Mayor Eric Adams‘ campaign continued to insist Thursday that Hizzoner would stay in the mayoral general election, even while saying that it would conduct its own “independent poll” to make a decision on whether or not he will drop out.
Adams’ campaign spokesperson, Todd Shapiro, said in a statement that Adams “never alluded” to exiting the contest in a private meeting with city business leaders on Wednesday, as NBC New York reported. During the confab, Adams — a Democrat running as an independent — reportedly expressed openness to suspending his campaign if his low poll numbers do not improve.
“The Mayor has always said he puts New York City first — and he has,” Shapiro said. “He clearly indicated that he will be spending resources to get his message out and will then look at his own independent poll to make a decision. Nothing he said should give any indication that he has abandoned the race. He remains fully committed to doing his job and serving the people of this city.”
Adams’ meeting with two dozen business leaders was hosted by the Association for a Better New York’s steering committee, a source familiar with the meeting confirmed to amNewYork. The source confirmed the mayor told those present that he would consider dropping out if the internal poll showed he had no chance of winning.
Yet the mayor himself refused to expound upon the internal poll pledge when asked about it by a Daily News reporter at the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attack memorial in Lower Manhattan on Thursday.
“This is 9/11, I lost a lot of friends, and really have some respect, okay,” Adams told the reporter.
Increasing pressure on Adams as poll numbers tumble
Adams is facing a growing push to end his reelection bid in order to give former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who is also running as an independent, the best chance at defeating Democratic nominee and frontrunner Zohran Mamdani. Cuomo is polling second to Mamdani, with Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa coming behind him, and Adams placing fourth.
In addition to Cuomo himself, the pressure on Adams is coming from centrist politicos, city business bigwigs, and President Trump’s administration — all of whom are desperate to stop Mamdani’s likely ascent to the mayoralty. They all see the democratic socialist as an “existential threat” because of his expensive proposals to expand government services, pledge to raise taxes on corporations and millionaires, and fierce criticism of Israel.
Adams has reportedly been considering taking a job with the Trump administration or in the private sector in exchange for dropping out of the race. Although he has denied those reports, he has also signaled that he could be enticed by the right offer.
Sliwa is also facing calls to suspend his campaign, though he has unilaterally rejected them.
However, according to NBC, Adams said during the meeting that if push comes to shove, he will put the city’s interest above his own. Specifically, he said he would look past his bitter feelings toward Cuomo, whom he appears to view as responsible for his current standing in the race.
“I love the city more than I dislike Andrew,” Adams said, according to the outlet.
The source confirmed Adams’ comments about Cuomo as well.
Yet, a new poll from Quinnipiac University released on Thursday revealed that Adams’ potential exit from the contest likely will not help Cuomo at this point.
The survey of 967 likely city voters, taken between Sept. 4 and 8, found that Cuomo still trails Mamdani by double digits even with Adams out of the picture. In the hypothetical three-way race, the poll shows Mamdani winning with 46% of the vote, Cuomo coming second at 30%, and Sliwa in third at 17%.
While Cuomo would pick up most of Adams’ support, the poll found, it would not be nearly enough to eclipse Mamdani. It would appear to be far more helpful to Cuomo if Sliwa were to drop out in addition to, or instead of, Adams.
The survey also shows Mamdani winning the current four-way race with 45% of the vote and Cuomo behind by double digits. The results were closely aligned with two other public polls this week, from Siena and Emerson Colleges, that both had Mamdani dominating the current field and hypothetical matchups with fewer competitors.
