“I am not going to be the mayor of New York City based upon the numbers that have come in tonight"
Andrew Yang has dropped out of the New York Mayoral race.
Despite leading in the early months of the race, the Asian American candidate conceded defeat on Tuesday.
First vote results pushed Yang to fourth position and former police officer Eric Adams to the lead.
Adams secured 31.7% with 84% of early and on-the-day votes counted. Progressive civil rights lawyer earned 22.3%, and Kathryn Garcia, a former New York sanitation commissioner, was third with 19.5% of the vote.
Yang only won 11.7% of the vote.
“I am not going to be the mayor of New York City based upon the numbers that have come in tonight,” Yang said in a speech on Tuesday night.
“I am conceding this race. Though we’re not sure who’s the next mayor is going to be, but whoever that person is, I will be very happy to work with them to improve the lives of the 8.3 million people who live in our great city, and I encourage everyone here to do the same.”
Tens of thousands of mail-in ballots are yet to be counted with counting to continue for weeks.
The victor is expected to be declared by 12 July.
Last month, Yang’s wife took aim at New York Daily’s “racist” cartoon of her husband.