Mayor Eric Adams’ reelection campaign was denied public matching funds by the city Campaign Finance Board (CFB) for the 11th time on Thursday, while his main competitors received sizable payouts.
The board voted during its Aug. 28 meeting to block the incumbent mayor, a Democrat running as an independent, from receiving public funds again. CFB Chair Frederick Schaffer cited the same reasons for the board’s decision as the last time it ruled to withhold matching funds from Adams’ campaign earlier this month.
“The board determined Mayor Adams’ campaign failed to demonstrate eligibility for public funds payment at this time on two grounds: one, a failure to provide requested informationl; and two, reason to believe the campaign violated the law,” Schaffer said during the Aug. 28 meeting.
The board chair added that the CFB’s investigation into Adams’ campaign is “still ongoing.”
Adams campaign claims ‘anti-democratic bias’
The mayor’s campaign sued the CFB for a second time last week over its decision earlier this month, arguing that its repeated denials show “anti-democratic bias” against him.
Adams’ spokesperson, Todd Shapiro, said in a statement that the campaign is “awaiting” the outcome of that suit.
“We strongly believe that the mayor’s rights must be treated fairly and equally, just as with every candidate in this race,” Shapiro said. “Mayor Adams has followed all proper procedures, put everything in order under the legal process, and filed accordingly. We remain confident that we are on the right road and will continue working through this process to ensure fairness and equal treatment under the law.”
The board had cited Adams’ federal bribery case and failure to file required paperwork on time when it first denied his campaign public dollars last December. But a federal judge dismissed the charges in April at the behest of President Trump’s Justice Department.
As a result, the board has shifted its reasoning in its recent decisions to deny Adams public funds to focus on his campaign’s alleged failure to provide required information in a timely manner and its suspected violations of the law rather than the indictment.
Although the mayor’s campaign has yet to unlock public funds this cycle, it has been making up the difference by aggressively bringing in private donations. Last week, the campaign reported raking in $420,886 between July 12 and Aug. 18, and has nearly $4 million in its coffers.
Meanwhile, the board awarded Adams’ main competitors large payouts.
Democratic mayoral nominee and Assembly Member Zohran Mamdani unlocked $1,927,901, bringing his total haul this cycle to nearly $3 million.
Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who is also running as an independent after losing the Democratic primary, received $482,000, bringing his raise over the past month to nearly $990,000.
Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa was given $1,388,807, and independent attorney Jim Walden received $34,515.
