NYC Mayor Eric Adams ends re-election bid after poor polling performance against Mamdani

Amid declining popularity, the Mayor of New York City, Eric Adams, announced on Sunday that he is ending his re-election bid. Adams’ announcement came just over a month before the election day in the city. The NYC mayor delivered the news in a video message on social media with ‘My Way’ playing in the background.

Adams, who was trailing in the polls, was elected as a Democrat. However, he was running for re-election as an independent candidate after he was indicted on federal corruption charges, which were then dropped by US President Donald Trump’s administration in exchange for his cooperation on immigration raids in the city.

In the video statement, sitting beside the photograph of his late mother, Adams said that it had been impossible for him to mount a winning campaign, blaming “constant media speculation about my future” and the city’s campaign finance board’s decision to withhold millions of dollars in matching funds over suspicious donations.

Only in America. Only in New York.
Thank you for making my story a reality. pic.twitter.com/efHuyBnITJ

— Eric Adams (@ericadamsfornyc) September 28, 2025

Adams admits to losing the trust of New Yorkers

In his address, the NYC mayor also admitted that he had lost the trust of some New Yorkers after being charged with corruption. However, he maintained that the allegations against him were “unjust”. “I was wrongfully charged because I fought for this city, and if I had to do it again, I would fight for New York again”, Adams said.

The mayor will now serve the remainder of his term in office, which will end on New Year’s Eve this year. Apart from this, his name will still remain on the ballot for the November elections, since the deadline to opt out of the list has passed.

Adams’ withdrawal now narrows the field to lead the country’s largest city, in a three-way contest between Democratic nominee, Zohran Mamdani; the former governor, Andrew Cuomo; and the Republican candidate, Curtis Sliwa.

Adams’s competitors react

Three weeks ago, the NYC mayor insisted that he would continue to stay in the race amid reports that he had been offered an ambassadorship by the Trump administration if he would drop out. The White House was dangling the carrot in front of Adams to make it easier for Cuomo to defeat the democratic socialist frontrunner, Mamdani. The mayor was scathing about the former governor.

“ Andrew Cuomo is a snake and a liar,” Adams told reporters at that time. “Andrew has had a career of pushing Black candidates out of races.” Both competitors went on to react to Adams’s exit. Without mentioning Mamdani by name, Cuomo said: “We face destructive extremist forces that would devastate our city through incompetence or ignorance, but it is not too late to stop them.”

Meanwhile, Mamdani, who defeated Cuomo to win the Democratic nomination earlier this year, responded to the mayor’s withdrawal with a social media video of his own, in which he criticised Adams for failing to make good on his promises, and pledged to beat Cuomo again.

“To Andrew Cuomo: You got your wish. You wanted Trump and your billionaire friends to help you clear the field,” Mamdani said. “But don’t forget, you wanted me as your opponent in the primary, too. And we beat you by 13 points. Looking forward to doing it again on November fourth.” Meanwhile, Sliwa, the Republican nominee, said last week that he had turned down multiple offers of millions of dollars to end his own campaign.