My favorite Bootcamp Action, and who’s logged it so far

Hint: no one. And it’s worth 70 points.

The more people hear something, the truer it becomes. Studies have shown that when people hear a statement repeated twice, they are more likely to think it is true than if they’ve heard it only once. This is a natural tendency that’s just built into our brain. We have to make so many decisions each day, so our brain takes shortcuts to process the data. One of those shortcuts is familiarity– we feel more positively about facts / people / things that we’ve encountered before, even very briefly.

There are takeaways here for NYC local politics:

1. Name recognition is incredibly powerful. A poll just came out this week showing Cuomo in the lead for the mayoral primary, as first choice among 37% of potential Democratic primary voters. How much of that is because people actually thought Cuomo did a great job as governor, and how much of that is just name recognition? Cuomo has multiple generations of name recognition in his side— a significant leg up that candidates like Myrie and Lander don’t have.

2. If you want to influence the narrative, start repeating yourself. Become a broken record about the issues you care about. If your friend hears you say “Anyone but Cuomo” and then they hear two other people say it, it’s basically a fact. Start repeating yourself on Instagram. On Substack. On TikTok. At dinner parties. At baseball practice. Here’s what to say: “Don’t forget to vote in the primary in June. Who’s mayor really does matter for who gets to feel safe in our city and how much our housing costs. Comptroller matters. Borough president matters. City Council matters. Here’s my recs on who to vote for.”

You can be the person that your friends ask: “who should I vote for for Comptroller?”. That’s why registration for the June Primary Bootcamp is still open. Here’s how:

1. Sign up for the June Primary Bootcamp

2. Complete Bootcamp Actions (here)

3. Log Bootcamp Actions

4. Check your points (Unreviewed Points here | Reviewed Points here)

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My favorite Bootcamp Action

The action that I really really want every Bootcamper to do is this one:

Send out your voter guide. Your voter guide should include a rundown of who you’re voting for in the primary and why. I don’t care how many people you send it to or how you send it. But at least some of your audience must live in NYC.

No one has logged this action yet. It’s a hard one. But it’s perhaps the most important one. It’s the easiest way to start becoming a broken record to everyone you know about the importance of the June primary and who they should vote for. Amp up name recognition for the candidates you support. Your friends will thank you because they don’t even know what a Borough President does, much less who to vote for.😊

Follow these instructions and use this email template to rack up 70 points and support your community with resources for voting.

Step 1. Find out who’s on your ballot.

I used Ballotpedia.

Step 2. Figure out who you’re voting for.

Here’s some resources to get started:

City Council - Not all City Council races are interesting– there are many incumbents that don’t face real challengers. Check here and here to see if your City Council race is interesting.

Manhattan Borough President

• The City wrote this piece on Who’s Running for Borough President — And Why You Should Care

Comptroller

• The City wrote this piece on Who’s Running for City Comptroller — and What Is a Comptroller?

• City and State is tracking candidates’ endorsements.

Mayor

• Take this quiz by Gothamist and The City to help you identify which candidate aligns best with the issues you care about.

• New York Housing Conference put together a Mayoral Candidate Housing Platform Tracker where you can click on each candidate to see a summary of their housing positions and proposals, as well as their responses to questions about rent stabilization, zoning changes, NYCHA, and more.

• City and State is tracking candidates’ endorsements.

For reference, here’s some voter guides I’m using for my own voting:

• https://opennewyork.org/endorsements/

• https://voterguide.abundanceny.org/

Step 3. Share your voter guide.

The most common way I’ve seen this done is via email. That way your friends can easily find it when they actually start filling out their ballots.

Let me acknowledge this here: sending out your voter guide takes courage. Fear is normal. Maybe you’re afraid that someone will get mad at you for supporting a candidate that’s different than theirs, or that they’ll think your choices are dumb. Maybe you’re afraid of being pushy– what if people get mad at you for trying to foist your recommendations on them? Maybe you’re afraid it’ll take a really long time to research and write out a super thoroughly-researched voter guide with links and citations. Your fears are natural. And as your Bootcamp fitness instructor, I have to tell you that you can’t grow your influence without stretching beyond your comfort zone. Maybe start out sending it to just a handful of people, then expanding to more. And use this email template to keep it light and make it easy:

Subj: Voting resources for the upcoming June Primary Election

Hi there,

I’m sending you some resources ahead of our June 24 Primary Election because I know it can be hard to keep up with local politics. There’s so much going on in the nation and world, not to mention our busy day-to-day lives. I’ve been participating in this June Primary Bootcamp, and one of my goals is to support my community to vote in the Primary.

This is your friendly reminder to register to vote and come up with a plan for how you're going to vote. Here’s how:

• Register to vote by June 14– your form must be received by June 14, and don’t wait til the last minute in case you need to mail it in. (instructions here)

• Find your polling place

• Find your sample ballot

If you’re still undecided on any local races, here’s how I’m voting, and I’m happy to share more about why I think these folks are the best candidates:

• Mayor: XX

• Comptroller: XX

• Borough President: XX

• City Council: XX

Whichever way you do it, VOTE and encourage your neighbors, friends, and family to vote, too!

Your Name

Sending this email template is worth 70 points. Logging 70 points is the threshold for winning a prize and an invitation to the awards ceremony in June. Here’s the breakdown:

• 30 points for sending out your voter guide

• 20 points for reminding 5 more people to register to vote by June 14

• 10 points for forming an opinion on an office that’s not mayor

• 10 points for sharing the NYC Politics 101 substack with someone

In addition to emailing out your voter guide, consider also sending to all your WhatsApp groups, creating an instagram post, tweeting it out, or writing it in chalk in front of your house. Remember: the more people see something, the truer it becomes. And consider how many views this chalk is getting in Park Slope! That’s influence. Shout out to Steve for his chalk voter guide!👏

It says: Don’t rank Andrew Cuomo for mayor. He’s literally evil. Rank these five actual good people: Zohran, Lander, Myrie, Ramos, Adrienne

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Upcoming Primary Bootcamp Meetups and Events

You can also subscribe to the calendar on lu.ma for more events as they’re added:

📆Primary Bootcamp LIC and Crown Heights Meetups

• Tuesday, May 20: 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm, Finback LIC, RSVP here

• Monday, June 9: 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm, Crown Inn, RSVP here

​​We're meeting up in Long Island City and Crown Heights-- come ready to share with others about what you've been working on, or ask for help, or get inspiration from other Bootcampers' experiences.

​​Whether you're a seasoned advocate or just starting your civic engagement journey, you’ll leave with resources for your next steps.

💡 What to Expect:

• ​​​✅ Meet like-minded New Yorkers who care about local politics

• ​​​✅ Structured activities to connect with people in your neighborhood and those with similar interests/goals

• ​​​✅ Leave with ideas, resources, and a plan for achieving your Bootcamp goals

RSVP pages here (LIC) and here (Crown Heights)! See you there!

📆NYC Civic Fair

• Tuesday, June 3, 6 PM - 8 PM at FABRIK Dumbo

• RSVP here

• ​Looking to get more involved at the local level—but not sure where to start? Join us for a Civic Fair connecting New Yorkers with local organizations tackling the city's biggest challenges—from housing and transportation to elections and streetscapes. Think of it like a career fair, but for community impact. Meet the people doing the work, explore causes you care about, and find the right place to lend your voice, skills, or time.💪