Ranking the candidates for New York City Council speaker

When we set out to rank all of the New York City Council members, the question was simple: Who are the best and worst lawmakers in the city?

But the rankings can be used to answer another question as well: How do the candidates looking to become the next New York City Council speaker stack up against each other?

One of the candidates, City Councilman Jumaane Williams of Brooklyn, landed in the top five overall. Among those openly vying for the speakership or widely considered to be seeking the post, City Councilman Mark Levine of Manhattan came next, followed by council members Ydanis Rodriguez of Manhattan and Jimmy Van Bramer of Queens. All four were in the top 10 in the overall rankings.  

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City Councilman Corey Johnson of Manhattan, who along with Levine is considered a frontrunner in the race to succeed Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito, was sixth among the speaker candidates and No. 23 overall. City Councilwoman Julissa Ferreras-Copeland of Queens, who was also seen as a frontrunner before she unexpectedly announced that she would not be running for re-election, was No. 19 overall.

Not surprisingly, the current council speaker, Melissa Mark-Viverito, came in first on our overall rankings. (For a rundown of how we arrived at the rankings, click here.) One advantage that we noted in our ranking of City Council attendance records is that the speaker is required to attend far fewer meetings than any other Council member. She also has significant control over legislation, and she led the way on bills introduced and enacted. Given the powers of the office, whoever does succeed Mark-Viverito will have a significant advantage in taking the No. 1 spot on our list. 

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No. 1: Jumaane Williams

Overall ranking: No. 2
Attendance: 39
Bills introduced: 3
Bills enacted: 2
Constituent response: 8
Communications response: 3
Google ranking: 3
Twitter Ranking: 4

No. 2: Mark Levine

Overall ranking: No. 7
Attendance: 7
Bills introduced: 26 (tie)
Bills enacted: 11 (tie)
Constituent response: 22
Communications response: 12
Google ranking: 7
Twitter Ranking: 13

No. 3: Ydanis Rodriguez

Overall ranking: No. 8
Attendance: 27
Bills introduced: 8 (tie)
Bills enacted: 11 (tie)
Constituent response: Last (tie)
Communications response: 1
Google ranking: 11
Twitter Ranking: 9

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No. 4: Jimmy Van Bramer

Overall ranking: No. 9
Attendance: 13
Bills introduced: 4
Bills enacted: 18 (tie)
Constituent response: 24
Communications response: Last (tie)
Google ranking: 5
Twitter Ranking: 7

No. 5: Ritchie Torres

Overall ranking: No. 15
Attendance: 36
Bills introduced: 2
Bills enacted: 18 (tie)
Constituent response: Last (tie)
Communications response: 20
Google ranking: 17
Twitter Ranking: 11

No. 6: Corey Johnson

Overall ranking: No. 23
Attendance: 41
Bills introduced: 13
Bills enacted: 11 (tie)
Constituent response: Last (tie)
Communications response: Last (tie)
Google ranking: 13
Twitter Ranking: 6

No. 7: Robert Cornegy Jr.

Overall ranking: No. 28
Attendance: 24
Bills introduced: 17 (tie)
Bills enacted: 18 (tie)
Constituent response: Last (tie)
Communications response: 19
Google ranking: 42
Twitter Ranking: 22

No. 8: Donovan Richards

Overall ranking: No. 32
Attendance: 23
Bills introduced: 10 (tie)
Bills enacted: 23 (tie)
Constituent response: Last (tie)
Communications response: Last (tie)
Google ranking: 36
Twitter Ranking: 27