Bad News Piles Up for Eric Adams’s Reelection Bid
In April, Eric Adams announced plans to withdraw from the Democratic primary for mayor, opting to launch an independent bid for reelection following the dismissal of the federal corruption case against him. But the incumbent mayor’s odds of victory are slowly shrinking as Zohran Mamdani continues to consolidate support as the Democratic nominee while his opponents are divided on the best path forward.
On Wednesday, Slingshot Strategies issued a new poll that showed Adams not only trailing far behind Mamdani, but behind the other candidates in the field, including former governor Andrew Cuomo and Guardian Angels founder Curtis Sliwa. In the poll, Mamdani led among registered voters with 35 percent, followed by Cuomo with 25 percent, Sliwa with 14 percent, and Adams with 11 percent. Additionally, 13 percent of voters said they were “not sure” who they would vote for. The poll surveyed 1,036 registered voters in the city July 2–6.
Slingshot’s poll also found that Adams’s highest level of support comes from an unlikely group, with 26 percent of Republicans indicating they could back him. By contrast, only 9 percent of Democrats said they would support him, as well as only 16 percent of Black voters, the core of Adams’s base. The survey also found that voters aren’t too keen on the mayor either, with Adams receiving a 62 percent unfavorability rating, compared to 28 percent favorability.
The poll’s findings suggest that Mamdani likely benefits from a general-election field that has Adams, Cuomo, and Sliwa competing for the city’s moderate and conservative voters. But, in recent days, Mamdani’s opponents have largely turned to fighting among themselves, with both Cuomo and Adams thinking they represent the best option to beat the Democratic nominee. On Monday, Adams said in an interview on CNBC’s Squawk Box that Cuomo asked him to step aside despite his own primary loss to Mamdani. “I said, ‘Andrew, are you that level of arrogance?’ I’m the sitting mayor, the sitting mayor of the City of New York. And you expect me to step aside when you just lost to Zohran by 12 points?” Adams recounted.
Cuomo has yet to rule out running in the fall, and he skipped the deadline to officially remove his name from the ballot. But as he considers his options, his water-treading campaign has made it clear that it doesn’t see Adams as someone who can defeat Mamdani. “Mayor Adams did not run in the Democratic primary because he knew he was anathema to Democrats and unelectable. Nothing has changed. We do not see any path to victory for Mayor Adams,” Cuomo campaign spokesman Rich Azzopardi said in a statement on Monday.
Though many in the real-estate and business communities are expected to financially back Adams’s campaign over Cuomo’s, the mayor will likely have to go without another key source of funding. Politico reports that the city’s Campaign Finance Board is expected to deny Adams the ability to receive public matching funds after his campaign failed to provide requested information about his federal corruption case. Last year, the board declared Adams ineligible to receive the funds following his indictment, a move that the mayor’s campaign later attempted to appeal.
In the weeks since Mamdani’s victory over Cuomo was confirmed, the state legislator has received the support of key party leaders, including Brooklyn Democratic Party chair Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn and Manhattan Democratic Party chair Keith L.T. Wright, both of whom backed Cuomo in the primary, as well as Representative Jerry Nadler, who supported former comptroller Scott Stringer. Mamdani has also grown his union support, receiving endorsements from former Cuomo backers 32BJ SEIU and the Hotel and Gaming Trades Council, as well as the New York City Central Labor Council, New York State Nurses Association, and, most recently, the United Federation of Teachers, which had stayed neutral during the primary.