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NYC’s Adams Loses Bid for Public Matching Funds in 2025 Race

Eric Adams, mayor of New York, during an event at 270 Park Avenue, JPMorgan Chase's new global headquarters building, in New York, US, on Monday, Nov. 20, 2023. The event celebrated local iron workers raising the final steel beam that completes framing for JPMorgan Chases new 1,388-foot global headquarters building that will be home to about 14,000 employees, according to the firm. (Jeenah Moon/Bloomberg)

(Bloomberg) -- New York City Mayor Eric Adams’ reelection bid was dealt a severe blow after the city’s campaign finance board denied him millions of dollars in public matching funds.

The mayor’s campaign, already challenged by a broad slate of contenders and federal bribery charges, stands to lose out on more than $4.3 million as a result of the board’s decision. The charges against Adams, which he denies, include allegations that he solicited straw donations and illegal foreign contributions in an effort to game the public matching program. 

“After thoroughly reviewing all available information, including the details of the indictment of Mayor Adams, there is reason to believe the Adams campaign has engaged in conduct detrimental to the matching funds program, in violation of law, including the Campaign Finance Act and Board rules,” New York City Campaign Finance Board chairman Frederick Schaffer said at a hearing Monday. 

The city’s public matching system is among the most generous in the country, providing $8 in public funds for every $1 raised from donors who live inside the city limits — on the first $250 of any donation in citywide races. The program also caps the amount of money candidates can receive in matching funds and spend in each election cycle. 

The board, which said it does not typically provide public explanations for its denials, cited Adams’ case as an exception. 

“His campaign also failed to provide documents and information requested by the Board,” Schaffer said. “Accordingly, Mayor Adams’ campaign for reelection has failed to demonstrate eligibility for public funds payment at this time.”

Adams can appeal the decision. Vito Pitta, a lawyer for the campaign, called the decision “disappointing” and said the campaign will work with the board to “address any issues so that funds can be appropriately disbursed.”

“The mayor’s campaign continues to have far more resources than his opponents’, and we are very confident we will have the support we need to spend the maximum amount allowable in the upcoming primary,” Pitta said. 

Adams has already raised $4.14 million for the 2025 race, according to to city records. If he had been granted the matching funds he’d sought, his campaign would have $8 million in total — near the limit for what a campaign is allowed to spend in the primary.

The decision means Adams will now need to continue actively fundraising over the next several months in order to remain financially competitive ahead of the June primary. It’s another burden the mayor will have to juggle alongside preparing for the corruption trial — slated for April — and his daily mayoral duties.  

The denial could help level the playing field for Adams’ challengers, whose ranks have grown since he was indicted in September and became the first sitting mayor in modern New York history to face federal corruption charges. 

The Democratic mayor faces more than half a dozen serious challengers, including current New York City comptroller Brad Lander, Brooklyn State Senator Zellnor Myrie, former city comptroller Scott Stringer, Queens Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani, Queens State Senator Jessica Ramos, attorney Jim Walden and former Assemblyman Michael Blake.

The Campaign Finance Board approved $2.09 million in public matching funds payments for Stringer’s mayoral campaign Monday. He is the only contender who has been approved for public matching funds so far.

Last month, former hedge fund manager Whitney Tilson also threw his hat in the ring, arguing the city needs “a leader who can unify New Yorkers and bring fresh thinking.”

(Updates with comment from Adams campaign in sixth paragraph and fundraising of challengers. An earlier version of this story corrected the spelling of the campaign finance board chairman.)

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