Mayor Eric Adams has raised simply $36,000 over the previous three months in his tenuous re-election bid — a paltry sum that trails each one in all his main Democratic main rivals, in line with his Tuesday submitting with town Marketing campaign Finance Board (CFB).
The meager exhibiting from Hizzoner, who had as soon as been a prolific fundraiser, is additional proof that his re-election bid is sputtering within the wake of a number of scandals which have crippled his administration. These embrace his federal corruption indictment, the mass exodus of his high aides, and President Trump transferring to drop his federal case in what many consider was a quid professional quo for Adams’ cooperation on immigration enforcement.
On Monday, the mayor boldly claimed that the remainder of the Democratic subject was catching up with him in elevating cash. Mayor Adams nonetheless has slightly over $3 million in his marketing campaign coffers from previous fundraising, however he has now fallen behind a lot of his main rivals.
Adams’ marketing campaign spokesperson Todd Shapiro stated that the mayor had already raised the “maximum allowable amount” — referring to the CFB’s $8.3 million spending cap — for this election cycle months in the past. Nevertheless, Shapiro is counting over $4 million in public matching fund claims that the CFB has to this point refused to award to Adams’ marketing campaign.
“This achievement reflects the strong, broad-based support for Mayor Adams’ leadership and vision for the future of our city,” Shapiro stated in a press release. “We continue to maintain that the campaign has fully qualified for matching funds and are in active communication with the Campaign Finance Board to ensure that those funds are properly reviewed and unlocked in accordance with all regulations.”
The board has cited Adams’ federal indictment on costs that embrace defrauding town’s marketing campaign finance system as its fundamental purpose for denying him the general public {dollars}.
Eligible for paltry sum of public funds
After refunds, Adams will solely web round $19,000 for the latest CFB submitting interval, which stretched from mid-January to March 13.
Simply $3,400 of that haul, which got here from 38 donors, can be utilized to safe public matching funds — in line with CFB data. With matching funds doled out on an 8-to-1 ratio, Mayor Adams’ marketing campaign can obtain $27,200 in public funding.
The chasm in marketing campaign money Mayor Adams is dealing with is very stark when in comparison with former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, whose marketing campaign reported elevating $1.5 million in simply 13 days on Monday.
Cuomo, who’s at the moment the frontrunner within the race, is vying for a similar lane as Adams and has more and more been overshadowing him. He has nabbed a slew of endorsements from pols and teams who had beforehand supported Adams and has dominated within the polls.
Different candidates who reported sturdy fundraising clips on Monday embrace Queens Meeting Member Zohran Mamdani and metropolis Comptroller Brad Lander.
Mayor Adams, in the meantime, doesn’t have a visual marketing campaign, and his struggles to lift cash or win assist have fueled hypothesis that he won’t finally run for re-election. On Monday, he left the door open to the potential for working as an Unbiased if he loses the Democratic main.
Who gave, who obtained
Among the many mayor’s contributors was Rachel Lader, a lawyer who says she represents sexual abuse survivors on the agency Slater Slater Schulman, who gave him $2,100—the utmost donation quantity.
Jason Xia, a self-described skilled poker participant with an handle in Dix Hills, Lengthy Island, additionally gave Adams the utmost contribution.
The mayor’s marketing campaign spent roughly $145,000 over the past three months. This contains $67,000 in disbursements to a agency known as My Brnd Inc. for petitioning work and $27,500 to his marketing campaign compliance lawyer, Vito Pitta.
Adams additionally reported $20,000 in funds to Suggs Options LLC, the political consulting agency operated by Brianna Suggs, who was his chief fundraiser in 2021.
Suggs misplaced her job as Adams’ fundraiser however has continued to obtain funds from his marketing campaign after her residence was raided by federal brokers in late 2023 as a part of the Manhattan US Legal professional’s investigation that led to his indictment.
