Thirteen Democrats and two Republicans engaged in a last effort to rally supporters Tuesday as voters cast their ballots in New York City's mayoral primary.

Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams, a former police captain who co-founded a leadership group for Black officers, has led in several recent polls. But he's been closely trailed by former city sanitation commissioner Kathryn Garcia and former de Blasio administration lawyer Maya Wiley, with former presidential candidate Andrew Yang also in pursuit.

Several candidatesare in the race to succeed Mayor Bill de Blasio have the potential to make history if elected. The city could get its first female mayor, its first Asian American mayor or its second Black mayor, depending on who comes out on top.

But with the debut of the ranked voting system and a mountain of absentee ballots still at least a week away from being counted, it could be July before a winner emerges in the Democratic contest.

"My goal is to be the mayor. If it means, one, four, five, just be the mayor," Adams said. "I have to save my city, the city that I wore a bullet-proof vest for for twenty years."

As a former officer, but one who spent his career fighting racism within the department, Adams may have benefited most from the policing debate.

He denounced the "defund the police" slogan and proposed reinstating a disbanded plainclothes unit to focus on getting illegal guns off the streets.

After polls close at 9 p.m., New York City's Board of Elections plans to release partial results of votes cast in person, but that initial picture could be misleading because it will only include data on who candidates ranked as their first choice.

The ranked choice system, approved for use in New York City primaries and special elections by referendum in 2019, lets voters rank up to five candidates on their ballot.

Besides Adams, Garcia, Wiley and Yang, other contenders in the Democratic contest include City Comptroller Scott Stringer, former U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Shaun Donovan, former Citigroup executive Ray McGuire and nonprofit executive Dianne Morales.

De Blasio, a Democrat, leaves office at the end of the year due to term limits.

In the Republican primary, Guardian Angels founder Curtis Sliwa faced off against businessman Fernando Mateo. Because there are only two candidates in that race, ranked choice voting won't be a factor.

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