2020 presidential candidate and entrepreneur Andrew Yang’s mayoral race for New York City may need to catch up to Brooklyn Borough president and former New York Police Department officer, Eric Adams. The latest polls from Change Research show that Adams currently has a slight lead, with support from 19 percent of New Yorkers compared to Yang’s 16 percent, Newsweek reports. 

The polls also found that among different racial demographics, 41 percent of Black Americans are behind Adams and 34 percent of Asian Americans support Yang; 22 percent of New York respondents are undecided. The primary is on June 22 and the general election is on November 2.

Eric Adams, Brooklyn Borough President and a Democratic mayoral candidate, speaks after receiving the endorsement from the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) in the Bronx on May 07, 2021 in New York City. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

“Clearly, Eric Adams has the momentum in this race, driven by everyday New Yorkers who agree Eric can deliver a safer, fairer, more prosperous city for all,” said Evan Thies, Eric Adams’ campaign manager. 

On Thursday, New York City mayoral candidates participated in the first debate for the election season. The six other contenders besides Adams and Yang are former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Shaun Donovan; former NYC Sanitation Commissioner Kathryn Garcia; former Citigroup vice-chairman Ray McGuire; nonprofit executive Dianne Morales; New York City comptroller Scott Stringer; civil rights lawyer and professor Maya Wiley. 

Yang announced his mayoral run back in December 2020.

Read More: Andrew Yang may run for mayor of NYC

Photo by Scott Eisen/Getty Images

During the debate, Adams accused Yang of failing to credit Black women organizers like Stacey Abrams for the Democrats’ success during the general election, the Guardian reports. Before the debate, Adams also called out Yang for allegedly copying his proposals to combat gun violence in the city with more plainclothes police and an anti-violence unit, according to the New York Daily News. 

“It’s obvious Andrew has been on my website,” said Adams. 

On Thursday, Adams doubled-down on the copy-cat criticisms against Yang on Twitter. 

“@AndrewYang — you say you agree with Eric’s plan to solve gun violence, but [never answered] his Q. Why did you wait until the shooting was in your backyard to respond to gun violence & will you apologize to the black & brown victims of gun violence whose pain you’ve ignored?,” said Adams referring to the shooting that happened in Times Square on Sunday. The shooter injured three innocent bystanders including a 4 year-old girl. 

Read More: Police: 2 women, child shot in New York City’s Times Square

Both Yang and Adams have received criticism for moderate-to-conservative views on policing. Both candidates responded “yes” to a question about increasing police presence in public transportation spaces. 

“The “nos”: Scott Stringer, Maya Wiley, Dianne Morales

The “yeses”: Andrew Yang, Kathryn Garcia, Eric Adams, Shaun Donovan, Ray McGuire

Vote accordingly.” said Majority Report cohost, Emma Vigeland. 

While the election is too close to call, polls show that Adams and Yang are the current frontrunners in a tight race, especially for a primary that is less than 40 days away.

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