There is so much going on in this country that I probably would have written about, including the Washington Army Anniversary/Trump Birthday Parade and the No Kings nationwide protests. However, with the situation in Israel, it is hard to focus on anything else. We are reminded what a miracle it was last year when Iran shot 300 projectiles at Israel in response to an Israeli attack on Iran—and there were no fatalities in Israel. What we are seeing now is what usually happens when ballistic missiles and other weapons are fired from an enemy country. Unfortunately, no missile defense system is foolproof. As of the writing of this column, 25 people are confirmed dead as a result of the missile fire from Iran.
The war seems to be going very well for Israel, but already there is talk of a negotiated settlement. Israel has been down this road before, where American presidents force Israel to stop before they have a chance to finish the job. Trump wanted a deal with Iran and still wants a deal. Israel will do whatever Trump wants.
Meanwhile, the NYC mayoral primaries are upon us, where one of the leading candidates, Zohran Mamdani, is antisemitic and anti-Israel. It is not only his views on Israel that show this member of the Democratic Socialists of America is unqualified. The New York Times, in an editorial board op-ed, mentioned his lack of experience and “an agenda uniquely unsuited to the city’s challenges.” “He shows little concern about the disorder of the past decade, even though its costs have fallen hardest on the city’s working class and poor residents… He offers an agenda that remains alluring among elite progressives but has proved damaging to city life.” Words many people would not expect to hear from The Times.
Last week, there were various articles about this individual and the danger he poses to the Jewish community. Thus, the next question is what is the best way to make sure that he does not win. Even if you do not like progressives, not all progressives are the same. For example, Ritchie Torres and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez are both progressive members of Congress from New York—and there is a clear difference.
It is undisputed that voting for Cuomo as number one is the best choice on paper, since it appears he is the top challenger.
The question is how to handle ranked voting. I have seen an approach by a well-respected Jewish lobbying organization to only vote for Cuomo and leave the remaining four slots blank. Moshe Hill took the approach to vote for Cuomo as number one and Whitney Tilson as number two, leaving the other three blank.
I believe that both of these approaches are wrong. The better way is to list Cuomo as number one and then list four other candidates not named Mamdani or Brad Lander. I include Lander on the “Do Not Vote” list because he made a deal with Mamdani to have their supporters cross-vote for one another as second choices. I would list four candidates who could realistically win against Mamdani, including Scott Stringer—a strong supporter of Israel who was the former comptroller and Manhattan borough president—and Adrienne Adams, speaker of the City Council.
There is no downside to listing other names, since in ranked-choice voting your lower choices only matter if the higher choice is eliminated. Here is how it works: in each round, if one candidate wins 50% of the vote, the election is over. Therefore, if in the first round Cuomo wins 50% of the votes cast for first choice, he wins outright. If no candidate receives 50%, then you go to a second round where the candidate with the lowest percentage of first-choice votes is eliminated, and that candidate’s voters’ second choices are added to the remaining candidates. This continues round by round until a candidate reaches 50%.
For example: in the first round, Cuomo receives 40%, Mamdani receives 40%, Adrienne Adams gets 10%, and Paperboy Love Prince gets the lowest, with 3%. Prince is eliminated. People who voted for Prince and also have a second choice have that vote transferred. Suppose all those who voted for Prince had Dr. Brandon Gillespie as their second choice, and then Gillespie is eliminated—his voters’ next choices are counted, if listed.
If you only list Cuomo and he is eliminated in a later round, then your ballot is finished—which could help Mamdani. But if you have other acceptable candidates still in the running, one of them could beat Mamdani.
Of course, none of this matters if you do not vote. So far, early voting on Saturday was much higher than four years ago. Clearly, that was not the frum crowd. We have our work cut out for us.
Warren S. Hecht is a local attorney. He can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
