schools
New York, NY
BROWSE LOCAL GOV CASE STUDIES

NEXT STORY: What impeachment means for House members in swing districts

X
This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and to analyze performance and traffic on our website. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. Learn More / Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Accept Cookies
X
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.

Allow All Cookies

Manage Consent Preferences

Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link

If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.

Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.

If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.

Save Settings
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Cookie List

A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:

Strictly Necessary Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Functional Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Performance Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Social Media Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Targeting Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.