New York City Mayor Eric Adams will likely face challenges for reelection from two of his most formidable opponents in the general election, no matter how they perform in the Big Apple’s Democratic primary. 

Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D-NY) and state assemblyman Zohran Mamdani are both competing in the city’s upcoming Democratic primary. They are attempting to oust Adams, who is running as an independent, ahead of the 2025 mayoral election. 

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However, should either Democratic candidate lose the primary on June 24, they have backup options ready that would enable them to advance to the general election as third-party candidates. 

On Monday morning, Adams weighed in on the state of the race during a Fox and Friends interview as he touted his independent credentials and accused Cuomo and Mamdani of playing copycat with his third-party strategy. 

“All of them are following my lead, what I did,” said the incumbent Democratic mayor, who announced an independent bid for reelection in April. “People say, Eric, you can’t win on independent. Then why is everyone else following what I did?” 

“Historically, independents are individuals who are unknown,” Adams continued. “I’m a sitting Mayor running on an independent line. That’s a different scenario.… This is a different race. I’m a sitting Mayor running on the independent line that even the New York Times stated, don’t vote for the other two.” 

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Cuomo has already announced the launch of the Fight and Deliver Party, which will allow him to run as an independent in the general election if he loses the primary. 

Mamdani has not yet announced a third-party line. However, the socialist assemblyman holds the ringing endorsement of the Working Families Party, which would likely provide him the platform to challenge Adams even if he doesn’t secure sufficient votes to sweep the primary. 

Although State Sen. Zellnor Myrie, City Comptroller Brad Lander, and New York City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams are also running in the Democratic primary, Cuomo and Mamdani are considered the No. 1 and No. 2 candidates in the race, respectively.

However, Cuomo has faced growing heat from his opponents over a range of scandals, including campaign finance corruption allegations revealed last month and sexual abuse concerns that forced him to resign as governor in 2021 before the Justice Department concluded in 2024 that he had sexually harassed 13 state employees. The former governor is now under scrutiny from the Justice Department over accusations he lied in a congressional hearing and helped conceal the deaths of several thousand senior citizens in New York during the COVID-19 pandemic.

When pressed on Monday about whether he believed Cuomo would win the primary, Adams said he wasn’t worried about the outcome. 

“I’m not concerned which one of them are winning,” he said. “’I’m ready for whoever comes. But remember, he is on the independent line also, so he would be in the general election no matter what. Mamdani will also be in the general election no matter what —he’s on the Working Families Party.” 

Although the WFP endorses him, Mamdani has not formally declared a bid on a third-party line. 

When he launched the Fight and Deliver Party last month, Cuomo pitched it as a bid to appeal to disaffected Democrats. 

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“Over the last several months, as I’ve been out talking to New Yorkers, one thing has become clear: there is a disillusionment with the Democratic Party by some — a feeling that the party has been hijacked, that it doesn’t produce real results, and that it doesn’t fight for working people anymore,” the former governor said. 

“Poll after poll shows that the Democratic Party’s approval rating is the lowest it’s ever been. This is emblematic of a larger problem, one that we, as a party, will not be able to solve until we are willing to admit: Trump didn’t win, Democrats lost,” he said.