Why is turnout so low in NYC mayoral elections?

[Diabolical Materialism]

Unless there's something wrong with the info on the Wikipedia page, the New York mayoral elections in 2017 and 2013 are both less than 20%. What's going on with this?

[Del Tachi]

That sounds about right for an off-year municipal election.  Compared to other large cities:

Los Angeles (2017) - 20.1%
Chicago (2019) - 32.9%
Houston (2019) - 18.7%
 

[Diabolical Materialism]

That sounds about right for an off-year municipal election.  Compared to other large cities:

Los Angeles (2017) - 20.1%
Chicago (2019) - 32.9%
Houston (2019) - 18.7%
 

Huh, I actually didn't know that about municipal elections. I guess I assumed that since a big mayorship tends to be a pretty high profile position that more people would get involved. Guess not.

[Amenhotep Bakari-Sellers]

Due to local elections being dull and boring and status quo elections, Govs like Mayor's don't energize voters the way it does PE, there is significant drop-off in voting in midterms and it still will happen in 2022

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

There tends to be little at stake in a mayoral general election, since the real contest is the Dem primary.

[Fuzzy Bear]

There tends to be little at stake in a mayoral general election, since the real contest is the Dem primary.

There was only minor opposition.  Sal Albanese could only get 15% to Mayor Warren Wilhelm, Jr. Bill DeBlasio, who won 74%.

[SevenEleven]

There tends to be little at stake in a mayoral general election, since the real contest is the Dem primary.

That has never been the case in CA and you still see low turn out. LA moved away from odd year elections, though, so I suspect turnout will explode.

[Devout Centrist]

Municipal elections have abysmal turnout for a number of reasons:

1. They're 'off year' elections and tend to attract a lot less attention as a result
2. Some elections do not list candidates by political party, making it more difficult to vote
3. Lack of money for advertisements and canvassing means lower name recognition for challengers and lower interest in the race