Lander’s got the lead in fundraising among NYC mayoral challengers

Once upon a time – three or four months ago – the viability of challengers to Mayor Eric Adams was heavily rooted in their ability to raise enough money to take on the well-funded incumbent mayor. 

Today, Adams’ political future is in jeopardy following a criminal indictment. His challengers are preparing for the possibility of a special election – something still far from guaranteed as Adams insists he isn’t leaving office. But anybody vying for mayor will still need plenty of cash on hand to compete in a crowded, and possibly growing, field. 

New York City Comptroller Brad Lander is leading the pack of mayoral challengers as of early October, according to campaign filings. He is reporting both the biggest haul for the most recent fundraising period – nearly $316,000 – and the largest total haul when including projected matching funds, landing at $4.5 million total raised. Lander, who launched his campaign for mayor in late July, had already seen strong fundraising for his prior comptroller reelection bid, giving his mayoral fundraising a head start.

The city Campaign Finance Board warns that for all candidates, matching funds projections are just that – projections – as candidates haven’t yet received matching funds for the 2025 elections. The CFB won’t determine eligibility for matching funds until December. But all the candidates who are fundraising for mayor – including Lander, former Comptroller Scott Stringer, and state Sens. Zellnor Myrie and Jessica Ramos – plan to participate in the city’s public matching funds program for the primary.

Stringer, the former comptroller and former mayoral candidate, announced his run for mayor in January. He brought in nearly $181,000 in donations in the latest period, his campaign said in a press release. That puts him at a total of $616,000 in donations since January, and his campaign is projecting a total of $3.2 million with matching funds.

Myrie, who announced he would challenge Adams in May, brought in around $138,000 in donations over the latest period, according to his filing. He’s raised roughly $464,000 in total so far.

Ramos, the only woman in the race, raised just $52,512, her campaign said. Granted, she’s had the least amount of time to fundraise, having just launched her campaign Sept. 13.  Neither Myrie nor Ramos has yet met the matching funds program’s threshold.

As of Friday afternoon, Adams’ campaign had not released information on its latest fundraising haul, but the mayor maintains a strong head start in bringing in cash, with more than $4 million raised since January 2022. Back in July, when the previous fundraising period ended, Adams’ campaign predicted that they would finish fundraising by October, bringing in enough through donations and projected matching funds to meet the primary election spending cap. It’s unclear if Adams will be deemed eligible for matching funds, given the investigation into his 2021 campaign fundraising.

Not to be forgotten is New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, who could be a major player in a special election if Adams is removed from office or resigns. Williams would become acting mayor if that were to happen, and would be a likely contender in a special election. Williams only raised about $39,000 in his public advocate account in the second quarter, bringing his grand total to roughly $197,000, according to public filings. While that is far more than anyone else running for public advocate, compare it with any of the leading candidates challenging Adams and it’s another story. Of course talk of a nonpartisan special election is just starting to pick up. With a potential upcoming mayoral fight in mind, it’s possible the public advocate will see more donations reflected in his next campaign finance filing. Of Williams’ total $39,322 haul in this most recent period, more than half of it came in since Sept. 26, when the indictment against Adams was unsealed.