(Headline USA) New York City Mayor Eric Adams ended his struggling reelection campaign Sunday, an acknowledgment that he was no longer a serious contender in the contest after a year of scandal and political turmoil.
In a video released on social media, Adams spoke of his achievements as mayor, including a drop in violent crime. But he said “constant media speculation” about his future and a decision by the city’s campaign finance board to withhold public funding from his reelection effort made it impossible to stay in the race.
“Despite all we’ve achieved, I cannot continue my reelection campaign,” he said.
Adams did not directly mention or endorse any of the remaining candidates in the race, but he warned of “insidious forces” using local government to “advance divisive agendas.”
“Major change is welcome and necessary, but beware of those who claim the answer (is) to destroy the very system we built over generations,” he said. “That is not change, that is chaos. Instead, I urge leaders to choose leaders not by what they promise, but by what they have delivered.”
Only in America. Only in New York.
Thank you for making my story a reality. pic.twitter.com/efHuyBnITJ— Eric Adams (@ericadamsfornyc) September 28, 2025
Adams capitulation could potentially provide a lift to the campaign of former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a fellow centrist who portrayed himself as the only candidate potentially able to beat the Democratic Party’s nominee, state Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani.
It was unclear, though, whether enough of Adams supporters would shift their allegiances to Cuomo to make a difference.
Mamdani, at 33, would be the city’s youngest and most liberal mayor in generations if elected. He beat Cuomo decisively in the Democratic primary by campaigning on a promise try to lower the cost of living in one of the world’s most expensive cities.
Three remaining candidates
In a statement released after Adams’ announcement, Mamdani took aim at Cuomo.
“New York deserves better than trading in one disgraced, corrupt politician for another. On November 4th, we are going to turn the page on the politics of big money and small ideas and deliver a government every New Yorker can be proud of,” Mamdani said.
Cuomo, in a statement on social media, praised Adams for “putting the well-being of New York City ahead of personal ambition.”
He also did not mention Mamdani by name, but echoed Adams’ warning about unspecified “extremist forces.”
“We face destructive extremist forces that would devastate our city through incompetence or ignorance, but it is not too late to stop them,” Cuomo said.
Republican Curtis Sliwa also remains in the race, though his candidacy has been undercut from within his own party; Trump in a recent interview called him “not exactly prime time.”
Rough showing in polls
Speculation that Adams wouldn’t make it to Election Day has been rampant for a year. His campaign was severely wounded by his now-dismissed federal bribery case and liberal anger over his warm relationship with President Donald Trump. He skipped the Democratic primary and got on the ballot as an independent.
Polls conducted in early September illustrated his challenges. One poll by The New York Times and Siena University and another by Quinnipiac University showed likely voters favoring Mamdani over Cuomo, with Sliwa and Adams trailing further behind.
The Quinnipiac poll suggested the gap between Mamdani and Cuomo could narrow if Adams dropped out. The Times/Siena poll suggested that if both Adams and Sliwa withdrew, Mamdani’s advantage over Cuomo could shrink even further.
Sliwa, though, has repeatedly insisted he will not quit.
“Curtis Sliwa is the only candidate who can defeat Mamdani,” his spokesperson, Daniel Kurzyna, said Sunday.
In recent weeks, Trump administration intermediaries interested in blocking Mamdani’s path to victory by getting him into a one-on-one matchup with Cuomo had approached Adams to see if he could be coaxed out of the contest with an offer of a government job.
Amid reports on those discussions, Adams called a news conference where he pledged to keep running and derided Cuomo and Mamdani as “spoiled brats.” Later, on social media, Adams called Cuomo “a liar and a snake.”
Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press
