Eric Adams Wins New York City Democratic Mayoral Primary After Tight Race With Kathryn Garcia

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Eric Adams has won New York City's Democratic mayoral primary following a tight race with Kathryn Garcia.

The Brooklyn borough president, 60, was declared victorious Tuesday night after more than 125,000 newly-counted votes showed him maintaining his narrow lead over the former Department of Sanitation commissioner, 51, in the city's first instance of ranked-choice voting.

"While there are still some very small amounts of votes to be counted, the results are clear: an historic, diverse, five-borough coalition led by working class New Yorkers has led us to victory in the Democratic primary for Mayor of New York City," Adams said in a statement after the results were revealed.

Adams placed first by an 8,426-vote margin, according to the NYC Board of Elections.

Andrew Burton/Getty Eric Adams

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Adams, a former police officer of 22 years, could make history following his primary success. The politician would be just the second Black mayor in the city's history should he win. (Former lawyer David Dinkins was first to do so in 1990.)

In an interview with PEOPLE last month, he opened up about growing up Black while living in Queens in the '60s and '70s and the impact it had on his future political aspirations.

"The next mayor really must be someone who has gone through a lot, so they can help people who are going through a lot," Adams said in June. He also called his life "a New York story."

Adams, who co-founded the 100 Blacks in Law Enforcement Who Care advocacy group, has highlighted a platform featuring police reform and crime reduction throughout his campaign. He fought for reform as an officer and told PEOPLE of plans to use his expertise to continue that fight should he become mayor.

"We need to be more proactive at preventing crimes instead of creating crime," Adams said.

Susan Watts/NY Daily News Archive via Getty Eric Adams

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His campaign wasn't without criticism though, and some skeptics have claimed Adams is not a resident of New York City. Many believe he actually resides in Fort Lee, New Jersey.

In January, the New York Daily News reported Adams had not registered his Bedford-Stuyvesant home with the Department of Housing Preservation and Development as required by the city. Three months later, a Politico report suggested Adams had not declared any rental income on his tax filings for the property despite being declared to New York City's Conflicts of Interest Board.

But Adams has gone to great lengths to prove he is indeed a New York City resident. He even gave the press a tour of the home (which was itself a source of controversy) in June following the rumors.

"How foolish would someone have to be to run to be the mayor of the city of New York and live in another municipality," he told reporters during the tour.

Adams is expected to square off against Guardian Angels founder Curtis Sliwa, a Republican, in the general election on November 2.