NYC Delivers Ranked-Choice Voting Pizza Winner: Pepperoni

NEW YORK CITY — An extra cheesy Mayor Bill de Blasio tossed New York City some real knead-to-know information on its favorite pizza toppings.

Hizzoner was hot and ready Monday to reveal results from the city's pizza topping challenge — an effort to help New Yorkers get a taste of how a ranked-choice ballot works before the June 22 primary.

About 20,000 pizza aficionados filled out ballots to pick and rank their favorite toppings. After several rounds of counts, only one was a cut above the rest: pepperoni.

“Mmm, ranked-choice voting,” de Blasio said while biting into a pepperoni slice. “I didn’t know it would be this delicious.”

BREAKING: the winner of the Ranked Choice Pizza Challenge was Pepperoni!

Tune in to @NYCMayor’s presser now for more on how Ranked Choice Voting works. #DemocracyNYC https://t.co/II63yw5jF8 pic.twitter.com/6YY9IByDZu
— NYC Mayor's Office (@NYCMayorsOffice) June 15, 2021

Pepperoni may have been the winner, but it wasn't de Blasio's first choice.

De Blasio last week picked green peppers as his favorite pizza topping, followed by olives, sausage, mushrooms and pepperoni.

Likewise, New York City voters can pick and rank up to five candidates in races on their upcoming primary ballots. Proponents of ranked-choice voting argue it gives voters more of a voice in who will be the next mayor, comptroller, borough president or other local office.

So, while pepperoni wasn't de Blasio's first choice, he found himself pleased with the result because the winner was still one of his favorites.

The same couldn't be said for pineapple, which was eliminated in the fifth of seven rounds on the pizza ballot.

"Take that pineapple, you were an imposter from the beginning,” de Blasio said.

The full ranking, for the pizza-curious, was:

1. Pepperoni
2. Mushrooms
3. Sausage
4. Pineapple
5. Olives
6. Green peppers
7. Vegan cheese
8. Clams

New Yorkers can find out more about the primary, voting and ranked-choice ballots at voting.nyc.