Mayor Eric Adams has raised just $36,000 over the past two months in his tenuous re-election bid — a paltry sum that trails every one of his major Democratic primary competitors, according to his Tuesday filing with the city Campaign Finance Board (CFB).
The meager showing from Hizzoner, who had once been a prolific fundraiser, is further evidence that his re-election bid is sputtering in the wake of multiple scandals that have crippled his administration. Those include his federal corruption indictment, the mass exodus of his top aides, and President Trump moving to drop his federal case in what many believe was a quid pro quo for Adams’ cooperation on immigration enforcement.
On Monday, the mayor boldly claimed that the rest of the Democratic field was catching up with him in raising money. Mayor Adams still has a little over $3 million in his campaign coffers from past fundraising, but he has now fallen behind many of his major competitors.
Adams’ campaign spokesperson Todd Shapiro said that the mayor had already raised the “maximum allowable amount” — referring to the CFB’s $8.3 million spending cap — for this election cycle months ago. However, Shapiro is counting over $4 million in public matching fund claims that the CFB has so far refused to award to Adams’ campaign.
“This achievement reflects the strong, broad-based support for Mayor Adams’ leadership and vision for the future of our city,” Shapiro said in a statement. “We continue to maintain that the campaign has fully qualified for matching funds and are in active communication with the Campaign Finance Board to ensure that those funds are properly reviewed and unlocked in accordance with all regulations.”
The board has cited Adams’ federal indictment on charges that include defrauding the city’s campaign finance system as its main reason for denying him the public dollars.
Eligible for paltry sum of public funds
After refunds, Adams will only net around $19,000 for the most recent CFB filing period, which stretched from mid-January to March 13.
Just $3,400 of that haul, which came from 38 donors, can be used to secure public matching funds — according to CFB records. With matching funds doled out on an 8-to-1 ratio, Mayor Adams’ campaign can receive $27,200 in public funding.
The chasm in campaign cash Mayor Adams is facing is especially stark when compared to former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, whose campaign reported raising $1.5 million in just 13 days on Monday.
Cuomo, who is currently the frontrunner in the race, is vying for the same lane as Adams and has increasingly been overshadowing him. He has nabbed a slew of endorsements from pols and groups who had previously supported Adams and has dominated in the polls.
Other candidates who reported strong fundraising clips on Monday include Queens Assembly Member Zohran Mamdani and city Comptroller Brad Lander.
Mayor Adams, meanwhile, does not have a visible campaign, and his struggles to raise money or win support have fueled speculation that he will not ultimately run for re-election. On Monday, he left the door open to the possibility of running as an Independent if he loses the Democratic primary.
Who gave, who received
Among the mayor’s contributors was Rachel Lader, a lawyer who says she represents sexual abuse survivors at the firm Slater Slater Schulman, who gave him $2,100—the maximum donation amount.
Jason Xia, a self-described professional poker player with an address in Dix Hills, Long Island, also gave Adams the maximum contribution.
The mayor’s campaign spent roughly $145,000 over the last three months. This includes $67,000 in disbursements to a firm called My Brnd Inc. for petitioning work and $27,500 to his campaign compliance attorney, Vito Pitta.
Adams also reported $20,000 in payments to Suggs Solutions LLC, the political consulting firm operated by Brianna Suggs, who was his chief fundraiser in 2021.
Suggs lost her job as Adams’ fundraiser but has continued to receive payments from his campaign after her home was raided by federal agents in late 2023 as part of the Manhattan US Attorney’s investigation that led to his indictment.
