New York Mayor Eric Adams said Thursday that he would run for reelection as an independent, opting not to participate in the Democratic primary.
In a campaign video shared on social media, Adams said that although he remains 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.”
The announcementcame one day after a federal judge dismissed a corruption indictment against Adams, after a controversial push by the Justice Department to terminate the case. Adams pleaded not guilty last year to federal charges of bribery, wire fraud and seeking illegal campaign donations. He has been accused of cutting a deal with President Donald Trump to avoid prison — which he has denied — and his recent association with Trump has angered New York Democrats, a long list of whom began fundraising last year in a bid to unseat him in the primary.
Rob Richie writes in about this twist: “While NYC uses Ranked Choice Voting for party primaries, the charter commission narrowly voted not to put use fo RCV in general elections on the ballot, tied largely to how to have RCV interact with disaggregated fusion. So this could be a wild ride this year depending on the outcome of the Democratic and Republican mayoral primaries.”