Adams, Moya both declare victory in speaker’s race
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Queens Councilmembers Adrienne Adams and Francisco Moya both declared victory in the race for speaker of the City Council Tuesday, a mathematical impossibility. Eagle file photo by Paul Frangipane/John McCarten, City Council Photography
By Jacob Kaye
Two candidates in the race for speaker of the New York City Council – both of whom are from Queens – declared victory on social media late Tuesday afternoon.
Councilmembers Adrienne Adams and Francisco Moya both said that they had each secured the necessary votes to be named speaker of the legislature when the vote takes place in January. Both, mathematically, cannot have enough votes to secure the leadership position.
Adams sent out a message to reporters around 1:30 p.m. on Tuesday, declaring that she had enough support from her colleagues to win the election for speaker. She tweeted the same statement several hours later.
“After much discussion and collaboration with my colleagues, I am honored to have received the necessary votes to become the next Speaker of the New York City Council,” Adams said in the statement. “The incoming City Council will be beautifully diverse and wonderfully collaborative in so many ways. As Speaker, I look forward to being a partner with every Member to help advance the needs of our communities.”
At 2:50 p.m., Moya, who is believed to have the support of Mayor-elect Eric Adams, sent out a tweet expressing a very similar sentiment.
“I am humbled to announce that our diverse coalition of Council Members and leaders from across New York City has collected a majority of votes to elect the next speaker of the Council,” Moya said. “I look forward to leading this body into a brighter future for our great city.”
An Adams spokesperson directed the Eagle to the statement when asked for more details about the councilmember’s support. Moya did not respond to request for comment.
Both can’t possibly have a majority of the council supporting their candidacy. Either one of the candidates is overstating the support of their colleagues or both of them are.
“One of them is confused,” said Hank Sheinkopf, a political science professor and political strategist, who added that he believes Adams has the race in the bag. “Moya declares he’s the winner but Adams is likely the winner.”
“If [Moya] had the votes, then Adrianne Adams wouldn’t even be in the running,” Sheinkopf said. “To take on the apparent winner is either a very smart strategic decision or politically suicidal.”
Earlier Tuesday, Councilmembers Diana Ayala, Keith Powers, Justin Brannan and Councilmember-elect Gale Brewer, all of whom were candidates for speaker, dropped out of the race and announced their support of Adams.
“I recognize the moment we are in - that for the first time we have a women of color majority council, and I am proud to support Adrienne Adams as Speaker of the Council who represents the body and this historic moment,” Ayala said.
If elected, Adams would become the first Black woman to hold the leadership position. She would do so as the first ever female-majority City Council begins its first session.
Mayor-elect Eric Adams is believed to have thrown his support behind Moya in the past week, and pushed his supporters to do the same.
If Moya loses, Sheinkopf said it would be disappointing for the incoming mayor, but not the end of the world.
“There will be other times where he will be able to exert power,” Sheinkopf said.
The biggest let down, however, would be that several unions who supported the mayor-elect, including 32BJ SEIU and District Council 37, both of which supported Adams in the mayor’s race, have thrown their support behind Councilmember Adams, according to City and State.
“The unions who supported him did what they wanted,” Sheinkopf said. “They have now learned that they can break loose from the mayor at will.”
