NEW YORK (BLOOMBERG) -- Mayor Eric Adams shook up the hotly contested battle to run the largest US city, bowing out of his struggling reelection campaign and giving fresh impetus to former Governor Andrew Cuomo.
Adams quit on Sunday amid faltering poll numbers and a struggle to raise money. His exit was long-speculated by some and sought out by others who hoped the race would narrow to benefit Cuomo’s chances against frontrunner Zohran Mamdani.
On Monday, President Donald Trump weighed in by declaring on Truth Social that Mamdani’s victory would be “one of the best things to ever happen to our great Republican Party.” He added that the Democrat will have unprecedented issues with Washington and threatened to deny federal funds to the city if he wins.
“Remember, he needs the money from me, as President, in order to fulfill all of his FAKE Communist promises,” Trump posted. “He won’t be getting any of it, so what’s the point of voting for him?”
Multiple polls had shown Mamdani, the Democratic nominee, likely to win the election in November — in most cases by double digits in a four-way race against Cuomo, Adams, and Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa. Adams has consistently polled in last place, and Cuomo in second.
Some potential donors concerned about Mamdani, a democratic socialist, have been waiting to see if the field consolidated behind fewer candidates before choosing to write checks. After Adams announced plans to drop out, several donors reached out to representatives of Fix the City, a political action committee backing Cuomo’s candidacy, to discuss giving to the PAC, a person familiar with the conversations said.
It’s unclear whether Adams’ decision will fundamentally alter the outcome with a little over a month until Election Day. Even if every voter who had planned to cast a ballot for Adams decided to vote for Cuomo, it wouldn’t be enough to overcome Mamdani’s current polling advantages, according to strategists and pollsters.
“If it had happened a few weeks or a few months ago, it would have represented a real sea change. It would have been a real shot in the arm for Andrew Cuomo’s effort to beat Mamdani,” said Evan Roth Smith, a founding partner at Slingshot Strategies.