The city Campaign Finance Board (CFB) on Wednesday once again voted to deny Mayor Eric Adams public matching funds for his reelection bid, citing the campaign’s alleged “failure to provide” requested information and “reason to believe” it violated the law.
The board’s decision, rendered during an Aug. 6 meeting, drew swift backlash from Adams’ team. Todd Shapiro, Adams’ campaign spokesperson, accused the CFB of making “vague and unsubstantiated accusations” and said the campaign is “reviewing all legal options, including formal action to compel the release of public matching funds.”
During the board meeting, CFB Chair Frederick Schaffer outlined the two central reasons for the board’s decision to again deny Adams — who is running as an independent candidate after sitting out the Democratic primary — roughly $3 million in public campaign funds.
“With respect to the failure to provide requested information, the board finds the campaign has provided incomplete and misleading information to the CFB and has impeded the CFB staff’s ability to complete its investigation,” Schaffer said. “With regard to the second ground, the board’s conclusion is based upon its review of all of the available evidence, including but not limited to its own independent investigation.”
The roughly $3 million in public funds would provide a much-needed cash infusion for Adams’ uphill reelection effort as it seeks to defeat Democratic nominee and frontrunner Zohran Mamdani. Adams had a strong fundraising quarter last month, having raked in $1.5 million between June and July, but is still well below the $8.3 million spending cap.
Schaffer added that the board’s investigation into Adams’ campaign is still “ongoing.”
“As stewards of taxpayer dollars, we are committed to enforcing the rules fairly and equally to all candidates,” he said.
At the same meeting, the board voted to award matching funds to three of Adams’ rivals — Mamdani, Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa, and independent attorney Jim Walden.
Mamdani received nearly $1.7 million, Sliwa came away with $1.9 million, and Walden was awarded $237,000.
Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, now pursuing an independent run for mayor after losing the Democratic primary, was not among those awarded new matching funds. Cuomo campaign spokesperson Rich Azzopardi noted in a post on X (Twitter) that “the reason … was because this wasn’t an active campaign during the last filing period,” and thus the campaign had not sought any funding for that round.
Adams campaign raises ‘questions’ about CFB
Meanwhile, Shapiro strongly rejected the board’s decision’s “tone and substance” in a statement.
“Suggesting a ‘failure to provide requested information’ and vague references to an ongoing investigation are deeply concerning and potentially damaging, particularly when no specific violations have been presented,” Shapiro said. “To imply that this campaign is somehow less compliant or less transparent than others, without presenting clear findings, reflects a lack of due process and raises serious questions about fairness, timing, and selective enforcement.”
The board has repeatedly denied Adams’ claims for public funds going back to December.
At first the CFB cited both the campaign’s failure to file required paperwork and Adams’ since-tossed federal indictment, which included allegations that his 2021 campaign defrauded the matching funds program.
The mayor’s campaign then took the board to court in May with the hope of compelling it to release the funds, but the case was then tossed by a judge last month. The judge ruled the CFB had two valid rationales for withholding the public dollars: Adams’ campaign’s failure to provide requested information and file conflicts of interest disclosures in a timely manner.
However, the judge did not agree with the board’s continued reliance on Adams’ corruption case, given that it was dismissed by a federal judge in April at the request of President Trump’s Justice Department.
