NYC mayor race shake-up: Adams drops out, boosting Cuomo’s fight against Mamdani

New York Mayor Eric Adams (D) dropped out of his re-election race over the weekend, potentially boosting Andrew Cuomo’s chances of defeating Zohran Mamdani.

“Despite all we’ve achieved, I cannot continue my re-election campaign,” Adams announced on Sunday. “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.”

‘We face destructive extremist forces that would devastate our city through incompetence or ignorance, but it is not too late to stop them.’

Adams warned New Yorkers about growing “extremism” in politics, seemingly referring to Democratic front-runner Mamdani.

“Our children are being radicalized to hate our city and our country. Political anger has turned into political violence,” Adams continued.

“Major change is welcome and necessary, but beware of those who claim the answer [is] to destroy the very system we built together over generations. That is not change; that is chaos.”

Adams has not endorsed any of the remaining candidates.

Mamdani is facing off against former New York Gov. Cuomo (D), who is running a third-party bid, and Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa.

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New York mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani. Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images

While Adams’ decision to drop out of the race has likely boosted Cuomo’s chances, it may not be enough.

In a July poll, Mamdani held a 23-point lead over Adams. While Cuomo had better odds than either Adams or Sliwa, the results still showed Mamdani winning by three points.

“Cuomo is the strongest candidate against Mamdani, but for him to have any chance of winning, he’ll need (a) Sliwa and Adams to drop out AND (b) to turn out moderate and conservative lower-propensity voters (who may have sat out previous mayoral general elections) at very high rates,” the poll stated.

Three other polls also showed Mamdani winning by a margin of four to 10 points. However, polls by Wick and HarrisX showed Cuomo securing a one- to 15-point victory.

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NYC mayoral candidate former Governor Andrew Cuomo. Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images

Cuomo reacted to Adams leaving the race, noting that it was “not an easy” decision.

“We face destructive extremist forces that would devastate our city through incompetence or ignorance, but it is not too late to stop them,” Cuomo wrote in a post on X, also presumably referring to Democratic socialist Mamdani.

Mamdani stated that Adams’ decision would have little impact.

“I think it’s very much the same race,” he said, noting that he beat Cuomo by 13 points in the Democrat primary.

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