Stringer raises over $2 million with expected matching funds for mayoral bid

Scott Stringer can still bring in the money. 

The former New York City comptroller announced today that he has raised about $2.1 million – more than $424,000 in donations plus more than $1.65 million in expected matching funds from the city – since he began accepting donations in January for a potential primary challenge against Mayor Eric Adams.

Stringer received a total of nearly $425,000 in donations from about 2,100 total donors, his campaign said. The average donation amount was $157. The vast majority – about 1,800 – of the donors were New York City residents whose donations are eligible for the city’s matching funds program, which provides an 8-to-1 match to small donations (up to $250) from city residents. Stringer received about $207,000 in donations eligible for the program, which will translate into about $1.65 million in matching funds.

“I’m very pleased with this financial filing and also pleased with the way we went about it. We were able to speak to living rooms in all five boroughs, we were able to access great discussions and great small dollar fundraising, which is, to me, the core of how you run for public office with the Campaign Finance Board,” Stringer told City & State in an interview. “I think this is the beginning of a very serious effort to run for mayor, because we knew at the outset that we had to be financially competitive, and I think this is a great start.”

Stringer, who previously ran for mayor in 2021 and lost, said that he has still not made a final decision regarding whether to challenge Adams next year.

“We haven't officially announced,” he said. “I think the next phase of what we're doing is speaking to community leaders, labor leaders, (I) want to have an opportunity to sit down with the business community, want to also continue to do roundtables so that I hear directly from people when we talk about my plan for affordable housing, quality education, how we're going to align criminal justice and mental health initiatives. I want to hear from people, I want to hear from struggling New Yorkers, as I always have.”

One person Stringer hasn’t spoken to? State Sen. John Liu, who served as city comptroller before he did. Last week, NY1 political commentator Gerson Borrero tweeted that Stringer and Liu were rumored to have spoken about the possibility of Liu endorsing Stringer for mayor.

Stringer flatly denied the rumors. “I haven’t talked to John Liu,” he said.

Stringer was the first to announce a potential challenge to Adams, but he’s not the only Democrat looking to take on the incumbent mayor. In May, state Sen. Zellnor Myrie began raising money for a possible mayoral run. On Monday, he reported that he has raised over $1.3 million – including $325,000 in donations plus an expected $1 million in city matching funds. His average donation amount was $145.

The incumbent mayor, meanwhile, has raised more than Stringer and Myrie combined. “The mayor’s campaign has continued to draw strong support from New Yorkers, raising more than $1 million over the last six months – putting the amount available to spend for his reelection at more than $8 million, which is close to the maximum allowed,” Adams campaign counsel Vito Pitta said in a statement.

But Myrie’s biggest challenge in the race may be a lack of citywide name recognition. In June, Slingshot Strategies, which is working with Stringer, polled registered Democrats on their top choice for mayor: 24% picked Adams, 21% picked Stringer and just 5% picked Myrie, though 50% said they were undecided.

The race could soon get even more crowded. Current city comptroller Brad Lander is reportedly preparing to announce his own mayoral run in the next two weeks.

Lander, who was elected comptroller in 2021, now finds himself facing the same choice that Stringer did in 2017 – whether to run for a second term as comptroller or risk it all to challenge an incumbent mayor. Stringer ultimately chose to remain as comptroller.

“I did look at that challenge, but I also knew that if I stayed for eight years as comptroller, I wouldn't just be a good controller, I would be a great controller,” he said. “I would divest from fossil fuel, we would divest from guns, we would do things that no comptroller in the history of the city ever did. We would have a lasting, consolidated pension fund. These are all the things I did, which is pretty extraordinary, which make me very qualified to be mayor.”

Stringer plans to make a formal decision about whether to run for mayor soon.

“We'll have an announcement in the next few months,” he said. “I'd love to have one more meeting with my wife and two kids. They're going to take another vote. And if that works out, we run.”