Jumaane Williams, Jenifer Rajkumar, and Marty Dolan are the three Democratic contenders for this cycle’s NYC public advocate election.
Pictures by Dean Moses, ET Rodriguez, and courtesy of the Dolan marketing campaign
Within the race for New York Metropolis’s public advocate — town authorities’s essential elected watchdog who serves in a non-voting capability on the Metropolis Council and sits first within the mayoral line of succession — a major problem to incumbent Jumaane Williams is heating up forward of town’s Democratic major election on June 24.
Meeting Member Jenifer Rajkumar, who represents Queens’ thirty eighth district, and Marty Dolan, a retired insurance coverage government from the Bronx, are difficult Williams, who’s working for his second and remaining four-year time period as public advocate.
The position of public advocate lies largely in its title. It serves primarily as a liaison between constituents and metropolis authorities and goals to advocate for the general public’s wants. Along with sitting on the Metropolis Council in a nonvoting position with the flexibility to introduce laws, the general public advocate investigates residents’ complaints and issues about metropolis operations and public companies and should suggest options or options to metropolis management.
As an independently elected authorities watchdog, the general public advocate displays the compliance of different elected officers with the New York Metropolis Constitution and serves as chair of the Fee of Public Data and Communication. Together with the mayor and comptroller, the general public advocate is one among three municipal places of work elected by your entire voting inhabitants of New York Metropolis.
Although the race for public advocate receives little public polling, an Emerson School ballot printed in late Could confirmed Williams main with a commanding 56% of respondents deciding on him as their first selection, with Rajkumar polling at 15% and Dolan at 13%. The Emerson ballot reported that 16% of respondents have been undecided of their first selection.
Although the Could ballot confirmed Rajkumar and Dolan trailing considerably, Rajkumar has out-fundraised each Dolan and Williams, having introduced in roughly $475,000 in personal funds and nearly $1.5 million in public funds. Williams has raised about $356,000 in personal funds and nearly $1.2 million in public funds, whereas Dolan has introduced in simply $52,000 in personal funds. With 14 days left within the race, Williams has outspent Rajkumar by about $10,000 and has $674,000 left within the marketing campaign’s stability in comparison with Rajkumar’s $1.17 million, in keeping with the NYC Marketing campaign Finance Board.
The Democratic nominee for NYC public advocate, who will possible be anticipated to win within the normal election as the vast majority of NYC voters are Democrats, will probably be chosen through ranked-choice voting.
Under, New York News walks by way of the three candidates within the 2025 public advocate Democratic major election.
Jumaane Williams
The sitting New York Metropolis public advocate, Williams is working for his second and final four-year time period within the place. Williams was elected public advocate in 2019 by way of particular election after Letitia James resigned from the place to turn out to be lawyer normal.
Williams has been in NYC politics since 2010, having served on the New York Metropolis Council as a member from the forty fifth district from 2010 by way of 2019 till his election as public advocate. Throughout his time on Metropolis Council, Williams unsuccessfully ran towards Kathy Hochul for lieutenant governor of New York in 2018. After finishing the tip of James’ time period, Williams received reelection for public advocate in 2021 and went on to run an unsuccessful marketing campaign for governor in 2022, as soon as once more dropping to Hochul.
Williams is from Brooklyn and, as a Council Member, participated within the Occupy Wall Avenue motion within the early 2010s. Williams has targeted his marketing campaign on affordability, authorities transparency, legal justice, and gun violence prevention and has pointed to his document as public advocate as proof that he’s up for an additional 4 years in workplace.
At a Thursday debate towards Rajkumar, Williams recognized President Donald Trump and Adams as threats to New York Metropolis, urging voters to help an advocate “that you know will stand up for you transparently and with courage.” The talk got here simply sooner or later after a report surfaced about allegations of a poisonous work atmosphere in Williams’ workplace.
Jenifer Rajkumar
Rajkumar launched her marketing campaign for public advocate in January after initially saying a run for comptroller. Rajkumar is the primary South Asian-American girl to be elected to the State Meeting.
In 2017, then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo — who’s now narrowly main the race to Gracie Mansion — appointed Rajkumar because the Director of Immigration Affairs and Particular Counsel for the New York Division of State. Elected to the State Meeting in 2020, Rajkumar has authored and helped cross laws aiming to close down unlawful smoke outlets in NYC and helped cross a legislative bundle outlining full protections for home employees beneath New York’s state human rights legislation.
Rajkumar unsuccessfully ran for Metropolis Council in 2013 and State Meeting in 2016 earlier than her election to the State Meeting. Earlier than politics, she was a working towards civil rights lawyer and a political science professor at CUNY’s Lehman School within the Bronx. Within the State Meeting, she chairs the Subcommittee on Range in Regulation and sits on the judiciary, veterans’ affairs, growing old, shopper affairs, and small enterprise committees.
Rajkumar has referred to as for a “complete overhaul” of town’s authorities, which she mentioned is “in crisis” at Thursday’s debate. Rajkumar has been an in depth ally of Adams’ for years and served as a senior advisor on Adams’ transition crew in 2021. Earlier in her marketing campaign, Rajkumar confronted criticism for a cartoon advert depicting Williams asleep and apparently excessive on edibles. Williams, who’s Black, has referred to as the advert racist.
At Thursday’s debate, Rajkumar recognized psychological well being, public security, and affordability as a few of her essential priorities. Williams mentioned on the debate that Rajkumar was unaware of the precise duties of the workplace of public advocate, which Rajkumar mentioned was “misogynistic and condescending.”
Marty Dolan
Working the lowest-performing marketing campaign of the three candidates for public advocate to date, Dolan is making one other pitch for public workplace after unsuccessfully difficult Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-Bronx/Queens) for her Congressional seat within the 2024 Democratic major.
Dolan is a retired monetary analyst and has mentioned that he hopes to use his expertise with home and worldwide monetary programs to public workplace. Dolan has referred to as for voters to scrub home in NYC’s highest elected places of work, urging the citizens to vote out Adams, Williams, and Comptroller Brad Lander.
“We need to confront incompetence at City Hall along with the dishonest Socialist mentality of trying to make everyone happy, which instead has made the majority of New Yorkers worse off,” Dolan mentioned when he introduced his marketing campaign for public advocate.
When Dolan ran towards Ocasio-Cortez in 2024, he misplaced by 64 share factors, and in his marketing campaign for public advocate, he has not certified for matching public donation funds or debates.
When he ran for Congress, Dolan advocated for a “back-to-basics strategy” for native NYC management, urging native elected officers to deprioritize the conflict in Gaza as a central problem of their campaigns and roles. If elected, public advocate will probably be Dolan’s first elected position.
