New York Mayor Eric Adams announced Sunday he was abandoning his reelection bid after failing to gain momentum against Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani, a self-described socialist who has been fiercely criticized by US President Donald Trump.
A once-popular mayor, Adams, 65, was dogged by a slew of corruption allegations and criticized over cooperating with Trump’s immigration crackdown.
Federal criminal charges were dropped against Adams earlier this year, prompting resignations at the Manhattan US attorney’s office and at the Justice Department in protest against alleged political interference by the Trump administration.
Adams’s dropping out leaves the field open for a battle between Mamdani, 33, and fellow Democrat Andrew Cuomo, 67, who is running as an independent after being beaten in the Democratic primary.
Also in the race is Republican Curtis Sliwa, 71, a red beret-wearing anti-crime activist whom Trump has dismissed as not ready for “prime time.”
“Despite all we’ve achieved, I cannot continue my reelection campaign,” Adams said in a video statement posted to X on Sunday.
“The constant media speculation about my future and the campaign finance board’s decision to withhold millions of dollars have undermined my ability to raise the funds needed for a serious campaign.”
The mayoral election will take place on November 4. Adams had been polling at less than ten percent of the vote.
– Veiled criticism –
Adams became mayor of the largest US city in 2022, and said in April he would run as an independent, a move that spared him from the competitive Democratic primary won by Mamdani.
In that election, Mamdani also swept past former New York governor Cuomo, who resigned from his post in 2021 over sexual misconduct allegations.
In his statement, Adams issued a veiled criticism of Mamdani, who has zeroed in on the high cost of living by promising regulated rents, free bus travel and daycare to cement his appeal.
“Major change is welcome and necessary, but beware of those who claim the answer (is) to destroy the very system we built together over generations. That is not change, that is chaos,” he said.
Rumors have swirled for weeks that Adams would drop out of the mayoral race to allow space for Cuomo.
There were also reports the Trump administration was considering a job for Adams if he backed out of the election to give Cuomo a better chance of beating Mamdani.
In a statement responding to the mayor dropping out, Mamdani referenced those allegations of collusion between Trump, Adams and Cuomo.
“Donald Trump and his billionaire donors might be able to determine Eric Adams and Andrew Cuomo’s actions but they will not dictate the results of this election,” he said.
– Cuomo welcomes move –
Cuomo, however, welcomed Adams’s decision and struck an alarmed tone at Mamdani’s rise.
“We face destructive extremist forces that would devastate our city through incompetence or ignorance, but it is not too late to stop them,” he said.
A former police officer from a modest family and New York’s second African-American mayor, Adams was initially popular but saw his star wane under the weight of the corruption allegations, rising costs of living and other challenges.
The mayor was accused of wire fraud, soliciting illegal foreign campaign donations and a bribery conspiracy involving Turkish citizens and at least one Turkish official. He denies the charges.
Emil Bove, who as a top Justice Department official ordered the charges dropped, has denied allegations that the decision was a “quid pro quo” in exchange for the Democratic mayor’s support for Trump’s immigration crackdown.
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