Overview

• Manhattan Justice Jeffrey H. Pearlman rejected Walden’s petition, finding the Board of Elections acted lawfully by refusing a post-deadline declination.
• Election officials said they lack discretion to remove late-withdrawing candidates, with post-deadline removals limited to moving out of state, accepting a judicial nomination, or death.
• Walden said he will not appeal, citing the Board’s need to certify and print ballots for absentee and overseas voters on a tight schedule.
• The decision signals that withdrawn names may still appear on November ballots, and reports say Mayor Eric Adams has considered exiting the race, which would face the same timing constraints if it occurred after deadlines.
• Walden urged voters not to support him and to back the non-Mamdani front-runner, after polling below 1% in a recent New York Times/Siena survey.