New York City Mayor Eric Adams announced Thursday he is dropping out of the Democratic primary and running in the general election as an independent instead.
The announcement comes one day after a Manhattan federal judge dismissed the five-count corruption case against the incumbent with prejudice, meaning the case cannot be revived. Adams maintained he did nothing wrong and doubled down on his criticisms of the “bogus” case.
“More than 25,000 New Yorkers signed my Democratic primary petition, but the dismissal of the bogus case against me dragged on too long, making it impossible to mount a primary campaign while these false accusations were held over me. But I’m not a quitter. I’m a New Yorker,” he said in a six-minute video Thursday morning.
“And that is why today, although I am still a Democrat, I am announcing that I will forgo the Democratic primary for mayor and appeal directly to all New Yorkers as an independent candidate in the general election.”
Adams had until Thursday at midnight to officially register for the Democratic mayoral primary. When asked by CBS News whether he would file his petition for the primary by the deadline, Adams teased an announcement was coming soon.
In September, Adams was indicted on five counts of corruption related to his alleged acceptance of benefits, such as free luxury travel and illegal contributions to his 2021 mayoral campaign, from Turkish officials. In exchange, Adams pressured city inspectors to open a new Turkish consulate building in Manhattan without a proper fire inspection, prosecutors alleged.
Adams pleaded not guilty to the charges.
“Let me be clear, though the charges against me were false, I trusted people I should not have, and I regret that,” Adams said.
The mayor previously suggested his indictment was politically motivated because of his criticisms of the Biden administration’s lenient immigration policies.
Adams has since jumped on board the Trump administration’s immigration agenda, sparking accusations of a quid pro quo in which he allegedly agreed to cooperate with the administration on immigration enforcement in exchange for having his case dropped by the Department of Justice. He has denied the allegations.
In his order, U.S. District Judge Dale Ho wrote that dismissing the case without prejudice “would create the unavoidable perception that the Mayor’s freedom depends on his ability to carry out the immigration enforcement priorities of the administration, and that he might be more beholden to the demands of the federal government than to the wishes of his own constituents.”
The Biden-appointed judge described that perception as “inevitable” and concluded that “it counsels in favor of dismissal with prejudice.” The DOJ originally asked for a dismissal without prejudice, meaning the case could have been revived if the department so wished.
Wednesday’s order allows the incumbent to continue seeking reelection unencumbered by the five-count indictment.
Adams intends to submit the necessary 3,750 signatures by May 27 to secure a spot on the ballot as an independent, Politico reported. The shift comes as he struggled in the polls against former Governor Andrew Cuomo, the clear frontrunner, and New York state representative Zohran Mamdani, who took second place. Adams acknowledged his low polling numbers.
“I’m in the race to the end. I’m not running on the Democratic line. It’s just not realistic to turn around my numbers and to run a good campaign [from] where we are right now,” he told Politico. “It hurts like hell.”
Before dropping out of the Democratic primary, Adams fell 30 points behind Cuomo and two points behind Mamdani in a recent poll. The mayor has grown increasingly unpopular among his constituents since taking office in 2022. Dismal public opinion of Adams has been exacerbated by the now-dropped indictment and his newfound ties to the Trump administration.
All challenges aside, Adams still says he can win reelection. Responding to a question from a reporter about his reelection run after his case was dismissed on Wednesday, Adams said, “You know what, I’m going to win.”