Mayor Eric Adams’ 2025 Democratic primary competitors continue to show fundraising strength as Hizzoner’s mayoralty has been engulfed by an historic indictment and numerous other federal probes over the past month.
The numbers were provided by the individual campaigns as well as the city Campaign Finance Bureau.
While Mayor Adams’ fundraising totals for the latest CFB filing period, which spanned between mid-July and Monday, had not yet posted by the close of business on Friday, none of his competitors have so far matched the money he raised by the last filing period. As his filing had not appeared on the CFB website by 5:47 p.m. on Friday, the CFB said it would not be uploaded until Tuesday morning.
Adams’ campaign compliance attorney Vito Pita did not repond to requests for comment.
As of July, the mayor had brought in over $4 million,, in private funds, which would grow to $8 million with public matching funds, his campaign said at the time. However, this is the first filing due since the investigations around City Hall intensified in September and the mayor was indicted two weeks ago, so it remains unclear if he will still qualify for public funds and if his fundraising overall has been affected.
In the current filing period, City Comptroller Brad Lander appears to have shown the greatest fundraising prowess of any Adams challenger, according to his campaign and CFB records.
The city’s chief bean counter raised $317,980 since mid July, his campaign said. The funds came from 2,300 individual contributors.
When combined with the $651,000 Lander had previously raised for his now-abandoned comptroller reelection bid, he has amassed nearly $1 million overall.
Lander’s campaign says $438,933 of that amount will help him access $3.5 million in public matching funds — bringing his total haul for the election cycle thus far to $4.5 million. He has $279,338 in his campaign account.
“I’m deeply grateful for the broad, grassroots support for our vision of a safer, more affordable, more livable, and better run city,” Lander said in a statement. “This support means we will have all the resources needed to communicate our plan to deliver the strong, honest, steady leadership New Yorkers deserve.”
While candidates often factor matching funds into the numbers they highlight, none have yet recieved any public money, according to the CFB. The board will determine their eligibility for the matching funds on Dec. 16.
Lander, who declared his candidacy in July, is one of Adams’ sharpest critics and is perhaps the furthest left candidate currently running against him.
Lander’s predecessor in the comptroller’s office, Scott Stringer, is not far behind him — numbers provided by his campaign show. Stringer has yet to officially declare his candidacy and has been fundraising since January through an exploratory committee.
The former comptroller raised $180,540 since mid July, according to his campaign. Roughly $109,000 of the haul, his campaign says, can be used to secure matching funds that would grow that amount to $1.1 million.
Stringer raised those funds from 1,360 individual donors, 1,256 of whom are city residents, his campaign said. The average individual donation was $98.
With public matching funds, the $616,000 Stringer has raised so far would grow to $3.2 million. The campaign currently has $285,000 cash on hand.
Stringer, in an interview with amNewYork Metro, said he is “feeling good” about his latest filing and his fundraising overall.
“The message, I think, is loud and clear: people in New York City want a manager, they want someone who has fiscal expertise, they want the adult in the room who can bring reform and integrity back to City Hall,” Stringer said. “And I’m going to continue to work to convince New York that the best days are yet to come, and there’s nothing wrong with this city that one good election can’t cure.”
Stringer said he is ready both to run in the Democratic primary or a special election, if Adams were to step down as mayor. He added that he is close to deciding whether to move his campaign out of the exploratory phase and officially launch his bid for mayor.
State Sen. Zellnor Myrie (D-Brooklyn), who has been fundraising since May through an exploratory committee, but has yet to fully declare a bid, has also been keeping pace.
Since July, Myrie has raked in $147,389 in direct contributions, according to numbers provided by his campaign. Overall, he has amassed $473,869, of which his campaign estimates $199,373 is eligible for matching funds, bringing his total amount raised to just over $2 million.
“New Yorkers from every corner of the city are rallying behind Zellnor because they’re eager for fresh, new leadership in City Hall,” Monica Klien, Myrie’s campaign spokesperson, said in a statement. “In the face of a housing shortage and rising cost of living, Zellnor is running to make our city livable and affordable — and grassroots donors are stepping up to support this vision.”
Myrie’s campaign says his haul came from over 2,500 donors, who on average contributed $129.
State Sen. Jessica Ramos (D-Queens) has raised $52,512 since she launched her campaign in mid September. The sum came from 580 individual contributors, who donated $83 on average. However, she is not yet eligible for matching funds as she has yet to recieve 1,000 small dollar donations from city residents.
“I am very proud of the campaign we are building in our city,” Ramos said in a statement. “In addition to our grassroots donors, we have a growing list of well over 100 volunteers from all five boroughs, and have earned coverage in English, Spanish, and Bangladeshi media.”
As the latest candidate to jump into the race, Ramos has the most ground to make up in fundraising. Additionally, unlike Lander who was fundraising for another city office, Ramos cannot easilly transfer funds from her state campaign account, so she essentially had to start from scratch.
The latest fundraising numbers came in as the mayor’s own practices for raising campaign cash are at the center of his five-count federal indictment. Adams is accused of soliciting and accepting tens of thousands of dollars in illegal donations from Turkish nationals, through straw donors, in exchange for favors.
The mayor has pleaded not guilty to the charges and his attorney Alex Spiro maintains he had no knowledge of the foreign or straw donations.
