Mayor Eric Adams’ determination to forgo the Democratic mayoral main and run for re-election as an impartial breathed new life into his marketing campaign. However he nonetheless faces an uphill battle to securing one other 4 years in Metropolis Corridor.
Picture by Lloyd Mitchell
Mayor Eric Adams’ determination final week to run as an impartial reasonably than duke it out in a crowded Democratic main might have revived his re-election effort — however his bid to safe one other 4 years in Metropolis Corridor nonetheless faces lengthy odds.
After weeks of hypothesis, Adams revealed final Thursday that he’ll now not search the Democratic nomination and as a substitute try to win one other time period as an impartial within the November common election. His announcement got here lower than 24 hours after a federal choose threw out his five-count corruption indictment with prejudice, which means the Justice Division can’t resurrect the costs.
Nevertheless, whereas Federal District Decide Dale Ho dismissed Adams’ case, his ruling served as a searing indictment of Trump’s DOJ over its rationale for dropping the costs. He additionally appeared to agree with allegations that Adams’ attorneys exchanged his cooperation with Trump’s immigration crackdown for scuttling his case.
The mayor insists that whereas he’s now not working within the June 24 main, he stays a Democrat. Throughout a Friday morning interview on Pix11, Adams mentioned he was prepared to leap into the contentious Democratic showdown, however was delayed by how lengthy it took for Decide Ho to drop his case.
Mayor Eric Adams at an announcement in Manhattan on April 7, 2025.Ed Reed/Mayoral Pictures Workplace
Adams additionally claimed that the transfer was not motivated by former Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s vital lead within the polls and his current fundraising struggles.
“I’m still a Democrat. I will be running on an independent line, and no, it had nothing to do with polling,” Adams mentioned. “It is about getting my message out and continuing the work that we have accomplished.”
New power, identical challenges
Political scientist John Mollenkopf mentioned Adams’ impartial run gave the incumbent mayor an opportunity at re-election he now not had within the Democratic main.
“It gives his campaign new life because I think there was zero life in running in the Democratic primary,” Mollenkopf mentioned.
However the transfer is way from a certain guess, in keeping with Mollenkopf and different political observers.
Joseph Viteritti, a Hunter Faculty public coverage professor, mentioned Adams is giving himself some respiratory room to bounce again from his record-low ballot numbers and struggles to lift marketing campaign money. Nonetheless, his path to a second time period stays unclear.
“He gives himself three more months to prepare, which he needs to do because he hasn’t been campaigning very much and hasn’t raised very much money,” Viteritti mentioned. “It’s still an uphill fight for him, because his approval ratings are at record lows and they haven’t moved.”
An Emerson Faculty/Pix11/The Hill ballot launched late final month discovered that Adams would lose a hypothetical four-way common election matchup. The matchup included former Gov. Andrew Cuomo because the Democratic nominee, Curtis Sliwa on the GOP line, and legal professional Jim Walden as one other impartial. The survey confirmed Cuomo successful with 43% of the vote and Adams coming in third behind Sliwa with 11%.
A separate ballot of Democratic main voters final month by The Honan Group discovered that solely 10% of these surveyed mentioned they might be open to supporting an Adams impartial run.
Adams, the Cuomo spoiler?
New York Metropolis mayoral candidate, and former New York Governor, Andrew Cuomo waves as he attends Sunday service earlier than delivering remarks on the Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem, March 30, 2025.REUTERS/Adam Grey
Complicating issues even additional for Adams and the remainder of a potential common election subject is the New York Working Households Celebration’s revelation that it will possible run its personal candidate in November reasonably than backing Cuomo if he wins the first.
In that situation, Mollenkopf mentioned, Adams in all probability nonetheless wouldn’t win — however might stand in the way in which of Cuomo popping out on high.
“That would make for a super interesting general election because Cuomo and Adams would be competing for the same votes and I don’t think Cuomo can will without the Black community,” Mollenkopf mentioned. “I still don’t think that Adams would win in a situation like that, but he would be more competitive in that situation than he would be in a Democratic primary.”
Viteritti mentioned the mayor may be attempting to attraction to Republican voters along with his impartial bid, which was evident by him selling Trump FBI Director Kash Patel’s e book quickly after Ho dismissed his indictment.
Aligning oneself with Trump in New York Metropolis, nonetheless, might not be a successful technique, he mentioned.
“He seems to be attaching his future to Donald Trump, which I don’t think is a good bet in New York, especially,” Viteritti mentioned. “I think lots of people are going to have problems supporting a Trump-identified candidate.”
The Lindsay technique
Mayor Eric Adams is making an attempt to drag off one thing no incumbent since Mayor John Lindsay has achieved since 1969: Win re-election after being spurned by his personal social gathering.Wikimedia Commons/public area
Adams is following the trail of late former Mayor John Lindsay, who efficiently gained re-election as an impartial in 1969 after shedding the Republican main. Lindsay ran within the common election on the Liberal Celebration line, a full-fledged social gathering that supported his marketing campaign.
Like Lindsay, Adams is an incumbent who determined to run as an impartial after shedding recognition, Viteritti mentioned. However Lindsay was in a stronger place than Adams is now.
“Even though a lot of people were dissatisfied with the way Lindsay was moving the city in a left direction, I don’t think he has the popularity issues that Adams has,” Viteritti mentioned. “Formally, he’s gotten the legal issues behind them, but from a public relations perspective, those issues will continue to haunt him.”
