Mamdani tops matching funds chart in latest cycle of mayoral election

Via @zohrankmamdani on Facebook

Feb. 19, 2025 By Shane O’Brien

Assembly Member Zohran Mamdani has received more than $2.8 million in matching funds in the latest funding cycle of the 2025 mayoral election, the most of any candidate in the race.

Mamdani, who announced his candidacy for mayor last October, received 2,827,443 from the NYC Campaign Finance Board (CFB) after raising $640,712 during the last round of funding.

Mamdani was one of just four mayoral candidates to receive matching funds through the city’s 8-to-1 taxpayer-funded public matching funds system. This system seeks to encourage city candidates to finance their campaigns with small donations rather than large donations from private donors.

Other candidates to receive matching funds during the latest round of funding include New York City Comptroller Brad Lander, former Comptroller Scott Stringer, and State Sen. Zellnor Myrie Lander. Lander has received an accumulative $3,674,414 in matching funds since entering the race—the most of any candidate—but only received $696,656 in the latest cycle.

Myrie, meanwhile, raised $2,200,109 in matching funds during the latest cycle, with Stringer raising $692,292.

Mamdani, a Democratic Socialist representing Astoria, received donations from more than 7,000 people during the latest funding period, with 94.8% of his campaign contributions coming from small donors—by far the highest percentage of any mayoral candidate to receive matching funds. He also became the only mayoral candidate to qualify for matching funds in his first filing of the race.

Since filing on Jan. 15, his campaign has raised more than $3.6 million between public donations and matching funds, without including new donations.

“More than 7,000 New Yorkers have donated to our campaign–the most of any, by far,” Mamdani said in a statement welcoming the news. “Now their small-dollar contributions will be turbocharged by nearly $3 million in matching funds, giving us the resources to win this election and refocus City government on addressing the cost of living crisis.”

Since announcing his campaign last October, Mamdani has pledged to raise New York’s minimum wage to $30 per hour by 2030.

Mamdani has also named rent freezes, free bus service and free childcare among the top issues for his mayoral campaign.

Initially considered an outsider due to his Democratic Socialist leanings, Mamdani’s campaign said in January that his strong fundraising performance among small donors highlighted an appetite throughout the city for a new approach to politics.

“We knew there was a hunger for a different kind of politics but this is beyond even our highest expectations. Our thousands of donors have launched us and our vision for a more affordable city into the top tier of this race,” Mamdani said in a statement last month.

Meanwhile, CFB member Richard Davis recused himself from the vote to deny matching funds for Mayor Eric Adams. The CFB denied Adams public matching funds for his re-election campaign in December over his ongoing federal corruption charges.

The board voted to deny Adams again during Tuesday’s latest vote to approve public matching funds payments. Davis, who penned an op-ed on Feb. 12 questioning whether the DOJ’s push to drop federal corruption charges against Adams represented an abuse of power, recused himself from the vote out of “an abundance of caution.”

“Board member Richard Davis recused from the vote regarding Mayor Adams because of an op-ed he wrote in his personal capacity, published on February 12, regarding the criminal prosecution of the candidate,” the CFB said in a statement.

A number of Queens Democrats have called for Adams to resign or be removed from office since the DOJ moved to drop federal charges against the Mayor.

Adams has repeatedly insisted that he is “going nowhere” amid calls for his resignation or removal from office. He recently stated as much to a congregation at Maranatha Baptist Church in Queens Village on Feb. 16.