New York City Mayor Eric Adams said Thursday that he will pull out of the city’s Democratic primary and instead run for reelection as an independent, after his recently dismissed federal bribery case severely damaged his ability to mount a campaign.
In a video, Adams said he will not run in the Democratic primary in June because his criminal case “dragged on too long” while the “false accusations were held over me,” preventing him from campaigning.
“I firmly believe that this city is better served by truly independent leadership, not leaders pulled at by the extremists at the far left or the far right, but instead those rooted in the common middle, the place where the vast majority of New Yorkers are firmly planted,” Adams said.
The decision came after intense speculation over whether Adams would remain in the Democratic primary, which has attracted several serious opponents, including former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
In a practical sense, the move will allow Adams to skip directly to the general election in November, giving him more time to campaign unencumbered by the weight of his criminal charges. But it will also further distance Adams from the city’s heavily Democratic electorate and party organization.
The mayor, who had not formed much of a formal reelection apparatus, has struggled to raise money in recent months and suffered a blow when he was denied access to millions of dollars in public matching funds for his campaign because of questions about gaps in his recordkeeping.
A federal judge dismissed Adams’ corruption case on Wednesday, ending a legal saga that left the mayor severely damaged and raised questions about his political independence.
The charges, brought last year during President Joe Biden’s administration, accused Adams of accepting illegal campaign contributions and travel discounts from a Turkish official and others, in exchange for helping Turkey open a diplomatic building without passing fire inspections, among other things.
The mayor pleaded not guilty and was set for a trial in April, but the case was upended after President Donald Trump’s Justice Department moved to drop the charges so that Adams could assist with the president’s immigration agenda, while leaving open the possibility that the case could be revived.
The highly unusual move set off a firestorm of criticism and resignations and thew Adams’ mayoralty in doubt, with many people questioning whether he was now beholden to the Trump administration.
In an order dismissing the case, federal Judge Dale E. Ho denied prosecutors the option to refile the charges and wrote that allowing the case to be revived “would create the unavoidable perception that the mayor’s freedom depends on his ability to carry out the immigration enforcement priorities of the administration.”
In his video announcement, Adams maintained his innocence but acknowledged that the case had “shaken” voters and said he put his trust in the wrong people.
“I know that the accusations leveled against me may have shaken your confidence in me, and that you may rightly have questions about my conduct. And let me be clear, although the charges against me were false, I trusted people I should not have, and I regret that,” he said.
Adams, a former police officer, has governed as a centrist Democrat and often done battle with the city’s progressives. He was a registered Republican in the 1990s but has spent his political career, which includes time as a state senator and Brooklyn borough president, as a Democrat.
His announcement was first reported by Politico.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.