Former Gov. David Paterson endorsed Mayor Eric Adams’ reelection marketing campaign, saying push to get candidates to coalesce behind one challenger to Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani is now ‘moot.’ Wednesday, Aug. 13, 2025.
Picture by Lloyd Mitchell
Final month, former Gov. David Paterson urged all the mayoral candidates in addition to Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani to coalesce behind one contender, as a way to have the strongest probability of besting the democratic socialist frontrunner.
However on Wednesday, Paterson stated that concept is now “moot” as he endorsed the second-lowest polling candidate within the race: incumbent Mayor Eric Adams.
Paterson — who supported former Gov. Andrew Cuomo within the major — cited his decades-long relationship with Adams and lauded the mayor’s administration of town over the previous 3 1/2 years in making his endorsement.
Mayor Eric Adams — a Democrat operating as an unbiased after skipping the occasion’s major — sung former Gov. David Paterson’s praises in return. He stated an “endorsement of this magnitude is what I look for.”Picture by Lloyd Mitchell
Adams — a Democrat operating as an unbiased after skipping the occasion’s major — sung Paterson’s praises in return. He stated an “endorsement of this magnitude is what I look for.”
“[Paterson is] a person who has known me. He knows my heart. He knows my commitment. He has worked with me,” Adams stated. “He has been the architect of many of the changes that we have witnessed in government. He’s laid the foundation of smart, pragmatic approaches to dealing with the problems that working people face all the time.”
Paterson lent Adams his assist regardless of the mayor’s fourth-place standing in the latest polls — usually coming behind Mamdani, a Queens Meeting member; Cuomo; and Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa. He does place above unbiased lawyer Jim Walden, who has barely registered with voters.
Paterson argued that Adams finds himself polling in a comparable place now to Mamdani at an identical level within the Democratic major that he in the end received. He stated he believes Adams’ standing within the polls will enhance after Labor Day, when extra voters will start tuning into the final election.
“Eric is kicking it into high gear. He is taking no prisoners. He’s moving forward,” Paterson stated. “He is going to try to get to every borough and every inlet in this city to bring his message and to explain a lot that’s going on during this particular time.”
Paterson believes Mamdani had insufficient agenda
After Mamdani received the June Democratic major, Paterson and different centrist political and enterprise leaders final month advised that each one of his rivals come collectively behind the one with the most effective probability of defeating the Democratic nominee.
The previous governor stated Mamdani is unpalatable as a result of he has not supplied sufficient particulars on how he would fund his affordability-focused agenda if Albany doesn’t agree to lift taxes on firms and the rich.
Whereas Cuomo, who has been polling second, advised that whoever shouldn’t be in second place to Mamdani by September drop out and assist that particular person, neither Adams nor Sliwa agreed to get on board.
On Wednesday, Paterson stated he has now deserted pushing that technique as a consequence of Adams’ and Sliwa’s obvious resistance to it.
“It was an idea to generate conversation,” Paterson stated. “None of the candidates seemed particularly interested. So I consider the issue to be moot.”
However he admitted it will nonetheless be higher for Adams if Cuomo and Sliwa dropped out and backed him. He stated he thinks the mayor would win a “one-on-one” contest with Mamdani.
Paterson stated he’s backing Adams over Cuomo, who at present has the most effective probability of overcoming Mamdani, as a result of he believes the previous governor didn’t rise to the problem of defeating the Meeting member in the course of the major. He was referring to Mamdani’s upset, almost 13-point victory over Cuomo.
“He was defeated in the primary by an upset that has ramifications that I think people are still trying to understand,” Paterson stated. “And I don’t think that when that challenge was coming in the last weeks that he was addressing it and was as present as I thought he should have been during the campaign.”
Nevertheless, Paterson made clear that he believes Cuomo ought to keep within the race.
Many of the institutional Democrats who supported Cuomo in the course of the major have both jumped ship or stayed quiet in the course of the basic.
A number of have joined Mamdani, others have backed Adams, and lots of have but to resolve who to assist.
