Adams dominates fundraising, but mayoral challengers show support

NEW YORK — Mayor Eric Adams maintains a massive fundraising lead over his potential reelection challengers — but they are on track to finance serious campaigns.

Adams also reported spending $209,000 from his legal defense fund in the last three months — a reminder of the federal investigation into his 2021 campaign that looms over the upcoming race.

Adams’ campaign brought in $1.1 million from 1,472 donors over the last six months, according to a filing published Monday with the New York City Campaign Finance Board.

“The mayor’s campaign has continued to draw strong support from New Yorkers,” Adams’ campaign counsel Vito Pitta said in a statement.

The Democratic mayor has been fundraising at a furious pace — he also reported on Monday raising about $375,000 for the Eric Adams Legal Defense Trust, which he formed in November for lawyers’ fees connected to the investigation by the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York.

His campaign fundraising could serve as its own defense against opponents. When factoring in the $4.1 million in matching funds that Adams has already reported he will qualify to unlock in December, and his $3 million on hand, he’s nearing his current $7.3 million spending limit set for the primary by CFB rules.

That is to say, Adams is nearly done fundraising for the primary.

“I know the mayor agrees that this filing is history,” Frank Carone, a political adviser to Adams who previously served as his chief of staff in City Hall, said to POLITICO in a statement. “And the campaign team will continue tomorrow morning planning our final push, so that we will be in a position to finish all campaign fundraising by October, a full eight months ahead of the June primary.”

Three potential contenders are working hard to catch up.

State Sen. Zellnor Myrie raised $326,000 from 1,838 donors since launching his campaign just two months ago. His report would qualify him for just over $1 million in matching funds, if he hits the threshold by the next filing in October.

Former Comptroller Scott Stringer, who lost to Adams in 2021, raised $425,000 from 2,113 donors in six months, and would also be in line for $1.7 million in matching funds if he too hits the threshold.

Comptroller Brad Lander, who’s seriously considering a run for mayor, raised just $198,000 from 1,167 donors over the last six months. But he’s been fundraising for two years, and is set for $2.4 million in matching funds.

And former Gov. Andrew Cuomo is in a class of his own, as he weighs a run for mayor. He still has $7.9 million in a state account, but would be limited in how he could use that for a city campaign.

Despite an underwhelming filing, Lander’s campaign noted he was not facing any competition until the final weeks of the filing period, when Assemblymember Jenifer Rajkumar signaled her plans to run for comptroller, and when POLITICO first reported that Lander was getting close to announcing a run for mayor.

“Brad is proud to have raised millions of dollars for his comptroller account,” said Rebecca Rodriguez, a spokesperson for the Lander campaign. “And if he decides to run for another office will have all the resources he needs to communicate his positive vision and record of results to New Yorkers.”

All the candidates showed the solid numbers they needed to maintain momentum, said one Democratic consultant uninvolved in the race, who was granted anonymity to speak freely. “They all met the goals they needed to keep moving forward in their candidacies,” the person added.

Adams’ potential challengers mostly focused on low-dollar fundraising, to take advantage of a system that matches city residents’ donations under $250 eight to one.

“The beauty about the campaign finance system is it equalizes the campaign,” Stringer said in an interview. “As we go forward, (Adams) is already maxed out. Every filing, I’m going to get closer and closer until we hit $8 million. It’ll just take us a few months longer.”

Of course, small donors aren’t necessarily the key to success. Maya Wiley had a field-leading 18,131 donors in the 2021 primary, but finished in third place. And Dianne Morales, who came in sixth, had just under 12,000 donors in the primary — the same as Adams that year.

Adams continued to receive contributions from the city’s moneyed elite over the past six months. His campaign filing showed contributions from billionaire education activist Merryl Tisch, real estate developers in the Zeckendorf family, and Anthony Scaramucci, an investor and former staffer to Donald Trump, who has since turned on the Republican presidential nominee.

Adams’ filing showed a $2,100 contribution from businessperson Lenoard Blavatnik on the same day in April that he met with Adams on Zoom to show support for the mayor sending in the NYPD to deal with pro-Palestinean protesters on Columbia University’s campus, as The Washington Post first reported.

Adams also earned support from figures in sports. Three members of the Dolan family, which own the New York Knicks and the Rangers, gave $11,300 total. Brian France, the former chairman and CEO of NASCAR and his wife each gave Adams’ campaign $2,100 and his legal defense fund $5,000.

And New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft and five of his family members gave a total of $12,200 to Adams’ campaign, and $30,000 to his defense trust.

Adams’ campaign filing also revealed that he has continued to pay his former campaign fundraiser Brianna Suggs, even after her home was raided by the FBI last year as part of the campaign probe. Adams said in December she would continue working for him in a role dealing with “administrative paperwork, documentation.”

The report shows four monthly payments of $10,000 each from January to April, but no payments recorded in May or June. Adams’ campaign did not immediately respond when asked if Suggs still works for the campaign. The Daily News reported in May that Suggs hired a new lawyer to defend her sometime in “spring.”

Adams’ own legal spending has slowed. Adams’ lawyers at white shoe defense firm WilmerHale billed the trust $143,891 between April and June. Adams had reported paying the firm $336,806 and $397,189 respectively, in the two previous filings.