New York City Mayor Eric Adams on Sunday ended his campaign for a second term, bowing out a little more than a month before Election Day after a federal bribery indictment and persistently low approval ratings.
His withdrawal leaves the mayoral race effectively between Democrat Zohran Mamdani, the frontrunner, and former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, who is running as an independent. Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa has remained in single digits in recent polls.
Adams, who has struggled to raise money and trailed badly in opinion surveys, announced his exit in a nearly nine-minute video posted on X. The clip showed him walking down stairs to Frank Sinatra’s “My Way,” carrying a photo of his late mother, echoing the moment he voted for himself four years ago.
“Despite all we’ve achieved, I cannot continue my re-election campaign,” Adams said. He declined to endorse another candidate but pledged to serve out his term, which ends on 1 January 2026.
Mamdani, a self-described democratic socialist, has unsettled the city’s business community and moderate Democrats with his progressive views. His critics had feared Adams and Cuomo would split the opposition vote, easing Mamdani’s path to victory.
Former President Donald Trump, who earlier this month suggested Adams and Sliwa step aside, welcomed the decision. “I think that gives Cuomo a much better chance,” he told Reuters on Sunday.
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Adams, in his remarks, appeared to take aim at Mamdani. “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,” he said.
Mamdani responded by pledging to “turn the page on the politics of big money and small ideas,” while Cuomo urged voters to resist “extremist forces” he said would “devastate our city through incompetence or ignorance.”
Adams, a former police captain, had been elected as a Democrat but was seeking re-election as an independent after becoming the first sitting New York mayor indicted on federal bribery charges. He pleaded not guilty and has maintained his innocence. The case was later dropped by Trump’s Justice Department, prompting resignations by senior prosecutors who objected to the decision.
The controversy, combined with his cooperation with Trump’s immigration enforcement policies, alienated many Democrats. Adams also blamed the city’s Campaign Finance Board’s denial of matching funds and intense media scrutiny for his campaign’s collapse.
Mamdani, once a little-known state legislator, surged after defeating Cuomo in the Democratic primary earlier this year. His grassroots campaign has relied on social media-driven messaging and an extensive volunteer base.
Cuomo, who resigned as governor in 2021 amid a sexual harassment scandal he denied, is seeking a political comeback, hoping to consolidate support from voters wary of Mamdani’s leftward agenda.
