New York City’s Mayor Eric Adams has experienced a significant downturn in contributions to his re-election campaign, following his federal indictment last month on five serious charges, including bribery, fraud, and soliciting illegal foreign campaign donations.
During the filing period from July 12 to October 7, Adams reported approximately $146,000 in donations. Notably, only $250 of that total was raised after the news of his indictment broke. This meager contribution came from an unemployed donor on September 26, the same day the federal indictment was publicly unsealed.
For comparison, the mayor’s financial haul was less than half the amount collected by Brad Lander, the city comptroller, who managed to raise just over $315,000 for his own mayoral campaign during the same timeframe. Furthermore, Adams’s fundraising efforts represented a staggering 51 percent decline compared to the same period last year, when he garnered nearly $296,000 in donations.
In the competitive landscape of New York City politics, Scott M. Stringer, a former city comptroller and current mayoral candidate, raised a noteworthy $180,000 in the last three months. Meanwhile, Zellnor Myrie, a state senator from Brooklyn and another contender for the mayoral seat, reported raising $137,000, despite being less well-known in the political arena.