New York City Mayor Eric Adams announced Sunday that he is dropping his third-party bid for re-election, narrowing the field for November’s election.
“Despite all we’ve achieved, I cannot continue my re-election campaign,” Adams said in a video posted to X. “The constant media speculation about my future and the campaign finance board’s decision to withhold millions of dollars have undermined my ability to raise the funds needed for a serious campaign.”
In a nearly nine-minute video, Adams said he hoped New Yorkers “will see that despite the headlines and the innuendo, I always put you before me.”
A source close to the mayor said that Adams’ dropping out was “unfortunate,” noting that “his policies were best for this city.”
The question now is how Adams’ move shapes the mayoral race going forward in the nation’s biggest city.
Adams’ announcement comes after weeks of speculation that he could exit the race and help consolidate support behind former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who is also running a third-party bid for mayor against Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani, a state legislator. Mamdani defeated Cuomo in the June Democratic primary.
However, Adams’ name will still be on ballots this fall, since he exited the race after a deadline to print them.
The incumbent mayor has not been a major factor in the race for some time. Multiple public polls in recent weeks have shown him running in a distant fourth place, with Mamdani staked to a double-digit lead ahead of Cuomo and Republican Curtis Sliwa, and Adams further behind.
Adams urged his successor to “continue the work we started, lowering the cost of living, investing in quality of life and staying laser-focused on reducing crime and disorder through investments in policing, mental health, substance abuse care, homelessness services and community-based initiatives.”
The mayor did not make an endorsement in the video, but Adams did appear to take a swipe at Mamdani, arguing that “extremism is growing in our politics.”
“Too often, insidious forces use local government to advance divisive agendas with little regard for how it hurts everyday New Yorkers,” he said. “Major change is welcome and necessary, but beware of those who claim the answer to destroy the very system we built together over generations. That is not change, that is chaos.”
Earlier this month, President Donald Trump told reporters he would like to see two candidates in the crowded election leave the race to boost the chances of defeating Mamdani, a progressive who trounced Cuomo in New York’s Democratic primary in June.
“I would like to see two people drop out and have it be one on one,” Trump said at a White House dinner in early September. “I think that’s a race that could be won.”
“I don’t think you can win unless you have one on one, because somehow he’s gotten a little bit of a lead,” Trump added. “I don’t like to see a communist become mayor, I will tell you that.”
Adams was elected as a Democrat in 2021. But he decided earlier this year to seek re-election as an independent, amid cratering poll numbers in his party after facing federal corruption charges and then seeing them dropped by Trump’s Department of Justice, which argued that it needed Adams’ cooperation on the president’s immigration and deportation agenda.
Adams was indicted in September 2024 on federal charges, including bribery and campaign finance violations. The Department of Justice alleged that he “used his prominent positions in New York City government to obtain illegal campaign contributions and luxury travel.”
Adams’ announcement was first reported by the New York Post.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
Kristen Welker and Adam Reiss contributed.