Mayor Eric Adams of New York City raised only $19,000 for his re-election over the last two months, a remarkably low fund-raising total for a Democratic mayoral candidate and unfathomably low for an incumbent.
The meager haul seems the clearest sign yet that his campaign is barely functioning, even as Mr. Adams insists that he is running for a second term despite record low approval ratings. He has not started to hold campaign events; top allies have abandoned him for former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo; and his campaign staff is so skeletal that its spokesman, Todd Shapiro, only came aboard last week.
And his latest fund-raising total would put him at the very bottom of major candidates during the recent fund-raising period.
Mr. Cuomo raised $1.5 million in 13 days. Zohran Mamdani, a progressive state lawmaker, raised $840,000 during the recent filing period from January to March and is on track to have $7 million with public matching funds.
Mr. Adams, who was indicted on federal corruption charges last year, has about $3 million in his campaign coffers from earlier fund-raising, putting him third behind Mr. Mamdani and Brad Lander, the city comptroller, who each have more than $3.5 million in their campaign accounts.
But Mr. Adams raised less during this period than any major candidate, including Michael Blake, a former state lawmaker, and Curtis Sliwa, the founder of the Guardian Angels and the Republican candidate for mayor in 2021. The mayor also raised less than Corinne Fisher, a stand-up comedian who took in $100,000.
Mr. Mamdani and Mr. Lander are expected to have more money on hand after the next public matching-funds payment on April 15, ahead of the June 24 primary. Mr. Cuomo is also expected to receive public matching funds. Mr. Adams’s campaign was denied public matching funds in December, preventing him from receiving another $4 million.
Mr. Shapiro said the Adams campaign was still hoping to receive public matching funds, which could bring him close to the spending limit for the primary of $7.9 million.
He said that the mayor’s previous fund-raising “reflects the strong, broad-based support for Mayor Adams’ leadership and vision for the future of our city.”
Mr. Adams said at a news conference on Monday that he was not worried.
“Everyone is catching up to me,” he said. “I started raising early.”
The mayor actually received $36,000 in contributions, but he ended up netting only $19,000 after adjustments and $21,000 in refunds, including $3,700 to Brock Pierce, a cryptocurrency investor who was recently photographed with Mr. Adams at President Trump’s inauguration. Mr. Pierce had already donated the legal limit of $2,100 to Mr. Adams in 2023.
The mayor had only 38 donors during this filing period. .
A separate super PAC supporting Mr. Cuomo called “Fix the City” raised nearly $1.5 million from 17 donors, including $250,000 from Scott Rechler, a major real estate developer, and $100,000 from SkyBridge Capital, the hedge fund founded by Anthony Scaramucci, who donated to Mr. Adams in 2021 and 2024.
Mr. Cuomo and Mr. Adams have some overlap in terms of their voting and donor bases. Marcella Guarino Hymowitz, whose husband, Gregg S. Hymowitz, is a prominent hedge fund manager, gave $150,000 to Mr. Cuomo’s super PAC this month. In 2021, Mr. Hymowitz gave $100,000 to a super PAC that supported Mr. Adams; Ms. Hymowitz also gave $50,000 to the group.
Luciana Fato, a former top lawyer at the insurance company American International Group, donated $100,000 to Mr. Cuomo’s super PAC after donating to Mr. Adams’s campaign in 2021. Jed Walentas, who runs the development firm Two Trees Management, has donated to Mr. Cuomo and Mr. Adams and to a nonprofit group that promoted Mr. Adams.
Mr. Cuomo resigned as governor in 2021 after a series of sexual harassment allegations, which he has denied. The state has paid roughly $60 million in legal fees related to the allegations and other matters, including payments to the lawyers Rita Glavin and Elkan Abramowitz.
Ms. Glavin and Mr. Abramowitz each donated $2,100 to Mr. Cuomo’s campaign and hosted a fund-raiser for him, raising concern about conflicts of interest.
Rich Azzopardi, a spokesman for Mr. Cuomo, said, “These lawyers — and New Yorkers — saw firsthand the injustice that was done and know that Governor Cuomo is the one with the experience and record needed to confront the many problems this city is facing and solve them.”
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