Andrew Yang’s campaign announced Monday that it has received donations from nearly 24,000 individuals, a feat the group says marks the highest number of donors in the history of New York City primary and general election mayoral races.
The Democrat’s campaign said it surpassed the previous donor record of 23,287 set by David Dinkins (D) in 1989 when he was running for mayor against Rudy Giuliani (R). Dinkins won that race by slightly more than 2 percentage points.
Yang’s campaign said Monday that the large number of donors reflects the strength of the tech entrepreneur’s “five-borough coalition and the momentum behind him” heading into Tuesday’s Democratic mayoral primary.
“The incredible grassroots support for our campaign, which has continued to grow stronger in the final weeks, reflects what I have been hearing from voters all over the City: people are ready for change,” Yang said in a statement.
“It is incredibly exciting that New Yorkers who have felt left behind, sitting out local elections, are turning out like never before. This news, combined with our history-making number of donors, is further evidence that we have the momentum and are on a path to win this election,” he added.
The campaign’s announcement comes just one day before voters head to the polls to weigh in on the crowded field of Democratic candidates vying for the party’s nomination.
A poll from Emerson College, PIX11 and NewsNation released Thursday found that Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams and civil rights lawyer Maya Wiley are leading the race for the Democratic nomination.
Twenty-three percent of likely primary voters said they will rank Adams as their first choice, followed by 18 percent who said Wiley is their first pick.
This year marks the first time that New York City residents will use ranked-choice voting, which allows them to rank their top five choices for mayor. If one candidate does not receive at least 50 percent of the vote share after all first choice picks are tallied, the last-place finisher will be eliminated and all other candidates move to the next round.
The votes the eliminated candidate received are then reallocated to voters’ second choice, and the tallies are recounted.
Yang and his fellow Democratic candidate, Kathryn Garcia, are trying to take advantage of the ranked-choice system, recently forming a coalition to funnel support away from Adams.