Rep. Hakeem Jeffries declines to back NYC Mayor Eric Adams in Democratic primary
NEW YORK — Rep. Hakeem Jeffries Friday declined to endorse Mayor Eric Adams, or anyone else, in the upcoming 2025 Democratic primary race for City Hall.
The House minority leader said he would support whoever wins the June Democratic primary in the general election, but refused to say if he thinks Adams should get four more years in Gracie Mansion.
“That’s in the hands of the people of the great city of New York,” Jeffries told reporters at a Capitol Hill press conference.
“I’m going to work as hard as i can to make sure that the next mayor of the city of New York is a Democrat,” the powerful Brooklyn Democrat added.
Jeffries’ non-endorsement stance is a shift from his position in 2021 when he backed Maya Wiley in the Democratic primary. She finished third in the ranked-choice contest behind Adams, who edged out Kathryn Garcia to win the party’s nod.
Jeffries has sought to stay out of the controversy stirred by Hizzoner’s indictment on influence-peddling charges.
He declined to join calls from fellow Democrats for Adams to resign, saying he can still run the city effectively while defending himself in court.
Comptroller Brad Lander, state Sen. Zellnor Myrie, former comptroller Scott Stringer and State Sen. Jessica Ramos are among the Democrats who have already announced they will run against Adams in the primary.
Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who quit the governor’s mansion in disgrace over serial sexual harassment allegations, is also rumored to be considering a comeback bid for mayor.
Jeffries, who was recently reelected to a second two-year term as House Democratic leader, also said his party would stand ready to work with president-elect Trump and his Republican allies if they present common-sense solutions to streamline government and improve the lives of everyday Americans.
But he warned the narrow GOP majority would force House Speaker Mike Johnson to work with him to pass any major legislation because the Republican caucus is riven by internal divisions.
“Democrats will of course have to be directly involved to the extent there is any (legislation),” Jeffries said. “It’s clear that the incoming Republican majority will not be able to do much without us.”
The Bedford-Stuyvesant lawmaker has claimed a measure of victory in the 2024 elections because House Democrats held their own in the face of Trump’s sweeping win.
Democrats picked up one seat overall in the House to set up a 220-215 majority for Republicans, a far cry from the dozens of pickups that a winning presidential candidate would hope to garner. The edge is likely to shrink to just a two-seat margin when a total of three GOP lawmakers step down by January.
Team Blue pulled off the overperforming by flipping back three seats each in deep-blue California and New York, where Democrats were rocked by heavy defeats in the 2022 midterms.
