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MARCH 15, 2021
YANG 17.09%
POLITICS
MCGUIRE TOPS DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATES
STRINGER 13.36%
DONOVAN 11.79%
BY BRIAN PASCUS
I
GARCIA 9.82%
nvestment banker Ray McGuire finished first in a Crain’s poll of readers likely to vote in the upcoming Democratic mayoral primary, handily beating entrepreneur Andrew Yang and Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams, who have greater name recognition among the general public and who have beaten the Wall Street executive in previous polls. Other surprises that emerged from the online survey of 509 Crain’s readers included a split on tax hikes on the wealthy, a concern about See POLL on page 22
MCGUIRE 26.52%
ADAMS 8.06%
POLITICS
With vote ‘up for grabs,’ tech industry seeks louder voice in mayoral race BY RYAN DEFFENBAUGH
D
uring a Zoom conference hosted by tech entrepreneur and investor Kevin Ryan March 2, Democratic mayoral VOL. 37, NO. 10
candidate Ray McGuire pledged to boost the number of CUNY graduates in science and engineering fields, launch a citywide app and consider naming the first-ever deputy mayor for technology.
For the former Citigroup executive to lead the city, “I want tech involved. I’m sorry—I need tech involved,” McGuire said. The meeting with technology leaders was one among dozens of Zooms and virtual town
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halls that week for the large field of Democratic and Republican candidates. But to Ryan, a co-founder of MongoDB, Gilt Group and Zola, the event represented a change in how candidates have been approaching the city’s technology workforce. “What’s different in this election from eight years ago is you were not seeing many phone calls like this for the tech industry,” Ryan said in an interview following the event. He has
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In Crain’s poll, investment banker led field with 27% of vote