New York City Mayor Eric Adams announced on Sunday that he is dropping his third-party bid for re-election, narrowing the field for November’s election.
“Despite all we’ve achieved, I cannot continue my re-election campaign,” Adams said in a video posted to X. “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.”
Adams’ announcement comes after weeks of speculation that he could exit the race to help consolidate support for former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who is also running a third-party bid for mayor, against Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani, a state legislator.
Adams’ name will still be on ballots this fall, since he exited the race after a deadline to print them. But the incumbent mayor has not been a major factor in the race. Multiple public polls in recent weeks have shown him running in a distant fourth place, with Mamdani staked to a double-digit lead ahead of Cuomo and Republican Curtis Sliwa and Adams further behind.
Earlier this month, President Donald Trump told reporters he would like to see two candidates in the crowded election leave the race to boost chances of defeating Mamdani, a progressive who trounced Cuomo in New York’s Democratic primary in June.
“I would like to see two people drop out and have it be one on one,” Trump said at a White House dinner in early September. “I think that’s a race that could be won.”
“I don’t think you can win unless you have one on one, because somehow he’s gotten a little bit of a lead,” Trump added. “I don’t like to see a communist become mayor, I will tell you that.”
Adams was elected as a Democrat in 2021. But he decided earlier this year to seek re-election as an independent, amid cratering poll numbers in his party, after facing federal corruption charges and then seeing them dropped by Trump’s Department of Justice, which argued that it needed Adams’ cooperation on the president’s immigration and deportation agenda.
Adams was indicted in September 2024 on federal charges including bribery and campaign finance violations. The Department of Justice alleged that he “used his prominent positions in New York City government to obtain illegal campaign contributions and luxury travel.”
Adam’s announcement was first reported by The New York Post.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
The post Eric Adams drops out of the New York city mayoral race appeared first on NBC News.
