Jumaane Williams likely to run for mayor if Adams resigns

If New York City Mayor Eric Adams resigns or is removed from office by Gov. Kathy Hochul, his interim replacement will be city Public Advocate Jumaane Williams. 

If Adams leaves office before January 2025, then a special election to replace Adams must be held within 80 days – and Williams would be likely to run in that special election, a source familiar with his thinking confirmed to City & State.

“His main concern is continuity of government and ensuring that New Yorkers have trust in their city government leadership,” the source said. “While he is not actively seeking the role, if he were to become acting mayor and a special election were held for the seat, he is likely to run, and that would make sense.”

If Williams won the special election, then he would only serve as mayor until the end of 2025. Meanwhile, the normal Democratic mayoral primary would be held in June and general election would be held in November to determine who would serve as mayor for the next four-year term beginning in 2026. 

The source said that if Williams won the special election, then he would likely also seek to run for a subsequent full term.

Adams’ departure from Gracie Mansion would reshape next year’s mayoral race. A conservative Democrat with low approval ratings, Adams has already attracted a host of left-leaning primary challengers: city Comptroller Brad Lander, former Comptroller Scott Stringer and state Sens. Zellnor Myrie and Jessica Ramos. (Assembly Member Zohran Mamdani, a democratic socialist, is also exploring a mayoral run.)

But most of those candidates would probably be less interested in running against Williams, a progressive with close ties to the Working Families Party. At the same time, Williams becoming acting mayor may create an opportunity for more conservative candidates like former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who could try to appeal to voters who feel Williams is too far to the left.

Ana María Archila, co-director of the WFP, told City & State that Williams would be a tough candidate to beat. “We know that people would be in good hands with Jumaane as acting mayor,” she said. “If he were to run for the special election, he, of course, would be a very formidable candidate.”

But Archila said the WFP’s top priority is to keep Cuomo out of power. “Andrew Cuomo had to resign in scandal, and the last thing we need is to replace one mayor embroiled in scandal with one governor – ex-governor – that resigned in scandal. New Yorkers don’t need that,” she said.

Rich Azzopardi, a spokesperson for Cuomo, would not confirm whether Cuomo planned to run but did criticize the WFP. “As I’ve said the speculation (about Cuomo running) is premature, but these guys talk big before every race and then collapse under their own weight,” he said. “Their ability to make the press continually forget just how ineffective and irrelevant they are is however impressive.”

Williams previously ran unsuccessfully for lieutenant governor in 2018 and governor in 2022. He represented East Flatbush, Brooklyn, in the City Council from 2010 to 2019.