Adams exits NYC mayoral race as concerns grow over Mamdani’s substantial lead in the polls

Without Adams on the ballot, Mamdani would still maintain a sizable advantage, drawing 46 percent to Cuomo’s 30 percent.

By Vered Weiss, World Israel News

New York City Mayor Eric Adams announced Sunday he is ending his re-election bid, a decision that reshapes the November contest and sharpens attention on Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani, whose rise has unsettled many voters.

Adams said in a video message that his campaign could not continue after the city’s Campaign Finance Board withheld matching funds and speculation about his future made fundraising impossible.

“Despite all we’ve achieved, I cannot continue my re-election campaign,” he said. “I always put you before me.”

The move leaves former governor Andrew Cuomo and Republican activist Curtis Sliwa as Mamdani’s main challengers.

A Quinnipiac University survey earlier this month found Mamdani leading with 45 percent, ahead of Cuomo at 23 percent, Sliwa at 15 percent, and Adams trailing at 12 percent. Without Adams on the ballot, Mamdani would still maintain a sizable advantage, drawing 46 percent to Cuomo’s 30 percent.

Cuomo praised Adams for stepping aside, saying the mayor had “put the well-being of New York City ahead of personal ambition.”

Mamdani, a state legislator from Queens and self-described democratic socialist, has become one of the city’s most polarizing figures.

He has long backed the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement against Israel, founded a chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine while in college, and called Israel’s war in Gaza “genocide.”

He initially defended the phrase “globalize the intifada” by comparing it to the Warsaw Ghetto uprising, though he later said he would discourage its use.

The poll showed 75 percent of Jewish voters view Mamdani unfavorably, with many citing his refusal to condemn rhetoric hostile to Israel. He has also said he would seek the arrest of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if he visited New York.