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NYC Mayoral Candidates React As Kathryn Garcia, Andrew Yang Make Joint Campaign Stops

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- The candidates for mayor are now reacting to a late alliance forged in the final days of the race.

A campaign kept cool with mayoral candidate Eric Adams in waters off Orchard Beach for a dip with no slip in the polls.

"So make sure Mommy votes for me, rank one," Adams told a child.

He described as strange the very noticeable partnership of Kathryn Garcia and Andrew Yang, as ranked choice voting changes the campaign playbook.

"I would urge anyone who is supporting me as their first choice, please do have Kathryn Garcia on your ballot," Yang said at an event Saturday.

"I am not co-endorsing. We are campaigning together," Garcia said. "I am not telling my voters what to do. I want them to get out there, and I want them to use the system that we have for rank choice."

WEB EXTRA: Breaking Down How Ranked Choice Voting Works

They're not only making joint campaign speeches and campaign stops but also sending out joint campaign literature.

Adams said he thinks the two are teaming up to prevent a Black or Latino person from becoming mayor.

"Number one, they criticized each other on the trail all the time," he said.

"What do you think it means?" CBS2's Dave Carlin asked Maya Wiley.

"Look, I'm focused on June 22. I'm focused on asking voters to make me their number one," she said.

Wiley said the Garcia-Yang alliance does not trouble her.

"I'm not calling it a trick, let me be clear. I'm talking about everyone makes their own choices in how they run," she said.

David Birdsell is dean of the Austin W. Marxe School of Public and International Affairs. He predicts it could take more than a month to figure out the Democratic mayoral nomination.

"We are almost certainly going to see the votes go past the first choice. Nobody at this point is cresting 50%. You need to crest 50% to get the nomination," he said.

WEB EXTRA: Primary Elections Guide For Voters In New York And New Jersey

"We'll see who's number one. We'll see who's number two in rank voting. We'll see who's number three, and then the fun starts," Scott Stringer said.

At his Saturday campaign stops, Stringer made no mention of Garcia and Yang teaming up, just that ranked choice voting can result in a wild ride.

"'Cause you never know when a three becomes one. You never know when a two becomes one. You never know what happens until the 10th round," he said.

How well these new alliances and strategies play out will get revealed with the final tally.

Early voting ends Sunday. Election Day is Tuesday.

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