Adams kicked off reelection campaign but new poll has him behind

Mayor Eric Adams officially kicked off his reelection campaign from the steps of City Hall on Thursday. AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura

By Ryan Schwach

Mayor Eric Adams, flanked by city faith leaders kicked off his re-election campaign as an independent candidate on Thursday, but the first poll of the general election cycle has him trailing.

Supporters repeated chants of “four more years,” on the steps of City Hall, where Adams dismissed protestors, pushed his accomplishments as mayor and took shots at his expected opponent, Queens Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani.

However, it may be an uphill climb for the incumbent mayor, whose tenure has been blemished with federal corruption charges – that were later dropped – and other controversies.

It was long wondered when Adams would officially launch his campaign after deciding to bow out of the Democratic primary and run on a boutique independent line in the general.

He now officially joins a race that already included Mamdani, the prospective Democratic nominee, independent former prosecutor Jim Walden and Republican nominee and Guardian Angels founder Curtis Sliwa.

Former Governor Andrew Cuomo, was expected to run on his own independent line after losing the Democratic nomination, but reports have indicated he may be having second thoughts.

In front of the building he was elected to in 2021, Adams debuted a new campaign slogan; “Delivers. Never Quits,” and discussed his accomplishments as mayor.

“Can you imagine how moving forward and what this city is going to look like? We laid the foundations now, it's time to build the future,” Adams said, promoting a dramatic decrease in crime and efforts to increase affordable housing under his administration.

“It's about what we've done,” he said. “I didn’t come into office with a personal agenda. I came with a personal mission to fight for working class New Yorkers.”

His supporters on Thursday included many of the faith leaders that stood behind him when he was indicted on federal fraud charges last year, and have continued to be his main base through a controversial first term.

Among those on the City Hall steps with Adams were Reverend Herbert Daughtry and former City Councilmember and City Hall faith adviser Fernando Cabrera.

“Mayor Adams has proven it time after time and time again when others made excuses in the past why they couldn't get it done, Mayor Adams delivered results,” said Cabrera, who lost a Democratic City Council primary on Tuesday. “He is the fighter that we need and the public servant we deserve. When our city needed a backbone, Mayor Adams stood tall.”

Adams was heckled throughout the campaign kickoff by a cohort of protestors who called him a “f–-ing criminal” and a “traitor.”

During his remarks the mayor took direct aim at Mamdani, who he called a “snake oil salesman,” on Fox & Friends earlier in the week.

“This election is a choice between a candidate with a blue collar and one with a soup silver spoon, a choice between dirty fingernails and manicured nails, a choice between someone who delivered lower crime, the most jobs in history and the most new housing built, built in decades, and an assemblymember who did not pass a bill,” he said. “The selection is a choice between those who believe in this city and those who don't.”

The first poll of the general election season, however, shows that Adams may have some work to do.

The poll, released Thursday morning has Adams trailing regardless of whether or not Cuomo chooses to run on an independent line or not.

The new poll, done by the Honan Strategy Group whose early polls in the primary season showed Cuomo with a strong lead, has Mamdani in a dead heat with the former governor in November.

The poll has the two Queens connected men who just faced off in the Democratic primary tied at 39 percent, with Adams trailing behind with 13 percent. Sliwa sits behind with seven percent and Walden registers zero percent.

Honan Strategy Group also polled voters on two other possible futures, one where Cuomo decides not to run, and one where Adams bows out.

In the first hypothetical, Mamdani glides from Astoria into Gracie Mansion with 46 percent of the vote, followed by Adams with 31 and Sliwa with 11.

However, if Adams were to choose to drop out and not take a shot at getting reelected, Cuomo has more of a chance and wins the mayoralty by four percent over Mamdani.

Sliwa, who also has an uphill climb according to the new poll, had some words for Adams, who he lost to in the 2021 mayoral race.

“Eric Adams is a candidate without a party, rejected by Democrats and not trusted by Republicans,” he said. “He is the only NYC mayor ever to be indicted. We are in this mess because Eric Adams did not do his job. He is a failed mayor.”

None of the campaigns responded to a request for comment on the poll, and neither Cuomo nor Mamdani’s campaigns responded to questions about Adams’ campaign launch.