NYC’s First Official Democratic Mayoral Primary Debate Set for May 13

The eight major candidates, from Adams to Yang, are set to square off at the 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. event, to be broadcast by debate partners NY1 and WNYC. Early voting starts June 12 ahead of the June 22 primary.

By THE CITY

Watch the debate here on thecity.nyc.

THE CITY is co-hosting the first Democratic mayoral primary debate of the 2021 elections on Thursday, May 13, from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.

The debate is organized in partnership with the Campaign Finance Board (CFB), Spectrum News NY1, WNYC-Gothamist, Citizens Union, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, and Social Work Votes (Columbia School of Social Work & Latino Leadership Institute).

Candidates participating include: Eric Adams, Shaun Donovan, Kathryn Garcia, Ray McGuire, Dianne Morales, Scott Stringer, Maya Wiley and Andrew Yang. Candidates were invited to appear in this debate if they met the CFB’s criteria.

NY1’s Errol Louis will moderate the debate, which will be broadcast on NY1 and WNYC radio.

THE CITY’s Josefa Velasquez, will join Louis as a panelist, alongside WNYC’s Brian Lehrer. Also on tap: questions from readers of THE CITY.

Seven of the eight candidates participating in the debate have qualified for and received public matching funds totaling $23,296,632. That’s the highest number of mayoral candidates to receive payment and the highest amount paid to mayoral candidates in the history of the campaign finance program. McGuire is not participating in the financing program.

The debate is a prelude to the May 26 squareoff between Republican candidates Fernando Mateo and Curtis Sliwa. That debate, to run from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m., also will be co-hosted by the same partners.