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TESTIMONY
Testimony by Emily Skydel from Food and Water Watch against jungle primaries
2:49:18
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3 min
Emily Skydel, representing Food and Water Watch, testifies in strong opposition to the "jungle primary" system.
She argues it would undermine the ability of grassroots organizations to influence elections by erasing the strategic foundation of party primaries.
She believes the system forces community-backed candidates to compete in crowded, expensive fields where the winners are usually those with the biggest war chests, tilting the playing field away from people-powered campaigns.
- Skydel argues that jungle primaries erase the strategic value of party primaries for grassroots groups.
- She believes the system amplifies the power of money over organizing, as winners are often those with the most funding.
- She contends that this change would discourage long-term community organizing by making electoral pathways murky.
- She frames the proposal as an attempt to disempower the people who have learned how to organize within the existing system.
Emily Skydel
2:49:18
Thank you.
2:49:19
Good evening, commissioners.
2:49:20
Thank you for the opportunity to testify today.
2:49:24
My name is Emily Skydel, and I represent Food and Water Watch.
2:49:28
At Food and Water Watch, I'm here to sorry.
2:49:32
And I'm here to express my strong opposition to the proposed adoption of a so called jungle primary system for New York City elections.
2:49:40
I come to this conversation as someone who has worked closely with grassroots organizations that knock doors, hold community forums, and build political power from the ground up.
2:49:51
These groups are the lifeblood of our city's civic fabric, and a jungle primary system would severely undermine their ability to influence elections and lift up the voices of working class New Yorkers.
2:50:04
First, jungle primaries erase the strategic foundation grassroots groups rely on, party primaries.
2:50:11
Grassroots groups spend years organizing within the Democratic Party to win representation for their communities.
2:50:18
They build coalitions, recruit candidates, and develop long term strategies to shift power from political machines to the people.
2:50:27
A jungle primary blows that up.
2:50:29
In a top two or top four system, there is no party primary.
2:50:34
Every candidate, regardless of party or values, appears on one crowded ballot.
2:50:38
That forces grassroots candidates to compete in massive, often often expensive fields, splitting the vote and making it far harder for community backed candidates to break through.
2:50:50
Second, jungle primaries amplify the power of money over organizing.
2:50:56
In a high candidate, low information race without party queues, the winners are usually those with the biggest war chests.
2:51:04
The most name recognition, or the backing of wealthy interests.
2:51:09
Grassroots groups can't compete with that kind of money.
2:51:12
Their strength is people powered campaigns that build trust over time, not 6 figure media buys and insider endorsements.
2:51:20
Jungle primaries put movement candidates at a severe disadvantage and tilts the playing field back toward the very institutions grassroots organizing seeks to challenge.
2:51:31
Third, this system would discourage long term community organizing.
2:51:35
One of the most powerful aspects of our current system is that it gives communities clear political targets, party primaries where their votes and their organizing can make a real difference.
2:51:45
That's how working class tenants have elected champions.
2:51:48
It's how immigrant neighborhoods have shifted city policy.
2:51:52
Jungle primaries scramble those lines, make electoral pathways murky, and they take power away from communities that have only recently begun to claim it.
2:52:03
Let's be clear.
2:52:04
This proposal is not about empowering voters.
2:52:08
It's about disempowering the people who have learned how to organize within the existing system to demand more for their neighbors.
2:52:16
If we want a more inclusive democracy, the answer is not to blow up the tools that marginalized communities have just started to master.
2:52:24
The answer is to make those tools more accessible.
2:52:27
For these reasons, I urge you to reject any attempts to implement a jungle primary system in New York City.
2:52:32
Thank you.
Richard R. Buery Jr.
2:52:33
Thank you, Saul.