As they face a polarizing front-runner with wide name recognition, progressive mayoral candidates will likely need to take advantage of the city’s relatively new ranked-choice voting system by urging voters not just to support them, but also their competitors. The system allows voters to choose up to five candidates, and in order for a person’s vote to be maximally effective, they have to fill out the whole slate.

Zohran Mamdani, an assemblymember from Queens who was the first candidate to openly welcome the idea of a cross-endorsement, could become a key test of whether progressives can set aside their differences and unite. The closest to striking distance from Cuomo Mamdani, is also the furthest to the left, leaving his fellow progressives to wonder if aligning with him would risk alienating their more moderate supporters.