A Manhattan judge ruled Thursday that former mayoral candidate Jim Walden’s name will stay on November ballot — a decision that points to the likelihood Mayor Adams’ name would also remain on ballots were he to leave the race.
Walden, who was facing dismal polling numbers, dropped out of the race last week, asking other candidates to do the same in order to set up a one-on-one match against Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani. Mayor Eric Adams is also reportedly weighing stepping aside, though he continues to say publicly he’s staying in the race.
Thursday’s ruling and the potential for an Adams decision at some point in the future mean voters may be looking at ballots with five names even though only three could be still running by Election Day: Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani, former Gov. Andrew Cuomo and the GOP’s Curtis Sliwa.
After the Board of Elections ruled earlier this week his name would stay on the ballot, Walden filed suit.
“As I have long said, please stand behind the non-Mamdani front runner as of October 1,” Walden said in response to the judge’s decision. “Don’t vote for me. Any of the other candidates is better for New York City than an inexperienced radical. Of all times, now is not the time to lean further into leftwing extremism.”
Walden has claimed in his suit, filed Wednesday, that voters would be “fundamentally misled” by seeing his name on the ballot despite his exit from the race. The judge denied his bid.
“Petitioner makes compelling arguments regarding the validity of the relevant provisions of the New York State Election Law, but the Court cannot reach these arguments,” Justice Jeffrey Pearlman wrote in his Thursday afternoon decision.
Walden said he does not plan to appeal the decision, since the BOE needs to certify ballots by Thursday to send them to far-away voters.
Pearlman added that the Board of Elections had “followed the law precisely as written.”
Walden, an attorney, and lawyers for the BOE argued in court Thursday morning for about an hour.
