Eric Adams Drops Out of New York City Mayoral Race

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After weeks of fervent denials, Mayor Eric Adams announced Sunday that he was dropping out of the mayoral race, admitting he couldn’t continue his run for a second term while rattling off his accomplishments over nearly four years.

In a video released to social media, Adams descends the stairs at Gracie Mansion holding a large photo of his mother, with Frank Sinatra’s “My Way” playing in the background.

“This campaign was for the underserved, the marginalized, the abandoned and betrayed by government,” he says.

Adams didn’t endorse any of the other candidates, but warned against some of what they’ve promised.

“Major change is welcome and necessary but beware those who claim the answer to destroy the very system we built together over generations. That is not change – that is chaos,” he said. “I urge New Yorkers to choose leaders not by what they promise, but what they’ve delivered.”

The former police officer also said his time in public service isn’t over, but didn’t elaborate on what he’ll do next year.

“The quest for justice is far from over. Inequality still persists, innocents still suffer,” he said. “New Yorkers deserve better every single day.”

“I strongly encourage whoever takes over City Hall to continue what we’ve done,” he said.

Adams had repeatedly and vehemently denied he was contemplating quitting his reelection bid until now, despite multiple news reports that he was contemplating a job in President Donald Trump’s administration or in the private sector. That speculation had hindered his fundraising, he claimed earlier.

“When I go to my funders, they say, ‘Eric, we thought you were in Saudi Arabia,’” he said at a press conference on Thursday. “My campaign has been decimated.”

In a somber interview Saturday on MSNBC’s “Politics Nation” with Rev. Al Sharpton, Adams said there was “an undermining of my campaign” in part from the media, who he also said hadn’t covered his administration fairly.

He added that his team was still looking for ways to stay in the race.

“I’ve been sitting down with my team, having our pathways, finding out how we get the money into the coffers to do the commercials, to do the mailings, to pay for our team and staff,” he said.

“I want to make the right decision for the city of New York, the city that I love.”

‘I Lost Four Million Dollars’

Charged by a federal grand jury last September with bribery, conspiracy, fraud and soliciting illegal campaign contributions from foreign sources, Adams’ approval rating had sunk to record lows by this April, when he bowed out of the June Democratic primary at the last possible moment and opted instead to run as an independent.

That came after the Trump Justice Department had moved in February to dismiss corruption charges against him They did so without assessing the merits of the case, insisting that the looming trial had prevented Adams from collaborating with the administration in its immigration enforcement efforts.

The acting Manhattan U.S. attorney resigned rather than follow the department’s order to dismiss the indictment, which involved, among other things, allegations of a straw donor scheme in his successful 2021 election.

A federal judge ultimately approved the government’s application doing so, while stating it “smacks of a bargain: dismissal of the indictment in exchange for immigration policy concessions.”

Nonetheless, the city’s Campaign Finance Board has since repeatedly denied Adams matching funds for his reelection bid. He is still in litigation for $4 million in public funds he believes his campaign is owed.

“Last race, I spent almost eight million dollars,” he said Thursday, bemoaning a cash shortage to get his message across to voters, comparing that to being deprived of oxygen.

“This campaign, going into the race, I lost four million dollars.”

Adams’s name will remain on the ballot, which was finalized earlier this month and already mailed to some absentee voters. And he’ll serve the remainder of his only term, which ends on Dec. 31, 2025.

Since he clinched the Democratic nomination, Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani has held a commanding lead in polls, besting former Gov. Andrew Cuomo by 20 percentage points. Polling at the bottom of the pack with about 8%, Adams trailed Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa, who he’d crushed in the general election in 2021.

At a canvassing event in Brooklyn on Sunday, moments before the video was released, Mamdani took a swing at both Adams and Cuomo.

“The billionaire-backed politics which found its home in Eric Adams is finding its home in Andrew Cuomo today,” he told supporters.

“He is running for that second term, running to ensure the legacy that Eric Adams has — of raising the rent by 12%, of pricing New Yorkers out of childcare, by failing to ensure the intertwining of safety and justice.”

Adams leaves the race with $3.9 million in his campaign warchest, but also faces a personal legal bill that exceeds $4 million from the lawyers who represented him in the federal corruption case. He may also be compelled to return $10 million in matching funds he received in 2021, if the Campaign Finance Board finds him in breach of certification for knowingly submitting fraudulent claims.

Samantha Maldonado and Greg B. Smith contributed reporting.