Why can’t New York City elect a female mayor?

Good morning, Broadsheet readers! The Gates Foundation comes up with a divorce backup plan, Emily Weiss’s Glossier raises new funding, and New York gets its 110th male mayor. Have a lovely Thursday.

– Mr. Mayor, again. 110 mayors. All men. New York is arguably one of the U.S.’s most progressive cities, why is its mayoral glass ceiling still intact?

That’s the question some are asking now that Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams has officially won the city’s Democratic primary, edging out a diverse slate of candidates that included former Sanitation Commissioner Kathryn Garcia, civil rights lawyer Maya Wiley, and former nonprofit executive Dianne Morales. The general race is set for November, but in the heavily Democratic city, Adams is all but guaranteed to win.

Debbie Walsh, director of the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University, says female candidates are at a disadvantage in a city whose powerful political organizations and labor unions are predominantly male.

“The more gatekeepers that are out there for a candidacy, the harder it is for folks that are perceived as outsiders. Women still, unfortunately, fit that definition in New York City politics,” she told Bloomberg.

Another culprit? Sexist stereotyping and bias.

“[Women] are not seen as what is sort of the image of the mayor of New York City,” Walsh says.

Even allies cast Garcia, who finished second to Adams in the ranked-choice primary, as an ideal pick for deputy mayor—not chief executive.

There is some good news here. More and more women—Black women, in particular—are running major U.S. Cities, even as New York continues its all-male streak.

What’s more, Garcia only lost to Adams by 8,426 votes. “This campaign has come closer than any other in history at breaking that glass ceiling and electing New York City’s first female mayor,” Garcia said on Wednesday. “We cracked the hell out of it and it’s ready to be broken.”

And those who preceded Garcia, Wiley, and Morales say this round of candidates seemed more themselves on the campaign trail.

“Kathryn and Maya and Dianne have been exceedingly authentic,” said former City Council speaker Christine Quinn, who ran for mayor and lost in 2013. “That is a real credit to them and a huge step forward.”

Claire Zillman
[email protected]
@clairezillman

The Broadsheet, Coins2Day’s newsletter for and about the world’s most powerful women, is coauthored by Kristen Bellstrom, Emma Hinchliffe, and Claire Zillman. Today’s edition was curated by Emma Hinchliffe.

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