Mayor Eric Adams insisted on Monday that despite having a barely visible re-election bid in the 2025 NYC Mayor’s race, he is unofficially campaigning for another four years at City Hall through primarily official public events.
Hizzoner bristled at suggestions from reporters at his March 24 press conference that he had been seemingly absent from the campaign trail just three months before the June 24 Democratic primary.
The mayor has skipped out on nearly two dozen mayoral candidates’ forums attended by most of his competitors; has not held any campaign-specific events, and has not rolled out any new policy ideas he would introduce in a prospective second term.
He is also running his campaign with a skeleton crew; does not have a campaign manager; and only hired a spokesperson last week.
Still, Adams said Tuesday he is campaigning through events such as his semi-regular town halls with New Yorkers in different corners of the city and speaking at houses of worship.
“I’m curious about this; what’s campaigning?” Adams asked reporters. “Give me the definition of campaigning. Going to houses of worship? I do that. Going to town hall meetings? I do that. Going to the streets and shaking hands with people? I do that. Kiss babies? I do that.”
He also noted that he is still petitioning to get on the June 24 primary ballot.
Even so, Adams appeared to contradict his own statements from just a week prior when he said he would be hitting the campaign trail “soon and very soon.”
“You’re going to see me on the campaign trail,” Adams said last week, appearing to make the clear distinction between meeting with voters in his official capacity as mayor and as a candidate that he abandoned on Monday.
Some political observers have speculated that Adams is holding off on fully hitting the campaign trail until federal District Judge Dale Ho makes a final decision on whether to drop his federal corruption case.
The mayor also disagreed that he is campaigning differently than he did in 2021 when he held campaign events around the city and participated in several mayoral forums. Yet he also said he does not have to campaign the same way because he is the incumbent.
“I’m out in the streets all the time talking to voters, so I’m going to continue,” Adams said. “I know what I’m doing. I ran for Senate and won. I ran for borough president and won. I ran for mayor and won.”
Nonetheless, Adams’ re-election hopes appear to be in dire straights.
He currently has a 20% approval rating, his campaign only raised $19,000 over the past two months, and many of his political allies have jumped ship to endorse former Gov. Andrew Cuomo instead of him.
The mayor’s troubles stem from his federal indictment, a slew of resignations among his top advisers amid their own corruption investigations, and the appearance that he made a deal with President Trump’s Justice Department to drop his federal case — which he denies.
While Adams insisted that he was still running as a Democrat, he once again did not deny that if he lost the June primary, he might run in the general election as an independent candidate.
“I’m going to be running as a Democrat,” he said. “I say this over and over again. And we will map out our plan when the time is fitting. But I’m running as a Democrat.”
