Andrew Yang, the former 2020 presidential contender and businessman, dropped out of the race for New York City mayor Tuesday night, as votes among the other Democratic contenders continued to be counted.
Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams had the lead late Tuesday, according to preliminary results.
It was the first time the city has used ranked-choice voting, which allowed voters to select and rank as many as five candidates. Democrats had a crowded field, but whoever wins the primary is likely to win the general election in November as Democrats outnumber Republicans in the city. However, results may not be known for up to a week.
Yang was trailing in fourth place with 11 percent of the vote and 86 percent of precincts reporting, according to the local board of elections.
NY1, a local TV news outlet, projected that Curtis Sliwa, a radio host and 1970s anti-crime activist, is the Republican nominee.
Yang bowed out matter-of-factly.
“I am a numbers guy, I am someone who traffics in what’s happening by the numbers, and I am not going to be the next mayor of New York City — based upon the numbers that have come in tonight,” he told his supporters.
